Why is this place significant?

Why is this place Category 1 / Category 2?

EARLY HISTORY OF TE KOTUKUTUKU SCHOOL HOUSE: Around Tauranga Harbour, the main villages were at Matakana, Maungatapu, Otumoetai, and Motuhoa with several smaller settlements around the harbour shore. Matakana Island was once an extensive area of fertile land. Agriculture and horticulture became the two most primary sources of activity on Matakana Island and in particular, the growing of maize and kumara. Following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, a great deal of attention was focused on 'civilizing' Maori by encouraging them to abandon traditional Maori cultural values, customs and language in favour of those European. By way of assimilation, schooling was adopted as one of the most effective ways in which to achieve this objective. The history of Te Kotukutuku School House on Matakana Island started with a written request from a local elder Mr. Hohepa Paama (Palmer). The letter, dated 17 June 1896, requested that a school house be built on his land at Opureora of which he would gift two acres towards. Two fellow locals supported Hohepa's initiative and also donated some of their shares in the Opureora Block in order to meet the criteria for the establishment of a Native School. The Native Schools Code stipulated that 'If at least ten Maoris, actually residing in any locality, petition the Minister of Education for a Native School, and if they, or any of them, offer to give at least two acres of land suitable for a school site... the Government may establish a school in that locality'. On 17 June 1896, Mr Hohepa Paama contacted Mr James Pope, the Organizing Inspector for Native Schools, with his proposal to establish a school. In November 1896, the five acre site was surveyed at Opureora and shortly after, building of the school house commenced. On 10 November 1897, the school house was completed and officially opened and bestowed with the name 'Te Kotukutuku', this also being the name of the site on which the school house stands. The Native Schools Code stipulated that European husband and wife teams were the most suitable candidates for the roles of headmaster and sewing mistress, and consequently, families were relocating to Matakana Island. Suitable person(s) will be selected to take charge of the schools. As a rule the Government will appoint a married couple, the husband to act as master of the school, and the wife as sewing mistress. The master will be expected to teach the native children to read and write the English language, and to speak it.' He will further instruct them in the rudiments of arithmetic and geography and generally endeavour to give them such culture as may fit them to become good citizens. It is not necessary that teachers should, at the time of their appointment, be acquainted with the Maori tongue. In all cases English is to be used by the teacher when he is instructing the senior classes. In the junior classes the Maori language may be used for the purpose of making the children acquainted with the meanings of English Words and sentences. The aim of the teacher however, should be to dispense with the use of Maori as soon as possible.' At the time, life on Matakana Island relied heavily on agriculture and horticulture. With the introduction of schooling, it had an adverse effect on the economy as priorities for the students changed from seasonal work to education. However, as a matter of family welfare, education was often compromised as seasonal work helped supplement family income and the imperative to continue to attend school regularly created tension. As noted by one of the teachers at the school in the 1940s, this was not a measure of the parents' lack of support for the school and higher education as on the whole they liked the children coming to school except when they were needed at home for something important'. Evidently it was very much a matter of economic circumstance. ‘Farming was the main occupation on Matakana. When the school opened in 1897, cropping - particularly wheat - was the principal activity, with maize, kumara and dairying activities becoming increasingly significant throughout the twentieth century. The children's role in the family economy was significantly important for their contribution to the economy was through working the fields. The necessity to accommodate the demands of this role became a concern for the European teachers given that in accordance with Pakeha law, there was an expectation for the community to conform to school regulations relating to compulsory attendance.' For this reason, the initial school years were hard for both pupils and teachers. With pupils often absent from school, resident teachers became increasingly frustrated by the fluctuating numbers in attendance. A lack of essential services and facilities also meant that some resident teachers would only stay on the island short term. The isolated nature of Matakana Island also played a role in the length of time teachers would stay on the island. The Te Kotukutuku School House is important to the local community of Matakana Island because not only was it established from local initiative, but many local kaumatua and kuia (elders) were educated there. Even today, many local elders associate the Te Kotukutuku School House with their childhood experiences of social and cultural development as a result of European influence. Education was, and has always been, acknowledged by the older community of Matakana as a very important vehicle for development and progression of the youth. At the time of its establishment, Te Kotukutuku School