Parkvale School 1969 History

BRIEF HISTORY OF PARKVALE SCHOOL.

Prior to the erection of the school in Howard Street in 1920 the children of the Hastings East (Parkvale) area were associated with the Hastings District High School.  They assembled in a “hired” building with a roll of 76 in 1919.  These were the foundation pupils of Parkvale School and the hired building was the hop kiln in what is now Windsor Avenue.  The hop kiln was owned and run by the Masters family.

The new building was opened unofficially by Mr. Miller the Chairman of the School Committee on the 19th February, 1920 and the roll bounded up to 209.  To cope with these pupils the Headmaster, Mr. F.A. Garry had two assistants, Miss E. Sinclair and Miss McCormick.  Shortly they were joined by Miss Castle, Miss Drummond, Miss Foster and Miss Armstrong.

Mr. Garry, with the cooperation of the School Committee established gardens and planted trees in the school area.  This set a pattern which has been followed by succeeding Headmasters and Committees, and it is due to their foresight that the school has its splendid grounds today.

On 12th April 1920, the school was officially opened by Hon. C.J. Parr, Minister of Education. The builder was Mr. T.A. Hill and it is a tribute to his craftsmanship that so little damage was suffered in the earthquake.

The records detail shop days, picnics, working bees and varied parent efforts showing a fine standard of parent interest and endeavour from the outset.  Nowhere is this better illustrated than in 1922 when the Committee raised two sums of £500 each in Government Debentures to assist in building two new rooms. They were needed to cope with the roll increase to 322.

November 1928 saw the opening of the school (and district) baths making the school pool the oldest in Hastings and probably one of the first school pools in New Zealand.

The 1930’s were notable for the splendour of the school gardens under the Headmastership of Mr. W.B. Roe.  In 1931 the disastrous Hawke’s Bay earthquake occurred and the school was fortunate to escape with minor damage to an end wall and two pergolas.

1938 saw the opening roll top 400 for the first time.  This year also saw many visitors to the school to see the districts first open air classroom.  The classroom was later found to be rather too airy and has since been closed in.

The 1940’s record steady material progress in the school though some slight falling off in the roll.  Overall however the Parkvale roll has shown few of the fluctuations experienced

by many schools – a sign of the stability of the district.  The growth has continued steadily to reach a new opening peak of 520 in February 1969.

1947 saw the appointment of Mr. G. Lowe to the staff – later to be remembered for his association with Mr. Everest.  In the following year the log notes six days leave for Mr. Lowe as he was participating in a search for a plane missing in the Ruahines.

The Dental Clinic also receives mention in 1947 and this is presumably the first year of its operation.

Mr. W.B. Roe left the school in 1949 after 14 years association with the school, the longest period of service for any Headmaster.

The Home and School Association was first formed on 4th October, 1950 and this body has a very fine record of service to school and community alongside the School Committees.

Mr. Izatt, another Headmaster with a fine record of service had an explosive initiation to the school. During his first month a classroom boiler exploded violently – fortunately the room was empty and there was no injury to person.

1954 saw the “decapitation” of the school with Form 1 and 2 pupils joining the Intermediate School.

The attractive school uniform was first adopted in 1956, and this year also saw the introduction of Parent-Teacher interviews to replace the mid-year report system, an idea now taken up by most schools.

1957 opened with the resignation and subsequent death of a very old friend of the school in Mr. George Baddiley, caretaker since the opening day in 1919. Few schools can have been served so faithfully.  It is a pleasure to record that Mrs. Baddiley is still in excellent health and continuing her almost life-long association with the school by serving its youngsters daily in the “tuck-shop”,

The British “Lions” visited the school in 1959 following their match against Hawke’s Bay.  They could not have foreseen that a Parkvale pupil would soon return the courtesy in their homeland – our All Black, Bill Davis.

Mr. Izatt retired in 1965 and Mr. Boyd was appointed Headmaster in 1966.  The growth in roll continued and new rooms were added in 1966 and 1967 with another coming in 1969.  Work on the Assembly Hall began in April 1967 and the building was completed by the end of the year.  A feature of the Hall is the incorporation of a library on the mezzanine floor.

In the same year the school was upgraded to the highest Primary School level, Grade 7.

The Jubilee year 1969 finds the school fully staffed and with the largest ever opening roll.  The builders are with us once more to build a new classroom, and toilet blocks to replace those erected in 1919.  The Committee has plans afoot for further sealing, the modernisation and filtration of the Baths and additions to the library.