In 2001 historian James Belich noted that 'to people who could conceive of no higher state than Britishness, making it available to Natives seemed an act of enlightened generosity'. Following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, the British Colonial Office and the settler government formulated policy that would facilitate the 'civilising' of Maori by encouraging them to abandon traditional Maori cultural values, customs and language in favour of those of the European. Schooling was perceived as the one of the most effective means of implementing this 'civilising' or assimilation agenda. When Maori and Pakeha clashed over sovereignty and resources during the New Zealand Wars of the 1860s, Maori deserted the mission schools, which had encouraged assimilation through education. In their place, the Government established the Native schools system. In 1867, the Native Schools Act was passed. It was intended to 'bring an untutored but intelligent and high-spirited people into line with our civilisation, and to do this, to a large extent, by instructing them in the use of our language, and by placing in Maori settlements European school buildings, and European families to serve as teachers and especially as exemplars of a new and more desirable mode of life'. The Act provided for the establishment of village schools for Maori in which the Pakeha teachers would, 'through personal example'...'exercise a beneficial influence on adults as well as children'. While Pakeha could attend the schools, the focus remained on the education of Maori. Typically staffed by a husband and wife, the schools could be 'initiated by members of a Maori community forming a committee and requesting the school' if they were involved in 'supplying the land, half the cost of the buildings and a quarter of the Teacher's salary'. Maori were eager to engage with European things and thoughts, and by 1879, there were 57 schools in operation. That same year, the Department of Education appointed James Henry Pope (1837-1913) as the first Organising Inspector of Native Schools. Pope drafted the 1880 Native Schools Code that established a more systematic basis for the operation of the schools through measures such as the standardisation of the syllabus and the conditions under which teachers were appointed. In 1895, eight years after the Crown purchase of the Waimarino Block, the Education Department reported that land at Karioi would be available for a school house, and that there were 'about 39 children Maori - and some Europeans' in the area. In February the following year, the Organising Inspector of Native Schools, James Pope, visited the township to view prospective school sites. He commented in his subsequent report that 'the Natives welcomed me with the usual ceremonies and appeared very anxious to have a school presented to their settlement'. In accordance with the Act, Maori offered a site of three acres (1.2 hectares) for the school to the Crown. Pope noted that a larger area would be required, but reported that the site was 'of fair quality, and is perhaps, as good as is obtainable in the district'. Pope's report, dated 24 February 1896, includes a description (and sketch) of the terrain, climate and resident population areas. However, when the surveyor, Charles Adnam Mountfort (1854-1941) visited the area in May 1897, the person from the local iwi meant to assist him in identifying the area in question was not there. Mountfort chose and marked out 10 acres (4 hectares) of land he believed suitable and visited one of the local pa and inform them of what he had done. The land, Part Rangiwaea No.3 Block, ML1439, was gazetted on 10 February 1898. The contract for the school for the building was drawn up and approved on 22 April 1897. The plan was for a single room classroom 10 foot by 14 foot (3.05 metres by 4.27 metres), with a four-room residence, a 'long-drop', and a 400-gallon (1514 litre) water tank. The contract to build the school was won by the firm Riggs & Fraser of Mangaweka on 18 October that same year. They were to be paid £635.9.9 upon its completion. On 28 February 1898, on the understanding that she was chaperoned by her aunt, the teacher, Miss Agnes Lillian Grant, was appointed. A recent graduate of Canterbury University College, Miss Grant had received her initial teacher training at the Hukarere Native School, Napier. She received further training while awaiting the completion of the building at Karioi at the Pipiriki Native School, under the guidance of the headmaster Albert Wilson. The one-classroom school at Karioi was operational by June 1898 and opened with an initial roll of 20 children. Maori parents showed great interest in the School - so much so that on 5 September 1898 Miss Grant wrote to the Department asking whether it was 'a good thing' to have the parents sitting in on the classes when there was so little space available. By March 1899 Miss Grant and her chaperone had identified several problems with the buildings and promptly set about remedying them. Their improvements included a well, which would ensure a continuous, clean water supply; a rat-proof pataka to enable bulk buying of produce; and the construction of a scullery, and bathroom, which would allow them 'to give the children a practical demonstration in what cleanliness means'. Miss Grant then sent the receipts to the Education Department - a break with the normal procedures, which earned her a rebuke from the Secretary for Education. Despite this, Miss Grant was refunded the full cost of the well, but only half of the cost of the storehouse, and nothing for the bathroom/scullery. The Secretary for Education, Mr H. G. Hogben, stated 'I am particularly to impress upon you that in future you must not consider yourself entitled to make any claim upon the Government for expenditure incurred without having previously obtained authority'. Despite