On 9 October 2026 Tinui School will have been open for 150 years. To celebrate this monumental achievement, a special weekend of festivities and reunion will be held at Tinui War Memorial Hall and Tinui School next door to the hall, starting on Friday evening, 4 September to Sunday morning, 6 September 2026. 

150th Anniversary Weekend
4 - 6 September 2026

Some history

On 9 October 1876 Tinui School opened for the first time with seven pupils - four boys and three girls. Queen Victoria was on the throne and Tinui Village was a very tiny place.

In early days, with no other public buildings in Tinui, students were sent home for the afternoon every time the magistrate visited as the court sessions were held in the schoolroom. Wet days meant some students couldn't cross flooded creeks and attendance was often affected. 

The first weekly boarder was T Groves. And others soon joined him. Some students lived a long way away on poor roads and tracks so weekly boarding was a necessity.

When Queen Victoria died in January 1901, school committee chairman David Speedy requested that the children attending Tenui School wear a black band of mourning as a token of respect for our good Queen who died on the 22nd inst. One of the best and greatest sovereigns of any age or country.

During World War I, on the first Anzac Day in 1916, Tinui School students took part in the trek to the top of Tinui Taipo, carrying sections of the first memorial cross to be erected in New Zealand.

And so the school continued on, through the Great Depression, World War II and the post-war period when lots of babies were born and the school roll swelled. Shepherds and other farm employees changed jobs and children were transferred between Tinui, Whareama, Awatoitoi, Castlepoint and Mangapakeha Schools.  Now just Tinui and Whareama Schools remain.

In 1955 the school moved to a new site in Charles Street, with brand new classrooms and a dental clinic. The porch of the first schoolroom lives on as Tinui's elegant public toilet, in the park behind the old general store. 

Those who haven't visited the Tinui district for a while will be surprised at the number of pine trees in all directions as farms were sold to forestry interests taking advantage of the emissions trading scheme.  Farm homesteads and cottages have been sold off as lifestyle blocks and the district now has quite a few families from non-rural backgrounds to add to the rich tapestry of rural life. 

Further reading

For an almost day-by-day account of Tinui School history the teacher's/principal's log book is worth dipping into. It was transcribed by Masterton teacher and principal Robin Carlyon as part of a project documenting the history of Wellington Education Board schools.