Established 1881 (1881) Principal Trudy Heath Socio-economic decile 3 | Ministry of Education Institution no. 3271 School roll 244 (July 2016) | |
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Type State coed primary, years 1–6 | ||
Addington School is a primary school in the suburb of Addington, Christchurch, New Zealand. It is a year 1 to 6 school with a roll of approximately 230 children. The school runs a Conductive Education Unit for children with motor disorders.
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History
Addington School was established in 1881, as a side school to West Christchurch School. The main building consisted of three rooms, and there were 500 children on the roll, although only 430 attended regularly. There was a headmaster, five teachers and four pupil-teachers. A swimming pool was built around 1903 and used by the Christchurch Amateur Swimming Club as well as the pupils of the school.
The Headmaster from 1893 to at least 1903 was Mr William Nixon Seay, who was born in Ireland in 1863.
The First Assistant Master in 1903 was Mr Hans Kennedy. He enjoyed many different sports such as cycling, cricket and rowing.
The Infant Mistress from 1893 to at least 1903 was Miss Mary Sisson Shirtcliffe. She had studied at West Christchurch School and then spent four years as a pupil-teacher at East Christchurch School. She then spent two years at the Normal Training College and was Infant Mistress at Ashburton before moving to Addington School.
60th anniversary celebrations were held in 1941, 75th anniversary celebrations were held in 1956, and centennial celebrations were held in 1981.
Pupils
Adam Scott, a Christchurch violinist who performed with many orchestras in both New Zealand and Australia, attended Addington School and learned music there with Mona Neale. When Scott was 10 years old, Neale invited him to join a string orchestra with some of her other students.
Ali Ahmadi was commended for his work with the Addington Action Committee, formed to help local residents recover after the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake.
Staff
David Ching was the principal of Addington School for 17 years, during which time he established the Conductive Education Unit. He also served as a member, and later Chairperson, of the NZ Foundation for Conductive Education. After his retirement from Addington in 2005 he continued to work for the Foundation as National Co-ordinator. In 2016 Ching received a Civic Award from the Mayor of Christchurch, Lianne Dalziel, in recognition of his dedication to primary education and sports.