History
Tamariki is the oldest ‘free school’ in New Zealand and one of the oldest in the world. It was founded in 1966 by a group of parents, teachers and people interested in preventative mental health, followers of Dr. M. Bevan-Brown, a Tavistock trained local psychiatrist and the author of 'The Sources of Love and Fear'. It was loosely modelled on Summerhill at which the founding teacher, June Bent, had worked in the 50s, and which inspired many of the teachers and parents among the founders. There was and is a very strong emphasis on mental health, and on supporting each child's own developmental pattern. Though the parents and teachers in the founding group were very aware of what they did not like or want for their children in the current public school system, we have consistently tried not to define ourselves in terms of what we don't want, or indeed to regard ourselves as primarily a school, trying to pass on only the academic part of the culture. The exception to this would be the hidden curriculum of unquestioning obedience, which we abhor.
1967
Tamariki opened with ten pupils in September 1967, and doubled its numbers at the beginning of 1968. Numbers grew steadily and there is currently a roll ceiling of 60 and another school, Springhill, opened to take the children Tamariki cannot fit.
1969
At first in a tiny brass band hall in Linwood, it shifted at the beginning of 1969 to an old boarding house on half an acre in Woolston, a place regarded as Paradise by the children, as a difficult work environment by the adults, especially as the numbers rose to the high forties.
1990
Originally a private school, owned and operated by the parents, Tamariki integrated into the state system as a Special Character school in 1990. The school complies with the National Curriculum within the National Education Guidelines and is audited regularly by the Education Review Office. Our Special Character sometimes makes this a difficult task for them, but we meet all criteria.
Teachers are state certificated and registered and most have other degrees a lso. To work within the Special Character makes great demands on staff, and they need to have many special characteristics themselves. The teachers' manual is available for viewing at the school and on the website. We employ a play supervisor, funded by parent donations. Staff ratios are high, generally about 1 adult to 10 to 15 children, and in fact the most efficient and effective learning group generally has about six children. If kids see more than this with an adult they tend to toddle off, remarking that they will come back later when the teacher is not so busy. The school has always run on a more tutorial mode of working. When children are deciding the timing and content of classes they move very quickly, and can cover ground one-to-one in half an hour that might take weeks in a conventional classroom.
1994
In 1994 the school shifted to the present site, to a building and grounds which reflected the children's and staff's ideas of a good place to grow and learn. The roll promptly climbed to 60 though it has dropped a little again. We have found it not quite as paradisal as the old boarding house in some significant ways, though much easier for staff and cleaners. (People here are very messy.) Children have tended to divide themselves up into class levels and to get territorial in ways that they never used to. One factor is certainly school design, another may well be that about 95% of the children had never attended another school, and wanted to be at something others would recognise as a school. For 25 years children with previous school experience made up abpout 60-70% of our numbers and they were very sure that the less Tamariki resembled an ordinary school the better. Staff keep reminding children that they may live and engage in any room and with any people they want to, and this seems to be helping. Also the proportion of children who have tried other learning environments is increasing again.
2007
The School celebrates its 40th anniversary.