Ponsonby Primary History
To tatou hitori o te kura
Celebrating over 150 years of schooling. Ponsonby Primary school was originally established in 1873.
OUR SCHOOL’S TIMELINE
1873
Ponsonby Primary School was originally established. The school was developed after a meeting of householders and was first named Dedwood District, Church Street School. It initially operated in a rented church hall.
1874
In the first two years of Church Street only boys attended. The principal was Mr J Addy September 1873 – November 18. The teacher Mr Carr and junior mistress Catherine Mary Lloyd joined within two years. The school had an initial roll of 74 local boys when it started.
1876
A ¾ acre of land was purchased for the new school. In 1876, the school saw 100 girls join.
1879
The school designed by Edward Mahoney opened. It featured leading-edge architecture, including big open-air, well-ventilated classrooms.
1881
The district was officially named Ponsonby, and by February, the school roll reached 440 students.
1883
Mr. Ready became principal.
1898
The school merged with the existing Church Street School.
1900
The roll continued to grow, reaching 832 students by 1900, exceeding the school’s capacity by 72 students. Overcrowding became a significant issue.
1921
Curran Street School was built, with the first pupils attending in 1922. Mr. Hill became the first principal of the new two-block building.
1931
Curran Street School was renamed Ponsonby Primary School. Mr. Fawcett was the principal. The school’s Pegasus symbol and motto “Steadfast and True” have remained unchanged.
1950’s
The pool was fundraised for and built on the site of the old junior block.
1960’s-1970’s
A large influx of Māori and Pasifika students arrived, and the roll fluctuated. In the late 1970s, the roll dropped to around 300 due to “white flight.”
1980’s
The school’s roll was affected by the depression and a subsequent drop in the 1970s. In the late 80s, Mr. Patterson, a local architect, led efforts to save the remaining 1921 building.
1997
The school roll was 254. Mrs. Anne Malcolm became the first female principal, stepping down in 2019. A new school library was added.
1998
The school celebrated its 125th jubilee. The roll sat at 370-390 students annually, with a 40-student waitlist.
1999
The school library was added to the campus.
2000
A school hall/gymnasium was built.
2005
An ICT suite was added to the school.
2008
A new food technology room was completed.
2011
Keith Bartlett, an ex-pupil, compiled a list of all the headmasters up until 1963.
2020
Sanjay Rama became the principal of Ponsonby Primary School.
The Pegasus symbol and motto ‘Steadfast and True’ have not changed throughout the school’s history
This information is according to 95 year old past pupil -oldest pupil at the 125 jubilee in 1998
Proudly celebrating the identities and cultures of our whanau and inspiring the leaders, thinkers and dreamers of our tomorrow
Ponsonby Primary School Today
Since 1997, the original school building has been modified and a junior block added. The administration and staffroom areas were moved to create two extra teaching spaces. A library was added to the site in 1999. A school hall/gymnasium built in 2000. An ICT suite added in 2005. There is a new resource room as well as a new classroom block to be built in the junior area.
The school pool has been fully refurbished and is now heated which provides greater usage over the year. A new food technology room was completed by the end of 2008. The buildings are all network cabled and have full wireless capability. The present focus is to develop info technological capability and the trial for ‘Bring your own device’, was started in 2012.
