HISTORY
History
Warkworth has a long history of education. The Mahurangi Presbyterian Church first initiated the provision of a school by agreeing, on 23 December 1861, to build a new church that would also be used as a schoolhouse. At the same meeting, the committee resolved to build a house for the schoolmaster. It is thought the school opened in 1862, situated on McKinney Road in the vicinity of the Presbyterian cemetery. The records of the Auckland Provincial Council indicate that the school came under their auspices on 11 November 1862.
First school, McKinney Road
In 1870, an application was successfully made for the use of the public hall, built six years earlier, as a school. In 1872, a schoolhouse was constructed on the Percy Street site which over the years, was added to multiple times.
By 1877, the school came under the jurisdiction of the Auckland Education Board and the school minute book provides a glimpse into some of the educational activities. Interestingly, Education Outside the Classroom (EOTC) was a feature of learning even in these early days. The minutes report that a steamer was chartered for a trip to Kawau Island, encouraged by Sir George Grey, and later still, in 1890 and 1891, trips to Tiritiri Matangi were taken. Nowadays, EOTC continues to be strongly supported by the Board of Trustees.
Education at the Percy Street school saw growing numbers of students to the extent that surrounding facilities were brought into use to accommodate them all. These included the Church of England Parish Hall, the vestry to the Methodist Church, and the gymnasium adjacent to the Town Hall, evidence that a new school was needed.
Warkworth School, Percy Street, circa 1930
The Second World War interrupted the development of the new school, however, prior to the outbreak of war, a new site was negotiated. Two and a half acres of Shoesmith Domain were purchased, together with the right to use a further two and a half acres during school hours. (This understanding remains today.) The school opened with its first classes in June 1945, with the official opening held in April 1946. The roll continued to grow over the years and again, the school did not have enough classrooms to accommodate all students. New classrooms were built and later, additional prefabs were brought on site.
By the mid nineteen seventies, roll numbers had recovered from the decline that resulted from Form 1 and 2 students (Year 7 and 8) moving to the newly opened Mahurangi College in 1974. With the roll growing to 530 students, the Ministry of Education was persuaded to build a new school on a site it had purchased several years earlier on the northern side of Hill Street. The build included a new administration block, a boiler house and seven classrooms, of which five were new relocatable classrooms and two were transported across the street from the original school. Warkworth School, divided by Hill Street, was now established as a split-site school. Over the years, additional prefabs were added, taken away, then added again in response to fluctuations in student numbers and became a school made up of two parts – a junior school (Years 1 – 3) located on the northern side of Hill Street and a senior school (Years 4 – 6) on the southern side.
Warkworth School, Hill Street, 1987
By 2013, not only was the roll growing, but the prefabs on the northern site (the junior school) were in such poor condition that significant remedial work was needed. After lengthy investigations and viability studies had been completed, the decision was made to rebuild the junior school and, at the same time, review the work needed to modernise the senior school. This began a long period of construction spanning five and a half years from 2015 to 2020.
Construction of the new junior campus began in May 2015 and was completed by April 2016. The new buildings were designed as Innovative Learning Environments (ILEs) providing the equivalent of sixteen new teaching spaces, created in four learning communities of four teaching spaces each. A new administration building together with an adjoining sports hall was also built.
Upon completion of the junior campus, attention turned to the senior school. By this time, the school roll was approaching 650 students and Warkworth had been identified as a satellite city of Auckland with significant urban growth predicted. After multiple building assessments, investigations and reviews, it was eventually decided that, to meet the needs of the now growing Warkworth township, the buildings opened in 1945 would be demolished to make way for a new two-storey learning block. It would be constructed as an innovative learning environment, consistent with that built earlier on the junior campus, and would occupy the smallest possible footprint and preserve the maximum amount of land for outdoor activities. Demolition, scheduled to begin in 2018 did not begin until February 2019, and further delays as a result of Covid-19 lockdowns meant the new school did not open until October 2020.
One thing that has been consistent about Warkworth over time is its growth. Right now, however, the school has newly-built, high-quality learning facilities with teaching spaces to accommodate current and future students with provision for further expansion should this be necessary.
Acknowledgement:
I wish to express my grateful thanks to the writers of the publication ‘Warkworth District Schools’ Centenary 1862 – 1962’, from which the historical information has been sourced.
Cynthia Holden
2021
Warkworth School circa 1995
Year 6 2013
Returning the sod following the completion of the Junior campus rebuild.
Turning the sod prior to the Senior Campus rebuild 2018
New Senior campus 2020
New learning space for Year 6 2020
