Thames (NZ): Old School Records

For those of you looking for extra snippets on your ancestors, school records provide a little insight into their lives. Link this with newspaper reports and you get a more complete view.

First, to new readers there is a list of Thames Schools online, and The Treasury and Thames Library have school registration records.

The NEWS today is that the New Zealand Archives have been busy digitising records since I last wrote, with many schools already online up to 1920!

Here is an example. Search for Thames North School. Here are a selection of the results.

Click on 1919 Thames North School - then the hyperlink

You can then enlarge or download the file. Some are single sheets, while others are multi-page pdf files. In this example for 1919, there were four pupils in Standard Six. Alexander Campbell, May Edgar, Wilma Herival and Walter Lang. Their ages ranged from 15 years six months to 13 years seven months.  This was not uncommon, with many not going onto Thames High School, instead staying and completing their Proficiency or Competency Certificate.

As you can see from one examination sheet you can gain, information on: age, class, attendance, examination scores in the main curriculum subject areas. Different files often include extra notes from the head teacher or examiner.

Combine reports like this with newspaper reports and you can gain more knowledge of the childrens' time at school. Two of the Standard Six pupils, were awarded Gott Memorial Prizes for Sewing (May Edgar) and Composition (Wilma Herival).

 

THAMES STAR, VOLUME LIII, ISSUE 14072, 20 DECEMBER 1919

Check out the other records for Thames, if in doubt just use "Thames Schools" for your search query.

 

Tararu School aka North School

Now the building is used as an art gallery.