SNAPSHOT OF THE HISTORY OF CATHOLIC EDUCATION IN TAIRAWHITI

SISTER MEG HILLS RSJ

Not many are aware that in 1887, Bishop Luck wrote to Mother Mary MacKillop with the request that the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart come to Gisborne.

Because she had no sisters to spare, the invitation was then put to Greymouth Mercy Sisters. In readiness for the arrival of four sisters in April 1894, Luck proceeded to oversee the building of a convent and school in Lowe Street.

The sisters staffed the 50-pupil parochial school and on April 30 1894 opened a Young Ladies’ Day School on the same premises.

Not only did the sisters have two schools to run, they also had young women in formation and it soon became apparent that they needed bigger premises both in which to live as well as to teach their growing number of pupils. Thus 1899 saw the opening of St Joseph’s School in Harris Street, Kaiti. Situated on 2.5 acres of land, this impressive building contained eight rooms, including dormitories, a recreation room and two classrooms which were used by pupils of both schools.

Apart from the content required by the Government, the curriculum included “French, Latin, Arithmetic, Euclid, Algebra, Drawing, Painting, Shorthand, Drill, Callisthenic Exercises, Sewing, Fancy-work, Carving, Piano, Organ, Violin and Singing.”

The 1899 Education Directory gives the first details for these two schools:

Superior School: St Joseph’s, Kaiti: 2 teachers, 9 boarders, 14 day pupils.

Primary School, St Dominic’s, Lowe St: 93 pupils.

In 1901 the Sisters wrote to Bishop Lenihan about opening a school at Ormond and after receiving a positive response Sister Xavier wrote, “.... we shall have 51 children at school when it is opened.”

Her letter also contained the plan and specifications of the proposed school and stated that “the tender of £162 was accepted.”

Her hopes were realised as soon afterwards the land and buildings at Kaiti, having belonged to the Greymouth Mercy Sisters, were sold (and later became the Kaiti Ladies’ College).

1907 saw the building of a new school adjacent to the church to accommodate the growing number of pupils in Childers Rd. When the school relocated, this became the parish hall - it is still in existence and has a heritage seal.

The opening ceremony took place on Jan 31 1909, correspondents stating that, “Gisborne was the proud possessor of the finest school in the Auckland Diocese.”

Sadly ongoing conflict saw the sisters formally excluded from the sacraments , denied any financial support and on August 1 1904 the schools at Gisborne, Ormond, and Kaiti were officially closed.

In September 1904 however a new foundation of Mercy Sisters was made from Ponsonby Auckland and three sisters took over Lowe St whilst living in Prague Cottage in Grey Street. This had a two-tiered structure: “Select” (feepaying) and “Parochial.” The school at Ormond remained closed.

Initially the Auckland Mercy Sisters struggled with the legacy the previous disbanded order had left. On October 18 1904, Sister Mercedes Wallace wrote to her superior: “We can never feel at home here while the Kaiti Sisters remain but their presence so far, thank God, has not made much difference with numbers of our pupils. The school is keeping up the numbers and I have thirteen for music and this is not so bad considering the state of affairs.”

Primary classes were separated by partitions with primers nearest Childers Rd; standard 1 and 2 next, followed by 3, 4, and 5 at the rear. Standard 6 was taught in the convent. The children sat in double desks, separated by an aisle. Boys and girls were separated. The dirt playground was tucked in the back, divided into two parts by a high fence –one for boys, one for girls with “no mixing allowed.”

Throughout this time, attendance at the local school increased but sadly in 1912 despite the fact that, as Father Lane wrote to Superior General Mother Aquinas in November 1911, “under their capable supervision the school prospered and attained a position in the parish of attendance and proficiency never approached in the history of Poverty Bay,” unforeseen circumstances within their order saw the withdrawal of the Auckland Sisters of Mercy

In April 1912, whilst visiting Sydney, Bishop Cleary arranged for the foundation of an initial four sisters of St Joseph to take over the convent and school buildings in January 1913.

