Our History

1910 - 1929

1910 Householders requested another school in the district.
1911 Site purchased from Joughin farm and Mandeville estate.
1912 Main building erected in brick by Craig Brothers. Maungawhau District School established with Mr. F.J. Ohlson as Principal.
1913 Maungawhau District School opened for instruction with 153 students. Numbers rose to 454 by the end of the year.
1914 Infant building of three rooms opened.
1915 – 1918 The school roll rose to 772. Three more classrooms constructed
1922 Swimming pool and buildings constructed
1928 Children turned away from school due to overcrowding. School bell purchased and hung from balcony.
1929 Home and School Association formed.

1930 - 1948

1930 School logo designed. Design displays the Horn of Plenty, the Book of Learning, the intertwined initials MDS and the Latin version of the motto “Tonus Facit Musican” (It is Tone that Makes Music).

1931 Dental Clinic opened. School colours of yellow and black adopted. Four classrooms get electricity. School is connected to sewer.
1932 Old Pupils Association formed.
1937 Silver Jubilee celebrated in December.
1940 The roll has dropped to 527. The Mount Eden Borough Council allows 500 gallons of free water per child per year.
1944 PTA founded. First year of our iconic School Fair.
1946 Boundary change requested.
1947 Polio epidemic. School Fair cancelled.
1948 School closed for Term 1 due to polio epidemic. Lessons taught through correspondence. Gestetner purchased and school joins the National Library Service.

1949 - 1972

1949 Roll is 755 students. Additional prefabs requested and first school secretary employed.
1950 – 1952 Three further prefabs erected.

1954 Temporary hall fashioned through the installation of folding doors between two classrooms.
1956 Power is installed in all classrooms.
1959 Hall opened on 10th October by Mr. Clive Jones, Mayor of Mount Eden.
1960 Central heating installed in all buildings.
1962 Filter installed in baths. Temporary library in Room 7. Adults supervise school patrols. New gates installed. Secretary’s office built.
1963 Golden Jubilee celebrated on 15-17 March.
1964 Swimming and tennis club formed.
1972 Swimming and tennis pavilion opened.

1973 - 1987

1973 PTA school lunch scheme begins.
1975 Open plan Junior block opened in October. New library built but initially used as classroom. Southern changing sheds opened up for spectator seating.
1976 Previous infant block demolished. Flags and parent roster begin for Mt Eden Road.
1978 Flags and parent roster begin on Balmoral road.
1979 Old main building demolished.
1980 Adventure playground built.
1986 Learners swimming pool built.
1987 Terraced seating built for pool spectators. Storm water retention scheme approved. Two sections bought. Mural depicting the history of the Maungawhau area painted by staff and students and mounted on the rear wall of the hall.

1988 - 2003

1988 75th Jubilee held on the 18-20 March. Playing field developed and fitness trail built.
1995 New school library built and opened by Prime Minister Jim Bolger on 17th October.
1997 Two storey senior block built.
1999 Administration area constructed. New staffroom built.

2000 Second storey built on junior classrooms. Junior playground erected. School website launched.
2003 School enrolment zone reduced in size.

2005 - 2014

2005 Fencing erected along Ellerton Road boundary.
2006 Final roll at 712 students.
2007 Library is extended to house all resources and renamed ‘The Discovery Centre.
2010 Second storey built above junior classrooms 1 and 2.
2011 Middle school playground built.
2012 Centenary celebrated on 30-31 March. Boiler demolished – space transformed into Sports Shed.
2013 Learners swimming pool demolished.
2014 Room 13 to 18 refurbished.

2015 - 2017

2015 New N4L (Network 4 learning) Fibre cables installed.
Our school garden resurrected in preparation for Garden to Table programme.
2016 New junior playground and sunshade installed.
Ministry of Education funded new fencing around the whole school site.
New bilingual signage with new school logo around entire school.
Additional outdoor seating positioned around middle school.
Garden to Table programme commenced, for Years 3 and 4 in the OSC room with an upgraded kitchen.
2017 Middle school playground sunshade installed.
New senior playground installed.
‘Raise the Roof’ project to upgrade the tennis courts with all-weather turfed surface and shade structure.  This outdoor learning space is named ‘Tuanui’ meaning Big Roof.

2018 - 2020

2018 Tuanui Courts completed from the ‘Raise the Roof’ project.
2019 Senior Habitat is built renovating the ground floor of Rooms 19, 20 & 21.
Whole school is repainted.
2020 New astroturf laid on Tuanui courts.
March to May Global pandemic – Corona Virus (Covid-19) hit and all schools in New Zealand were closed due to Nationwide lockdown in Term 1 and Term 2.  All students adapted to learning remotely from home for over a month with regular contact with their teachers through Google Classroom and Zoom video meetings.
Annual School Fair cancelled in November also due to Covid-19 restrictions throughout the year and replaced with an online Auction on Trademe and then a Carnival Day.  Several lockdowns to reduce infection rates continue to affect the the nation but New Zealand has been highly successful at ensuring relatively normal life through the pandemic compared to most other nations in 2020 who continue to be shut down for months on end.
Time capsule buried at Carnival Day and due to be opened in 26 years time when our school celebrates its 100th School Fair.

2021 -

2021 Vaccine finally released to combat Covid-19 which commenced roll out in NZ in March to front line workers and other vulnerable New Zealanders.  The rest of the population will be vaccinated throughout the year.  Borders continue to be shut to the world with an Australian bubble opening up in April to boost our economy with our neighbours.  Death rate as of April 14th 2021 is only 26 in NZ but 2.95 million deaths globally.
July – Hall renovation begins.
August 2021 – The highly infectious Covid Delta variant is detected in NZ for first time and NZ goes into lockdown again.  Death rates around the globe reach 4.38 million.