Raglan School 150th Jubilee

Labour weekend 2016, saw past pupils and staff of Raglan Area School return to town for the 150th Jubilee Reunion. Proceedings got underway on Friday evening (Oct 21st) with a mix and mingle at the school. Peter Skandera and Dave Maybee provided live music. This was an opportunity to view displays and to meet old friends.

Saturday morning began early with a dawn blessing and unveiling of the new Waharoa at 5:50 a.m. This was erected to mark and celebrate 150 years of formal education in Raglan. A waharoa is a gateway or main entrance (see below) . In this case with a carved maihi some five metres long. The carvers include Kawharu Greensil (Tainui Hapu, Tainui), Simon Te Wheoro (Ngati Mahanga o Tainui, and Kelvin Le Lievre (Tainui) with assistance from three students of Raglan Area School, Ariki Riki Wahanga (Tainui), Ryan Larkins (Nga Puhi), and Keeti Williams-Hutchins (Tainui). Thanks to a generous donation from Harbour Care a miro tree was planted  later in the day beside the Waharoa.

Formal speeches, the commemorative tree planting, and official photographs followed on Saturday morning from 10 a.m.  ‘Decade’ photos of attendees were taken. Next up was a tour of the school with present students as the guides.

On Saturday afternoon some jubileers took up an opportunity to visit the Te Uku Wind Farm on the Wharauroa Plateau. This was followed on Saturday night by the formal celebratory dinner. Master of Ceremonies was Ronnie Phillips with guest speaker Dick Tayler. Catering was by Raglan chef, Colin Chung. And then everybody was up dancing to the live band of Steve Crossland.

Sunday morning started with a guided historical tour of the town centre where buildings and characters from the past will be remembered and celebrated. Roydon Hartstone provided commentary along the way. This started at Museum and Information Centre at 9:00 a.m. where the group checked out the Schooling in Raglan exhibition. A combined church service held in the Raglan Area School Hall at 11:00a.m. concluded the reunion.

The waharoa or gateway has four manaia carved on the maihi to represent the school values (Kaitiaki, Whakawhanaungatanga, Manaakitanga, and Poutama) and the single Koruru (Face) representing He Manu (the bird). This references the whakatauki (Saying):

Ko te manu e kai ana te miro, nōna te ngāhere.

Ko te manu e kai ana te mātauranga, nōna te ao.

(The bird who eats from the miro tree, owns the forest.

The bird who eats of the tree of knowledge will gain the world.)

The Rara (ribs) along the bottom represent those that attended this kura before us and the Takarangi Spiral (open spiral that allows light and knowledge into the world) is full of manaia representing our natural world.