Bicentenary 2016: The First New Zealand School

Maori leaders visiting Australia invited a Pakeha (in this case, English) teacher to come to New Zealand to teach the children to read and write. On 12th August 1816, 200 years ago this year, the first school in New Zealand opened. Twenty-four Maori children came on that day, and each had his or her name written down. The teacher Thomas Kendall noted on the roll that the students were to learn their ‘alphabet’ or ‘monosyllables’. Te Pahi’s son, seventeen-year-old ‘Towha’ [Tōwai], who knew the alphabet, was the teacher’s assistant. To commemorate the school’s opening, our article describes the first school and some of what went on there, and comments on its short 2-year life.