House not only facilitated the teachings of children in their current situations at home and in the community, but it also helped facilitate the preparation of young students before they sought secondary within the wider community, before heading off to boarding school. The Te Kotukutuku School House was highly regarded as a place of opportunity for the children and youth on Matakana Island and was viewed as a vehicle for social, cultural and economical change. Apart from the attainment of new knowledge and the emphasis placed on education, this change was apparent in the shift of community economy. NATIVE SCHOOL ACT 1867: In 1867 the Native Schools Act was passed. This Act focused on incentives such as bringing non-tutored but intelligent and high-spirited Maori children in line with European culture and to a large extent, by instructing them in the use of the English language, and placing European families to serve as teachers in native schools. It was believed that these families would be exemplars of a new and more desirable way of living within a Maori settlement'. The Native Schools Act was disestablished 102 years later in 1969. From 1900, it grew steadily from 89 primary schools to a peak of 166 schools in the 1950s. In 1887, the Pakeha head of the system, Mr James Pope, saw the schools as centres for spreading European ideas and habits among Maori.' The Native Schools Code remained the standard method of practice for Maori in education for just over a century; until the introduction of mainstream schooling in 1969. MODIFICATIONS TO THE TE KOTUKUTUKU SCHOOL HOUSE: In spite of hardships experienced in the earlier school years, the school roll showed a gradual increase, so much so that by 1929, the committee wrote to the Department of Education about the concern they had with over-crowding. In 1930, a new classroom and shelter shed was built to temporarily address the problem of overcrowding and drainage. However, there was still no adequate permanent water supply or electricity. In 1931, the horse-drawn school bus became the primary source of transport. The pupils, who used to walk for long distances across muddy roads, now had the opportunity to be transported to and from school by way of a new school bus. In 1937 the School Milk Scheme was introduced to provide half a pint of milk to each New Zealand child and the scheme ran for 30 years. At the end of the 1930s, the Department of Education grew more concerned about the facilities available at Te Kotukutuku for the supply of school milk and given the ongoing overcrowding issues, plans were made to modify and convert the school building to a new open air block in the next few years. This would accommodate for the increasing number of pupils. In February 1940, tenders were called for the construction of a new teacher's residence and for the relocation of the original building and ‘although the building is no longer on its original site, it is still on the school grounds and retains its original orientation'. In 1945 a dental clinic was proposed for one of the former rooms, and the milk-room became a bedroom for the junior assistant. The main room was the school room and the other smaller room was positioned at a forty-five degree angle to form an ‘L' shape, which served as the accommodation block for the teachers. The Te Kotukutuku School House was relocated to its present-day site in 1970 and still used as a school, pre-school and further to that, a store. In the 1990s it became an accommodation dwelling for the local school caretaker when the addition of the mezzanine floor, cupboards and dado were added. The Te Kotukutuku School House was the focus for the Matakana Island community for over seventy years and functioned as a school house until the late 1960s. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS: The Te Kotukutuku School House was designed according to the Department of Public Works plan (PWD 17930). Later adaptations to the building were proposed and planned by teachers based at the school, although the current building layout is very close to its original design of the combined school house and master's residence, as was specified in the PWD plan. Te Kotukutuku School House is a modest building and is similar to other native school houses built around the same period, that being a combination of a school house and residence which distinguishes native school houses from mainstream schools. After the initial correspondence that took place to establish the Te Kotukutuku School House in 1896 and more than two hundred years later, it is still a very significant and valuable building for the community of Matakana Island. Despite its poor condition, it is in good condition for the type of building and time period that it represents. There is a rarity of school houses that remain standing today; two other school houses of similar structure remain in Manaia and Karioi. The Manaia School House is considered to be a sister school to Te Kotukutuku and was built around the same time, of the same design. The Te Kotukutuku School House is a representation of over a century of Maori education on Matakana Island. The dreams and aspirations expressed by Hohepa Paama and others was what triggered the idea of introducing education to the rural and isolated setting of Matakana Island. Despite the principles behind the Native School Code, the Te Kotukutuku School House is fondly remembered by the elders, who as children, were educated in its rooms and taught the language, customs and values of European culture. The Te Kotukutuku School House is the oldest surviving European building on Matakana Island.