this, a shelterbelt of trees, including natives and exotics, was planted that same year in an attempt to shelter the buildings from the prevailing winds, and in 1901 a further bedroom and sitting room were added at Grant's own expense. The correspondence files from the period indicate there was a further proposal for the addition of a verandah and another bedroom made in 1903 but a layout plan of the school and residence, drawn in 1910, shows that these additions were not made. The Karioi Native School received its first official inspection on 21 March 1899. There were 32 pupils enrolled, including three Europeans. James Pope, Inspector of Native Schools noted that 'the Natives are showing great interest in the school and its work, and the teachers are in various ways doing their very best to help the Natives - We have in fact mutual esteem and respect'. From July, the function of the building was expanded when, in response to a public petition, a public lending library was established at the School. The School continued to receive good reports from the Inspector, and in 1901 it was noted that the School was unique in that 'in no instance other than this, as far as I am aware, do the teachers seem anxious to take upon themselves a very large measure of responsibility for the general condition of the children committed to their charge'. In 1904 Miss Grant and her chaperone left Pipiriki, and were replaced by a Mrs Baigent. Typically, teaching personnel found the isolated conditions and harsh climate at Karioi difficult, and there was a very high turnover of staff at the School during the early twentieth century. Letters of resignation tendered by teachers during this period often contained references to their own ill health, or the ill-health of their spouses or families. Yet the School continued to receive good reports from Inspectors, and enrolments remained steady throughout this period, although there were reports that some parents were failing to send their children to School. In 1919 the Education Board failed to find a replacement teacher for the first time, which prompted the closure of the School for a number of months. As a result, European residents began petitioning for a change of status of the School, claiming that 'several teachers would be willing to go there if it were a Board School'. They requested that the School be brought under the auspices of the Wanganui Education Board and that the children be taught under the rules and regulations of the European schools. European residents at that time had 13 children of school age able to attend the School and, with the imminent opening of a nearby sawmill, it appeared likely that more would soon enter the area. A public meeting was held and local iwi were consulted. Iwi agreed '...to the transfer on condition it is a combined school for Europeans and Natives, and that the school is never shifted from its present site'. Despite this, the formal transfer did not occur immediately. The School was reopened the following year and attendance reached an all-time high. The formal transfer of the Karioi Native School to the Wanganui Education Board took place in 1928. Although another classroom was added and opened in October 1930, the Depression meant that many families moved out of the area in search of work. While some families were attracted to the area by new forestry operations, the School's roll fluctuated considerably during this period. When the nearby Ohakune School expanded, the Education Department began drawing up plans to consolidate the two schools, and close the Karioi building. The last day of operation for Karioi School was officially 19 May 1940, 29 years prior to the repeal of the Native Schools system first implemented in 1867. The 47 former pupils of the Kaori Native School were transported to Ohakune by bus each day. Following the closure of the School the community petitioned the Education Board for permission to continue using the school buildings for community events. The Education Board insisted that the residence be shifted to Ohakune School for the use of the Senior Teacher. This work was carried out in about 1943. The former classrooms were converted for use as a community hall, and it continues to serve in this capacity. Some alterations have since been made to the interior layout. The building is valued and treasured by the Karioi community. It is in excellent condition and continues to be used and maintained.

Timber-framed 'Otumauru' style combined schoolroom / residence with timber weatherboards and a corrugated iron roof . The original building contained a schoolroom plus a 4-room residence (2 bedrooms, kitchen and sitting-room). In 1899 a bathroom and scullery were added. A timber framed, corrugated iron covered shelter shed was built in 1899. In 1901 a further bedroom and sitting room were added. A second classroom was added in 1930. In about 1943 the six-room residence was removed. The residual building has large quad-pane double-hung sash windows and bi-pane fanlights facing north, with a covered entranceway at the western end, a structure added on the eastern end and a further lean-to on the southern side, an elevated water tank and a brick tri-faced exterior chimney. The brick tri-faced chimney, once in the midst of the building complex was exposed when the residence was removed circa 1943. The weatherboards are presently painted cream with dark green window facings, deep red doors and the roof is unpainted. Most internal walls have been removed. The shelterbelt trees are significant in this area, in which so many of the trees were milled for housing and industry. The trees in the shelterbelt, originally planted by Miss Grant (the first Head teacher) are now over a hundred years old. They are majestic examples of the type of plantings undertaken in recent areas of settlement in the late nineteenth century.