Te Miro celebrates a centenary
Te Miro School is celebrating 100 years since it opened and acknowledging the areas past historical events and developments in a centenary event this month.
All of Te Miro’s past and present students, staff and residents are invited to join the celebratory event taking place on Saturday, March 21.
The programme for the celebration includes activities during the day and an evening function at the Te Miro Hall.
The day starts at 9.30am with a morning tea meet and greet followed by the official welcome, speeches, cutting of the cake and tree planting.
Guests will then get to look around Te Miro School and grounds before lunch. After lunch guests will venture out on buses to tour the district. The day’s events close with an afternoon tea, activities and entertainment.
The evening function starts at 6pm with dinner and dessert and to dance the night away, with a DJ.
On the day a centennial book that captures the unique history and photographs of the Te Miro district and school will be available to purchase.
Te Miro School opened on
March 8 1920 with a roll of 10 students, an additional six students started the next day, and there was one classroom.
Today, the school has a roll of 24 students and two classrooms.
Over its 100 years it has had 47 principals. The current principal is Michaela Phillips, with 80 teaching staff and just over 1100 students.
School transport for the school started in 1946 when the sole teacher Mr A Thompson collected students from around the district in his Cadillac.
The school remained as a sole charge school until 1951 when a shelter shed was converted into a classroom. Three years later a junior block was built.
The Te Miro district also has a rich history.
It was home to renowned Ngāti Hauā leader Wiremu Tamihana who was largely responsible for establishment of the Māori King movement. In 1890 King Tāwhiao established a meeting house in Te Miro and thousands would travel to attend his meetings.
A Māori newspaper was also published in the district between 1891 and 1902 and the printing press is now on display in the Cambridge Museum.
New Zealand’s first open-air sanatorium for tuberculosis sufferers was established in a homestead on Te Miro’s Maungakawa Hill in 1903. It closed in 1922.
In 1916 the Government purchased over 12,000 acres of land in Te Miro and offered it for ballot to World War I returned soldiers in 1918. Today there are four families in Te Miro who are descendants of World War I soldier settlers.
Those interested in attending the centenary event need to register at temirocentenary@gmail. com and include their full name, contact phone number and the number of people they wish to register.