education

Marama Ormsby (left) and Erina Hurihanganui won the 1985 National Maori Speech Contests held in Wellington.

In his time as head of the Department of Education from 1899 until 1915 George Hogben helped bring New Zealand's education system into line with the most advanced educational theory and practice of the time.

According to family sources this writing exercise was completed one of the Bennett children while at Pencarrow. The word 'Overwhelm' is repeated on the left page and 'Perseverance' on the right.

It suggests that Mary Bennett taught the children herself, before deciding to return to England for the sake of their education in 1865.

A Certificate of Merit for bayonet instruction, presented to Wellington College cadets, 1915 

Voluntary cadet groups existed in many schools prior to 1909 when the Defence Act introduced compulsory military training. This act required all boys aged between 12 and 14 to undergo 52 hours of physical training each year as Junior Cadets. Initially, this training was supervised by their teachers, although this was dropped in 1912. 

A School Rifle Volunteer Cadet Corps had been established at Wellington College in 1870, and school cadets were to remain an integral part of life at the school well into the 20th century. J.P. Firth, principal from 1892 to 1920, placed great emphasis on the cadets and the importance of being physically fit. Photographs of boys in the military uniform of the school’s cadet corp or shooting teams make the transition from schoolboy to soldier more plausible. Many of the more than 1600 college old boys who served overseas during the war had learnt to handle a gun, salute and march in formation on the playing fields of the school. Students were even awarded merit certificates in bayonet instruction.