Mrs Gledhill

Principal 1988-1993

Mrs Gledhill was the school Principal. Here are some of her memories

School Production

Many pupils at Campbells Bay School were experienced musicians.  There had been a Saturday Morning Music School held at the school for many years.  I had always been involved with teaching music, so it seemed a good opportunity to have a major production in 1991.  The whole school was involved.  Teachers and parents helped with scenery, dance groups, props and costuming.  We performed the “Valley of the Voodons” which had wonderful acting parts, lots of action and great music

 Overseas students

About 1989 paying students from other countries began to come here in numbers to study.  We had one of the first primary school pupils at Campbells Bay.  She came from Japan and lived with relatives in the area.  After one year she returned to Japan but came back to New Zealand during their long summer holiday.  She and her NZ friends were happy to be reunited.  Our school later hosted sixty three children and five teachers from a Japanese Language School.  Our parents billeted them for two weeks.  They attended our school during the day for a normal programme but all in English.  We employed five New Zealand teachers to work with them.  Luckily at that time we had two classrooms which could be used.  For the period between morning break and lunch they divided up and joined our regular classes in small groups, according to their age.  This was a great experience for them and for us.

 Craft Shows

Schools never seemed to have enough money for the special equipment, exciting activities and extra purchases they wanted to make.  School PTA’s were always on the look out for interesting activities that would help with fund raising.  One such event our parents organized was a Craft Show.  Not just a single afternoon, but a Weekend event.  They sent out invitations to local crafts people to rent “Stall Space” for the weekend, to sell their goods in our School Hall.  The stalls were set up on the Friday evening and opened Saturday and Sunday.  Our parents raised extra money through a hall entrance fee and stalls selling food, drinks and icecreams.  This was a great success.

Kite Week

About every three years a Kite Week was organized.  A lady from a kite-making firm in Albany came to the school each day to teach the children how to make and fly kites.  In our school hall, she worked with the classes and explained the dynamics of air lifts and currents, the history of kite flying and the best materials to use.  In the classrooms the teachers followed up with supporting lessons and at the end of the week we had a kite flying afternoon

 Ducks on the Field

Often when I looked out from my office window in winter, I could see baby ducks.  They would be playing with their mother, on a large puddle that would form in the middle of the sports field.  Our drainage system was poor and the duck seemed to know to come back every year.  She and her ducklings could play, but our children could not.  Eventually the Education Board decided to sand wedge the field.  Deep wedges about 8 to 10 centimetres wide were cut right across the field and these were filled with sand.  After two such treatments the large puddle no longer appeared.  This was great for the children but then we missed the ducks.

 Memories 

As our roll was smaller, we had fewer buildings.  The Administration area was smaller and rather dark.  Sometimes it felt like working in a cupboard.  Now the buildings are bigger, brighter and better.

The grounds had more trees but fewer gardens.  The large roots from the old trees went under the concrete and cracked it, often making paths rough and unsafe to walk along.

The first time I saw the area above and to the left of the swimming pool, I was amazed to see the tallest adventure playground equipment I had ever seen at a school.  There were big climbing frames, jungle gyms, swing ropes and a very high and very long slide.  New height restriction regulations forced us to redesign and alter this area. 

Carpets could be considered as one of the best teaching aids we were ever given.  Floors in school rooms were usually wooden or covered with lino.  These floors were not cosy to sit on and when the children put their chairs down or shifted chairs, the clatter was disturbing.

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