A Brief History of Rangi in Crisis

COVID-19 isn’t the first time Rangi Ruru has closed in the face of an epidemic Johnann Williams, Rangi Ruru Girls’ School Archivist, shares some information with us.

In 1918 ‘…the influenza epidemic swept the city. Boarders were sent home, the school was closed, and members of the family still on their feet were sent out to affected houses to take temperatures and report to the overworked doctors.’ Rosemary Britten - Rangi Ruru.

By November 1918, The Press reported that there were 2,550 cases of flu of which 192 were acute or serious. Fortunately, by mid-December the worst was over, and everyone had the Summer break in which to recover. In 1925, Rangi Ruru also closed in the face of a poliomyelitis epidemic that closed New Zealand schools for months and reduced the year to two terms. Until the development of vaccines there were several closures in times of polio or measles epidemics. The Boarding House was particularly vulnerable and students were quarantined in the House and taught separately.

After each closure, Rangi Ruru has moved quickly to re-establish school life and routine. Current pupils might feel earlier generations had it easy; there was no online learning then to keep them on task.

The current world crisis with the COVID-19 virus is a reminder of how fortunate we are to have good medical care, better understanding of diseases and their transmission, effective vaccines and medicines, and good medical research working on the problem.

As a school, we can also be grateful that our learning can continue, thanks to the incredible technology we now have access to.

During lockdown we asked our Alumnae to share their stories with us, these follow on the next few pages. It was incredible to hear that even though we might be spread out around the world, the foundations of what Rangi taught us are shown in how we approach life.