It is always good to take stock of where you have come from to appreciate where you are presently and plan for the future. All of us owe a great deal of what we see today to the founding families and participants that built an idea into reality and wholeheartedly trusted in the process.

On the 19th of April, we celebrated Te Rāwhiti kindergarten’s 30th birthday, some of our current and former staff had a beautiful afternoon with carrot cake made by Doris Zuur and a reminisce down memory lane of our humble beginnings. We had some special guests from the early days, and it was good to hear the tales of what those moments were like.

Here is an excerpt from the published 'biography' Te Rā Waldorf School is 21:

"Everything begins somewhere. Our school grew from two streams, one in Pukerua Bay and one on the Kāpiti Coast. Each stream had an organic food co-op, a study group, and a playgroup. “Te Kowhai Playgroup” began in 1987 and was registered with the Minisrty of Education. It ran in many places along the Kāpiti Coast stretching from Paekākākriki to Te Horo. The informal “Rainbow Playgroup” in Pukerua Bay began in 1991. The two streams combined and have become one big, beautiful river.

The kindergarten was built in the back garden of Bob and Doris Zuur’s home in Pukerua Bay in 1992-1993. Bill Duncan was the architect, builder and mastermind. His wife, Jill, was a kindergarten teacher who was running the Raumati playgroup. We had the children; we had the teacher, and we would soon have the building.”