DESCRRIPTION OF SITE: The immediate site of Te Kotukutuku School House is a flat, predominantly grass covered site, which is elevated slightly in comparison to the rest of the school surroundings. There is a small amount of both native and non-native vegetation growing around the north and west sides of the School House. A concrete path also runs around these two sides of the building. EXTERIOR OF THE SCHOOL HOUSE: Te Kotukutuku School House is a single-storey building with an L-shaped plan on an east-west primary axis. The classroom is located in the eastern portion of the building, orientated to the north-south secondary axis. ROOF: The school house has an L-shaped gabled roof with a 45 degree pitch over the schoolroom, and a 35 degree pitch over the teacher's residence. The roofing is short-run corrugated iron with galvanized steel valleys. The barges are overhung with wide timber flashings. The barge to the classroom has a plain planted board to the top edge. The bottom edge is arrised and ends in a flair. At the north end of the School House the barge pitches into a sub-barge over the entry porch. The barge of the teacher's residence is also of wide timber, however it is not arrised or flaired, but the top plant of this barge is a stepped quarter round moulding. The eaves are covered with a fascia board. The spouting is plain quarter-round pipes with external bracketing, with galvanized down pipes. There is a metal ridge ventilator centred over the classroom, and a tank platform has been built at the north east corner of the classroom roof. Beside this is a remnant metal flue. EXTERNAL WALLS: The exterior of the school house is clad in horizontal lapped boards, with boxed corners and window facings with 30mm scribers. The window facings are plain boards, except on the windows of the teacher's residence, which are arrised on the internal edge. Most of the windows are double-hung, with deep cills, and no sub-cill board. NORTH FAÇADE: The windows on the northern gable are a replacement of earlier windows, and consist of two pairs of sliding folding windows, with awning windows above. The louvre panel above the main window at this end has been covered. The connections for electrical services are located on this façade. The original entry porch to the classroom is located in the north-west corner of the classroom, and is lined with horizontal tongue & groove (tongue and groove) boards, with dowel to the changes of angle. The ceiling of the porch is also tongue and groove, with vent-holes drilled into the inside board. There is a small timber window in the porch, divided by a vertical glazing bar. The door into the building is not original, and the wall in the known position of the original entry to the classroom is covered by particle board sheet. EAST FAÇADE: The east elevation consists of two sets of two double-hung windows that look into the classroom. On the north edge of the façade is a door into the classroom that is a later addition to the original form of the School House. SOUTH FAÇADE: The main windows in the classroom south gable are a bank of three double-hung windows, with horizontally pivoting windows above the double-hung windows. Centred above the gable windows at each end is a small timber louvered panel, finished to match the windows. A later window addition into the bathroom is located on the western end of this façade, next to the covered porch. This window is has a fixed lower pane, and a top awning. A fixed timber louvre for ventilating the kitchen safe is located near the middle of the south façade, to the east of two double hung windows that look into the teacher's residence. There is a door into the classroom on the eastern side of the façade, which is a later addition to the building. The west end of the south façade has a porch leading into the teacher's residence. This porch is a simple lean-to, lined with vertical tongue and groove boards, and a roof made of a flat sheet of galvanized iron. The door within this porch dates from the alterations of the 1950s. WEST FAÇADE: The west façade has two sash windows that look into the teacher's residence. INTERIOR OF THE SCHOOL HOUSE: The interior of the school house is still divided into two distinct parts; the classroom, which still has many of its original features; and the teacher's residence, which has been frequently modified, and most of the features and finishes in this part of the building date to the 1950s. CLASSROOM INTERIOR: The classroom is within the eastern gable, which runs north to south. This was originally a single open room; however a mezzanine is now located at the southern end of the room, and the area below the mezzanine has been walled off with cupboards built in. The floor is wide tongue and groove timber boards running the length of the room, and is painted. At the centre of the western wall a section of the flooring has been replaced where the chimney was originally located (now removed). At the south west corner of the room the floor has been overlaid with a galvanized iron panel. An overlay is also located in the north-east corner directly below the flue remnant on the roof, indicating an earlier wood burner. An opening on the west wall to the teacher's residence has been created where the chimney once was, and is finished with wide Pinus radiata boards. A 215mm high moulded skirting runs around the base of the internal walls. There is a vertical tongue and groove dado around the room, up to a moulded dado rail which is level with the window cills. The original tongue and groove dado has been replaced with ply-wood along the western wall. Above the dado, the walls are lined in horizontal tongue and groove with dowels to the intersections between the walls, and between the walls and ceiling. The interior of the windows at the northern end have plain architraves, and the windows on the south and eastern walls have moulded architraves. Two evenly set timber scissor trusses tie the side walls, and support the roof. The edges of the timber trusses are stop arrised, and they are bolted to the walls on metal plates. There are remnants of pilaster posts against the walls beneath the trusses which run down from the spring point of each truss to the floor. The truss finishes to the pilaster with a fretted bracket, which is bolted to the bottom chord of the truss and to the pilaster. The ceiling is also tongue and groove boards, with dowel at the intersections. The ceiling follows the pitch of the roof up to a finished height of 4.69m, at which point the ceiling runs flat. Three fretted ceiling roses with ventilation voids on circular moulded bases run along this flat span. TEACHER'S RESIDENCE: This part of the school house has been altered many times, and in the 1950s the walls were relined, the doors changed, and the laundry and bathroom upgraded. In the south-east corner of the room is a very basic kitchen, with units built of particle board. Beside this is a bathroom which forms a partition for the laundry in the south west corner. The northwest corner of the teacher's residence is the bedroom. The Te Kotukutuku School House would have been a standard building of the 1800s. The few embellishments include elegant trusses, fretted ceiling vents and a large metal ventilator at the centre of the ridge and interior. Within the classroom, most of the original finishes from the earliest period of the building remain. An impressive feature of the room are three fretted rose ventilators centred between the trusses and the end walls on a circular moulded base.

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A fully referenced Registration Report is available from the Maori Heritage Team of the NZHPT at National Office in Wellington. Please note that entry on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rarangi Korero identifies only the heritage values of the property concerned, and should not be construed as advice on the state of the property, or as a comment of its soundness or safety, including in regard to earthquake risk, safety in the event of fire, or insanitary conditions.