Our Rohe

The Iwi for this area is Te Atiawa and the Hapu is Ngāti Te Whiti. The ancient pa site Okoare lies opposite us. The Waimea stream named by Māori means “hidden or forgotten water”. The Hurdon-Frankley area was bought by Governor Grey from the Māori and opened up for settlement in 1848. The land was described as fern and light bush. One of the earliest settlers was Peter Elliot who came to Taranaki with his family in the Amelia Thompson in 1841. His farm, which he named Hurdon was situated in the vicinity of the present Elliot Heights and the Hurdon cemetery. In August 1853, he donated a quarter acre of land to the primitive Methodist church and a school was established-the beginnings of education in our rohe. The land troubles of the 1860’s had an effect upon the settlers in this area and during this time, most deserted their homes and farms, occasionally returning to check their stock. One settler, George Patterson was shot and a memorial plaque remains as a reminder on the corner of Patterson road. It was the late 1860’s before families were able to return to the area to live. The education act of 1877 introduced the establishment of free, secular and compulsory education and the first Frankley Road school was opened on July 1st 1878 with a roll of 4 rising to 11 by the end of the week. This school operated until 1910 when a “new two roomed school” was built. The “new”school now a private residence still stands and is clearly visible on the junction of Tukapa Street and Frankley Road. The present Frankley school (opposite us) was built on land belonging to the Duncan and Davies nursery, officially opened on April 7th, 1969. The school has enjoyed the legacy of that association ever since, with much of the landscaping and planting being attributed to the nursery. The Hurdon area has continued to grow as families move into the area and much of it is now urbanised.

The Redwoods stands on seven acres and is part of a small 15 acre dairy farm bought by the Bell family from Inglewood in the 1940's. Jimmy Bell (raised on the farm) and his wife Rona (now in their eighties) still lived together in a house overlooking the farm. Sadly Jimmy recently passed away. According to Jimmy, early settlers planted and grew onions in the flat area by the stream where our kindergarten now stands. Jimmy planted the redwoods in the 1980s before retiring in 1990. A magnificent Douglas fir also stands on the land to commemorate the passing of Rona’s father who was from Scotland. Jan and her whānau have planted 5 oaks to represent their family and as a nod to husband Francis’s Irish heritage whose family farm in Ireland is called Oakhill farm. To acknowledge this link, the teaching team planted an oak sapling from the Forsythe farm onto our new Redwoods kindergarten garden.

The redwoods are tall, strong trees who reach skywards and act as our guardians – we thought it fitting to name our kindergarten after them and as a tribute to Jimmy and the Bell family.