Redwood School… blasts from the past!

I have been researching the history of Redwood School lately and have begun to write a brief summary of the school over the years 1969 to 2019 for our school's 50th anniversary… here is a snippet or two:

What’s in a name?

The Redwood area, known to the Maori as Te Kete Wananga o Te Kopare O Iho, the swampy terrain made it perfect for food gathering. They would hunt the native rat, quail, grey and paradise ducks, shags and eels. Flax, among much other plant life, was also gathered from this area. Also flowing through the swamp was the Otukaikino which is now known as the Styx River. The area was renamed the Styx by early settlers.

The redwood trees

In 1851 settlers Thomas and Elizabeth Preston arrived to eke out a living, settling in the area of the Styx. They had seven children, three of them sons. Legend has it that Thomas planted three sequoia trees during the 1860s, one for each of his boys. Two of the trees survived through to the at least the 1970s, when one was felled by a storm. The one tree now remains, in the grounds of the hotel/motel complex on the corner of Prestons and Main North Road.

It was in 1967 that the number of houses in the area had grown sufficiently for the local residents to request a name for their growing suburb. Thus the suburb of Redwood was born. It was the following year, in November 1968, that the school name was also decided on. The school name could have been either Preston or Redwood School.

The place we stand… or live!

Our turangawaewae is the place we feel most attached to, often our place of origin or where our family came from. We are all associated with Redwood as a suburb. We all have an interest in this place and for most it is the place we stand, or live, in.

To know the history of an area brings greater attachment to that area. Te Kete Wananga o Te Kopare O Iho/Styx/Redwood… the basket of learning to hunt and gather… a place where food gathering and learning to catch food took place. It is quite apt that the current Redwood School sits on land that for hundreds of years was already a place of learning for young people learning to gather and catch food. This area helped equip young people for life, as the school is doing now, a key part of our current motto being ‘ready for life’.

To have our children feel they have a home, a place they are positively attached to, is very important for their stability and security. They need places and spaces where there is consistency and safety in an ever-changing world. If home and school can work hard to bring this about, that sense of place and belonging, then our tamariki from Te KeteWananga o Te Kopare O Iho/Redwood are more likely to succeed in life and give positively back to others.