Accessible version
by Sam Van Buuren

Our History

The school is proud of its long history and traditions.

Here is a short review of how far we have come:

It was on October 21 in 1870 that the first Winchester School – known then as the Waihi Crossing School was opened. 49 children started at the school on the first day.

Our first school was situated, not on our present site but about 100metres due east of the Masonic Lodge.

In 1887, the school caught on fire during the night and all that remained was the chimney and land around it. Until a new school could be built some of the children continued to have lessons in the library and school house.

In 1888 a new school was built on the present site.

It was not until 1891 that it was renamed Winchester School at the suggestion of a Mr Inwood who had been a Chairperson of the School Committee.

It was named after the English town that was his birthplace. During the First World War many ex-pupils went off to Europe, to distant battlefields. Others participated in various patriotic duties. To honour those who died a memorial ‘The Monument’ that still stands at the end of the school grounds was built. The project was financed partly by school fundraising.

In 1955 Te Awa School closed and a number of children attending there transferred to Winchester.

In 1977 one of the greatest changes in schooling happened when the Form 1 and 2 children left the school to go through to Temuka and we became a Year 0-6 school.

In 1990 the Board bought a school bus (we have two now and a minibus) to start the first school bus run.

Then in 2005 we changed our name for the last time, becoming Winchester Rural School, as we merged with Milford at the closure of the Milford School.

The layout of the schoolgrounds and the buildings have changed over the years and continue to evolve.

In 2020 we were hoping to celebrate our school’s 150th anniversary with a jubilee and reunion.

However, the Covid pandemic meant we had to postpone. This was not the first time a Jubilee has had to be postponed.

The 75th Jubilee was delayed for 2 years because of World War 2. Instead it was celebrated in October 1947.

We are intending to celebrate our 155th anniversary in 2025.

It is humbling to be part of such a long history and to know that so many people have contributed over the years to establishing and running our school.