By 1918 there were eight teachers and 272 children.

During these years there was a classroom for the secondary department which was purely a commercial class. Any pupils wanting an academic course went to the local state high school or boarded at a Catholic school in another part of the country.

The buildings on the corner of Lowe St and Childers Rd as viewed from the playground:

For some time the need was seen for a Catholic school for boys after standard 4, thus when it was decided to erect the new school for St Mary’s, application was made to the Marish Brothers to establish such a school.

On their arrival in 1927, the three brothers lived in a parish house in Carnarvon Street and took over the education of boys in the Childers Rd school building from standard 4 upwards.

A record written about 1928 states:

...Today there are the old and new schools with a total roll of 360. The new school has a staff of eight sisters and 300 children, while the old school is under the control of two Marist Brothers, who have 60 boys under their charge. This latter institution has made splendid progress, especially when it is remembered that it was established only two years ago.

THE SCHOOL | ST MARY’S CHURCH | PRESBYTERY | CONVENT

Around 1925, seven acres of land was purchased adjacent to Roebuck Rd with the intention to build a new school.

On October 31 1926 the new St Mary’s School was blessed.

In 1943, a secondary school for girls was built behind St Mary’s Primary School.

In 1960, the building of the Marist boys’ secondary school – Edmund Campion - at Taruheru (later named Campion Rd), included residential accommodation for the brothers. The cost of the build was approximately £74,000. They moved in when the buildings were opened in April of that year and had a roll of 225 boys ranging from standard 3 to form 6.

In 1966, a large library, designed to also serve as a chapel, was added. Later a new wing of seven classrooms was added as well as a larger library and administration block.

In 1973, a small building fondly known as “the White House” was given to St Mary’s School. As the secondary school was overcrowded, this was sited adjacent to the secondary block and was used as a classroom for a group of form 7 pupils from both Campion and St Mary’s.

In 1974, the secondary department of St Mary’s moved to a new classroom block at Edmund Campion College and the colleges became co-institutional with the girls’ wing retaining the name of St Mary’s College.

In 1976 the colleges merged to form a co-educational school and from the beginning of 1976 became known as Campion College.

St Mary’s School was integrated into the state system on Feb 1 1982. The cost of the improvements required to update the buildings to integration standard was estimated at $360,000.

The turn of the millennium saw an increasing population of children under five years old. In response to a need for early childhood education, a preschool was set up on the Childers Rd site. After consultation with the Ministry of Education et al a proposal was presented to the diocese to formallly establish Little Saints Early Catholic Childhood Centre in Gisborne. Due to the diocesan investment in such an initiative in Hamilton however, the proposal was declined.

In 2005 year 7 and 8 students were relocated from St Mary’s Primary to become part of Campion College.

July 2007 saw the children of St Mary’s moved into their new school complex situated opposite Campion College. Some of the buildings had been relocated from Childers Road and some buildings were purpose built.

On May 10 2016 an announcement was made that Campion’s two-storey blocks, MacKillop and Marcellin (built in 1960) and Gregory (built in 1973) did not meet earthquake standards. This provided an ideal opportunity to reinvest in school facilities that were better suited to the way students learn today.

Thus new flexible learning spaces marked the beginning of a change in teaching style. This complex was blessed and opened in 2018.

Since then both St Mary’s and Campion have continued to adapt to and meet the educational needs of primary and secondary students.

In 2018 the proposal to establish a Catholic early childhood centre, based on the structure of Hamilton’s Jubilee Centre, was presented anew. Extensive mahi resulted in the decision by the Board of Jubilee Early Childhood Ltd to proceed.

Thus it was that a vision first presented early in the millennium was finally realised when on August 23 2022, the Stella Maris Early Childhood Centre was blessed and formally opened, Michael Hanrahay saying, “all of which was successfully achieved by amazing cooperation, dedication, commitment, and support from a truly wonderful group of people.”