She says coming to Ōtamarākau brought back memories of her own schooling in the country.
Now, in her late 70s, she still works as a relief teacher and voluntarily as a teacher aide.
She knew nothing of the naming of the building until the day it was dedicated.
''I was shocked. I didn't know it was happening and I was a bit bewildered,'' she says.
The old dental clinic has been transformed.
''They've made it into a little tutoring room and we very badly needed a space like that in the school. It's super. I feel very humbled by it all.''
As well as relieving in the classroom once a week, Robyn helps out tutoring those students who need a bit of a boost for their reading.
''Literacy assistance would be a good way of describing it,'' she says.
The students are in good hands as Robyn was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours in recognition of her 50-year contribution to education, sport, health and welfare.
She established some of the earliest reading recovery programmes at Gisborne's Te Wharau Primary School.
''I actually really love the challenge of teaching and the kids are so motivating and certainly with the literacy tutoring, it's a challenge to myself to make that improvement for the kids.''
She says education has provided her with an amazing career.
Health, gymnastics and music have been other passions.
''One of the things that I've always done since very early was take gymnastics at school. I try to get away from it, but tend to keep coming back to it.
''I think it does such a lot of good for kids to do gymnastics - the physical side of it is good, but also the discipline it teaches as well, so it's always been a big love of mine - although for the last couple of years it's all been affected by Covid.''
Robyn has been on five different year-long teaching exchanges to England, Canada, the Arctic, South Korea and the US, describing them as the highlights of her career.
She helped set up an English speaking school in South Korea and says teaching in the Arctic was ''fantastic''.
''One of the things I've loved as a teacher was the opportunity to do those exchanges with another teacher - I'd take their job and they'd take mine.
''I was able to take my family with me, it was just fantastic, and very good professional development, learning how they do things in a different country.''
She says she still draws on the experiences now.
''My favourite area to teach was the new entrants. They are amazing because kids come in and they can hardly hold a pencil and by the end of the year they are writing stories and they are reading. It's just fantastic what you can achieve in that year.''
Current principal Trish Reddish says the former dental clinic hadn't been used for a good few years and had become a storage area that hadn't been well looked after.
''It had all the gardening equipment and things in and was very run down. With some funding for the ministry for a learning support space we completely gutted it and made it into two separate rooms.''
The larger room is used by teachers when they are on their curriculum release time.
''They can go and do some study or marking and any assessments they want to do with children. It also doubles up as an interview space or a space for meeting with parents.
''It's a really useful addition to the school because we are really short of those sorts of spaces.''
The area around the building has also been tidied up.
''It's quite near the front of the school so it was good to be able to renovate it and make it look good again.''
Trish says Robyn has been the heart of the school since 2001.
''The children love being with her and she still enjoys teaching the younger end of the school She brings all the musical instruments in and other resources and skills that we don't have - we don't have all that experience and knowledge so she's a blessing to the school.''
