Open/Close Toolbox
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 New Zealand License
Format: Image
Linked To
CollectionOrganisation
Map
Copyright
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 New Zealand LicenseThis licence lets you remix, tweak, and build upon our work noncommercially and although your new works must also acknowledge us and be noncommercial, you do not have to license the derivative works on the same terms.
Menu
Mother and daughter, teachers at Dunsandel School
Description
TitleMother and daughter, teachers at Dunsandel School 
DescriptionIn 1922 Miss Violet McKenzie, my mother, came to teach at Killinchy School with Miss Selina Warnock. I remember meeting Miss Warnock at least once - much later in the 1940s - as my mother kept in touch with her.
My mum taught the infants and Standards 1 and 2, with a total of 52 children, while Miss Warnock taught the rest of the 80 pupils. Board was provided at the local Killinchy Post Office with a Scots couple, Mr and Mrs Rose, and their two daughters.
Violet taught at Killinchy until 1926 when she moved to Dunsandel School, also with a roll of 80. Fred Smith was the head teacher at the time.
The Dunsandel baths in the domain had been closed for several years owing to a lack of interest but mum was instrumental in getting them opened again. They held a swimming sports day and after that quite a lot of adults also decided to learn to swim.
After two and a half years, Violet left to be married to my dad, Bowery Mee from Aylesbury, and they had a family of three, one of whom, yours truly, became a second generation teacher at Dunsandel.
I attended Christchurch Teachers Training College in Christchurch before doing my Probationary Assistant year at Shirley Primary in 1956. I then applied for three country schools - Kirwee, Cust and Dunsandel. I was offered the position of Infant Mistress at Dunsandel in 1957 and although I would rather have taught lower standard pupils, I was encouraged to take the job at Dunsandel.
The School Committee arranged for me to board with Bruce and Doreen Ackroyd, who lived up the Hororata Road, opposite the old Upper Selwyn School.
I think there were four classrooms at Dunsandel School in 1957, and my class had around 35 pupils including new entrants. When my class numbers rose to around 40, Jack Mackie, the headmaster, would tell me to sort out a group to move into the higher class. This happened about 2-3 times per year. While this is a large number of pupils by today’s standards, I guess it was made possible as the children in those days tended to sit still!
We had a tatty piece of mat for the children to sit on, over the hard wooden floor. Fortunately the Chairman arranged a new mat for me and the children enjoyed being in charge of rolling it out at story time.
The social life in Dunsandel was full on. Dances were held somewhere in the district on most Saturday nights, arranged by some group or another, and whenever there was a dance on, we went. Supper at Dunsandel was usually provided by Mrs Glen.
I was roped into the Table Tennis club, held in the Hall weekly, and we travelled around Ellesmere playing competition matches. The fact that I was expected home in weekends did not interfere with my social life. I travelled back and forth to Christchurch by Road Services bus or train and I stored my trusty bike in the Dunsandel Railway Goods Shed when I travelled.
In 1958 I married Peter McLaughlin, and later that year we moved to North Canterbury, not returning to Dunsandel until December 1962. My teaching career was virtually over, apart from the occasional stint of relief teaching during the 1970s.
Material from Ellesmere Guardian 1974
Nancy McLaughlin (nee Mee)
Dunsandel Historic Society
Date1 September 2022 SourceThe Ellesmere EchoLocationDunsandel
DescriptionIn 1922 Miss Violet McKenzie, my mother, came to teach at Killinchy School with Miss Selina Warnock. I remember meeting Miss Warnock at least once - much later in the 1940s - as my mother kept in touch with her. My mum taught the infants and Standards 1 and 2, with a total of 52 children, while Miss Warnock taught the rest of the 80 pupils. Board was provided at the local Killinchy Post Office with a Scots couple, Mr and Mrs Rose, and their two daughters.
Violet taught at Killinchy until 1926 when she moved to Dunsandel School, also with a roll of 80. Fred Smith was the head teacher at the time.
The Dunsandel baths in the domain had been closed for several years owing to a lack of interest but mum was instrumental in getting them opened again. They held a swimming sports day and after that quite a lot of adults also decided to learn to swim.
After two and a half years, Violet left to be married to my dad, Bowery Mee from Aylesbury, and they had a family of three, one of whom, yours truly, became a second generation teacher at Dunsandel.
I attended Christchurch Teachers Training College in Christchurch before doing my Probationary Assistant year at Shirley Primary in 1956. I then applied for three country schools - Kirwee, Cust and Dunsandel. I was offered the position of Infant Mistress at Dunsandel in 1957 and although I would rather have taught lower standard pupils, I was encouraged to take the job at Dunsandel.
The School Committee arranged for me to board with Bruce and Doreen Ackroyd, who lived up the Hororata Road, opposite the old Upper Selwyn School.
I think there were four classrooms at Dunsandel School in 1957, and my class had around 35 pupils including new entrants. When my class numbers rose to around 40, Jack Mackie, the headmaster, would tell me to sort out a group to move into the higher class. This happened about 2-3 times per year. While this is a large number of pupils by today’s standards, I guess it was made possible as the children in those days tended to sit still!
We had a tatty piece of mat for the children to sit on, over the hard wooden floor. Fortunately the Chairman arranged a new mat for me and the children enjoyed being in charge of rolling it out at story time.
The social life in Dunsandel was full on. Dances were held somewhere in the district on most Saturday nights, arranged by some group or another, and whenever there was a dance on, we went. Supper at Dunsandel was usually provided by Mrs Glen.
I was roped into the Table Tennis club, held in the Hall weekly, and we travelled around Ellesmere playing competition matches. The fact that I was expected home in weekends did not interfere with my social life. I travelled back and forth to Christchurch by Road Services bus or train and I stored my trusty bike in the Dunsandel Railway Goods Shed when I travelled.
In 1958 I married Peter McLaughlin, and later that year we moved to North Canterbury, not returning to Dunsandel until December 1962. My teaching career was virtually over, apart from the occasional stint of relief teaching during the 1970s.
Material from Ellesmere Guardian 1974
Nancy McLaughlin (nee Mee)
Dunsandel Historic Society
Date1 September 2022 SourceThe Ellesmere EchoLocationDunsandelConnections
CollectionHistory of DunsandelOrganisationDunsandel Historic SocietyEvent150th Anniversary Dunsandel
OrganisationDunsandel Historic SocietyEvent150th Anniversary Dunsandel Attribution
Researched ByNancy McLaughlin (nee Mee)Written ByNancy McLaughlin (nee Mee)
Written ByNancy McLaughlin (nee Mee)Click on the image to add
a tag or press ESC to cancel
a tag or press ESC to cancel
loading google map....
Mother and daughter, teachers at Dunsandel School (1 September 2022 ). Selwyn Stories, accessed 25/05/2026, https://selwynstories.selwynlibraries.co.nz/nodes/view/5238