School celebrates 150 year reunion

A lot has changed in the past century for Albany Primary School.

The school is celebrating its 150th anniversary in September and staff decided to kick term two off by giving children a taste of what school was like back then.

Teachers dressed in oldfashioned outfits, school assembly began with God Save the Queen, and principal Maree Bathurst ruled with a wooden cane.

Desks were arranged in lines, children practised cursive handwriting, left-handed pupils had to use their right hand, and computers were turned off for the whole day.

‘‘By lunchtime we were all over the costumes,’’ Bathurst says.

‘‘It felt very strange and formal being like a dictator. Children were working it out as the day went on and by the end of the day they knew what was going on.’’

Albany Primary School opened in 1876 with one class meeting at a family home, 10 years later a school house opened on Albany Highway.

It moved to its current home on Bass Rd in 1975 and now has a roll of about 670 pupils. The old school house is still on the original site, which is now home to Albany Senior High School.

‘‘It has gone from a small suburban school to one of culturally rich diversity and is continuing to grow with all the housing going on,’’ Bathurst says.

The reunion, on September 16 and 17, will be held at both the primary and senior schools and is being organised by past pupil Lesley Wilson as a celebration of 150 years of schooling in Albany.

The event includes lunch, an open day, a powhiri and assembly for families and past pupils. Albany Primary School pupils will also go on a visit to the old school house.

Wilson is also unveiling a plaque on the posts at Albany Senior High School to remember the former Albany pupils who died in World War II.

‘‘It’s about the past and future. Most people in Albany wouldn’t know the school’s been there that long,’’ Wilson says.

‘‘It’s a celebration for kids making the link to what Albany history is. Many of our children are new settlers to New Zealand and don’t have that history,’’ Bathurst says.

Email 150years@albany.school.nz or phone 09 415 9668 for more information and to register for the reunion.