Ange Tutt, who taught at Mt Pleasant School for a number of years, recorded the history of our school for an assignment in 2018. Below is a summary of her research (full history attached as a PDF below).

Mt Pleasant School

Mt Pleasant School began its history on a section of land donated by a local resident.  Prior to this, local children received their education at Redcliffs School which involved a 1.5 mile (2.4km) walk each way. 

By 1926, residents in Mt Pleasant began expressing an interest in opening a local school & began lobbying for their own school, expressing the difficulties they had with sending their children to Redcliffs School. These included; the long walk, a strong desire to keep children on the hills for health reasons, and the danger of young children travelling on the trams.  

Colonel Hobday, a local resident, offered to donate two acres of land for the school and also made financial arrangements for the building of the new school.  On 21 October 1927 the Education Board accepted this offer and the community was able to push ahead and erect a school. It was believed that the land donated was insufficient and funding was sought to acquire more land to increase the school site to 3 acres, 3 roods 23 perches. 

February 6th 1928 marked the opening of the first school on the hill.  Mt Pleasant School was one to be proud of, as it was one of the most modern schools in existence  - an ‘Open-Air School’. The new school’s first day roll had 19 students, by the end of 1928 the school had 34 pupils. 

Moving to our Current Site

By the 1960s, the size of the community with the impending subdivision of the Cannon Hill Estate into a possible 300 sections prompted the school to move to a larger block of land to cater for future demand. With a lack of vacant land near the original school, prohibitive building costs, and a playground area which was not big enough to cater for a larger school the Education Board stepped in, and in 1962 the decision was made to purchase land down the hill on Major Hornbrook Road to build a new school.

This change in site was popular with residents and helped to bridge the gap between upper Mt Pleasant and lower St Andrews Hill.  Students living on the newly developed area of Cannon Hill would not have to climb the hill to attend school. Additionally, those who lived on the lower section of the hill and chose to attend Redcliffs School now had a more accessible school on their doorstep. 

Moving from the rugged hills where children had adventures in a very natural environment to a playground that was a barren field was a big change. However, the new buildings and especially a school library were something pupils were very proud of and excited about.  The new school at 82 Major Hornbrook Road had four new classrooms, plus the two classrooms transferred from the old school site, an administrative block, a swimming pool and a Dental Clinic.

During the late 1960s and into the 70s, the school roll continued to grow. Accommodating increasing numbers of students led to the building of more classrooms. By July 1991 the school roll was 232. During the 90s the roll was stable with a growth of only 10 students by 1999.  The school hall was extended in 1991 and the library was extended in 1994. 

In 1996, the residential population of the Mt Pleasant community was 3,786 and by 2006 the population reached a peak of 4,158. The area had become a popular place to live with recreational activities such as walking tracks, mountain biking, windsurfing and yachting. The school roll reflected this, with 292 children enrolled, increasing to 327 children by 2008.

Redevelopment

In 2008 the school underwent a major redevelopment. Principal at the time, Scott Thelning and the Board of Trustees, discovered that the Ministry of Education had a building replacement policy. In summary, the policy stated that if the cost of bringing a building up to what they deemed ‘modern’ standards, was a certain percentage of the cost of a rebuild, other criteria like the age of buildings were met, and the school had a specified amount of Ministry of Education property funds to allocate towards it, a school could be placed on their building replacement programme. With the help of some very skilled parents with industry knowledge, Mt Pleasant School became part of the rebuild programme.  

Both blocks of classrooms were redesigned and replaced to meet the changing needs of the school and reflect the teaching and learning theories of the time.  This was the beginning of the ‘Modern Learning Environment’. Classrooms were designed with conjoining spaces between them to allow children and teachers the flexibility of creating different learning spaces.  One of the challenges for the architect, Tony Hull, was to fit the buildings between the boundaries of the school - Major Hornbrook Road and Cannon Hill Crescent, as staff at the time did not want to see the large playing field compromised. Therefore, basic shaped classroom designs were opted for, which were also cost effective to construct. 

The only rooms not included in this major redevelopment were Rooms 1, 2 and 3. These rooms were built in 1974 so were not old enough to be included and did not meet the criteria.  The school roll continued to increase and by 2010 Mt Pleasant School had 348 students.

Earthquake

At 12:51pm on February 22, 2011 Christchurch was hit by a major earthquake measuring 6.3.  The epicentre of the earthquake was only a few kilometres from Mt Pleasant School and it was pure luck that the earthquake struck at lunchtime, as all children were outside playing, thus avoiding major injuries as classrooms were turned upside down by the severity of the shaking. For staff and students the seriousness of this event quickly became obvious. Parents poured into the school grounds, collecting their children.  Many returned later, once they realised that their own homes were destroyed or seriously damaged.  The school, under the leadership of Principal Scott Thelning and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Martin Anderson, became the hub for the community. By the evening, the school field had become a camping ground for not only displaced parents, but also residents of the Mt Pleasant community.

Amenities were disrupted - sewerage, water and electricity, with broken pipes causing major disruption. In the days following, many roads were closed due to rock fall and slips, and local businesses were closed due to damage. Damage to school buildings caused school to close for a number of weeks while repairs were made to make the buildings safe. The school hall was ‘red stickered’ and had to be demolished. 

For many residents, the days, weeks, months and years following the quake were extremely challenging.  However, out of this came something very special.  The community pulled together to support and help one another with the school becoming a place to gather. 

Earthquake Repairs

Nine years on, in 2020, rooms 1, 2 and 3 were finally demolished and 4 new classrooms, a new library and new hall were opened.

History has shown that Mt Pleasant School has changed not only with the growth of the community, but has also changed to reflect ongoing education reforms and changes in society. Starting out as one classroom high on the hill, the school has continued to embrace change and challenge and established itself as an important part of the Mt Pleasant Community.

REFERENCES

Papers Past, Sun, 1920

Papers Past, Press, 1926

Papers Past, Press,1928

(Archives New Zealand, Education Board, 1927) 

(Mt Pleasant School 75th Jubilee Booklet, 2003). 

(Papers Past, Press, 1928) 

(Mt Pleasant School 75th Jubilee Booklet, 2003).

(Ogilvie, 1978)

(PMIS Ministry of Education, 2016)

(Archived School records, Mt Pleasant School)   

Statistics New Zealand, Census Data 1996, 2006)

(Thelning, Personal Communication, 2016) 

(Thelning, Personal Communication, October 2016)

(PMIS Ministry of Education, 2016) 

(Christchurch City Council Resources, 2014).