Students find 'home' in Valley

The classrooms at Okoia are like most children's bedrooms ... bright and warm with heaps of precious, ongoing projects.

Everything is of great importance and must be kept, even though the collected piles are getting higher every day.

The latest project under way by every student in the school was for a presentation to the Okoia residents ``showing and telling'' them stories from the old days in the valley.

The students had discovered and researched stories which had stunned, surprised and fascinated them.

For example, they discovered a murder of a Chinese market gardener in 1922, a family massacre and another family who tunnelled into the hills and set up caves to hide from Maori raids.

The market gardener Chow Yat lived in the Okoia Valley in a small hut. On May 31, 1922, this humble, hard-working Chinese man was brutally shot four times.

To depict this gruesome murder, the students have drawn a large map showing his hut and the road ... they have even painted red blobs for blood where he ran bleeding along the road.

The students believe from their research that the quiet little Chinese man was murdered for a gold sovereign.

Next on the list of historical horrors was the Gilfillan family massacre.

John Gilfillan, his wife, Mary, and their six children lived on a farm at Matarawa. On the evening of April 18, 1847, a party of six young upriver Maori attacked the Gilfillan farm. John managed to escape and headed for Wanganui, some four hours away on foot. He believed he was the real target and that his family would not be harmed. He was wrong. When he returned the next morning with an armed party, he found Mary and three of their children dead and the homestead a smouldering ruin. Another daughter was badly wounded in the attack.

The students had detailed what happened and made a model of where the farm was.

Principal Deanna McKay said for a small valley there had certainly been some tragedies and the students had been amazed at what they had discovered.

Before researching and building a model of the significant, historic Strachan's cave, in the Kaukatea Valley Rd, senior students went for a visit to the cave.

``They loved it.''

Strachan's Cave was built by the Strachan family during the New Zealand Wars of the 1860s to protect the family if they were attacked in Maori raids.

The cave is about six metres long and five-and-a-half metres wide.

Ms Mckay said the historical project has had all the students buzzing for weeks.

``It's been really great. They have really enjoyed their research and putting it all together.''

And the junior school is thrilled with their two models, one of their classroom from the past and a model of their classroom today.

According to one small girl, it took 120 iceblock sticks to make all the furniture and wood slats in the historic classroom.

But in their ``today'' classroom, to ensure they had it faithfully copied, they even photographed the greenish carpet with red speckles then laid the picture on the floor of their model.

``So that it was just right _ and it is, eh?'' one small boy said .

Visiting the school that day, we were there at the same time as the Rotary Readers, members of local Rotary who come in every week and have children read to them.

``They are wonderful. They have been coming to the school for a long time now, and they really get to know the children. In fact, some of the children see them as surrogate grandparents,'' Ms McKay said.

Every morning there's a breakfast club at the school. Breakfast is free for all, because they are a decile one school and there is also a piece of fruit a day for every child.

With the school taking students from Year one to Year 8, the children experience long, happy years at the little rural school before going on to secondary school, Ms McKay said.

``It's very grounding for them, and when they leave to go on to college they are more than ready.''

Responsibility plays a big role for the senior Year 7 and 8 students, because they look out for younger children, she said.

``They make sure the little ones are always included, especially outside in the playground.''

The entire school sits together at lunchtimes in a covered area with picnic tables surrounded by pots of flowers, looking over fields and rolling hillside.

And as well as a big playing field, the children have chooks and a vegetable garden they look after.

``There's always great excitement when we have a meal with vegetables from the garden and eggs from our chooks. No, the chooks don't have names. It's better they just stay `the chooks'.''

Together with the caring family atmosphere it's obvious the children are encouraged to be individual and creative.''

Encouragement is uppermost for the students, and it is working _ you can see it in their faces and smiling eyes.

You can also see it in the wonderful monthly school newsletter, The Okoia Bugle, which is written by Ms McKay.

Last month, in her front-page editorial, she said young people must be inspired to have dreams.

``... and we must provide them with the skills and courage they need to pursue them.''

Also featured were two stories by students written and edited on the school computers.

This marvellous story is by Nicholas Matthews:

``There was a bad three-headed dragon made of darkness and danger. It lived around the castle door and it killed anyone if they tried to get in. But one day a man called Kevin came from New Zealand and he had a dark matter gun. And he caught the three-headed dragon and saved the King and Queen from the darkness and danger.''