Old School Yard

Remember the Days of the Old School Yard by Cat Stevens comes to mind as I look at my first ever school.

Take away the palm trees, totem poles, wheelchair access and the lovely cobbled path and replace with a cracked small concrete path leading to the stairs, bench seats attached to the front of the building with a couple of drinking fountains - this is what stood before me as a small timid 5 year old dressed in a pinafore with a handknitted cardigan, long socks and black shoes holding tightly onto a small navy suitcase big enough to hold my lunch box, drink bottle and reading book.

Apanui Infant School served me well for my first 4 years of school life. The school dental clinic was set behind this building and I remember getting an apple and small bottle of milk for morning tea. The new entrants room is on the far right, bright and colourful with lots of morning sun.

This fine school also was the school for my Mum and Aunt, my Father and my brother. We all experienced the same teacher, she was young and a Miss during my mother and fathers time who became a Mrs and was probably nearing towards being a Grandparent during my time and my brothers - she was a wonderful teacher.

The school was opened in 1921 and named after a Maori chief called Te Hurinui Apanui. Today it is renamed as Awanuiarangi and used for higher learning, recognising the role of education in providing positive pathways for Maori development. It offers a range of qualifications from Community education programmes to Certificate and Diplomas and onto Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral degrees.

It is now declared as an historic building with much history and still being used today in the education sector - how cool is that?

Slowly getting the backblips done, they start on 25 May if your interesting in following my journey back to my home town of Whakatane. I will be back to commenting in the next few days :)