Fendalton Open Air School

Infobox NZ school
name = Fendalton Open Air School
badge =
motto =
type = State, Co-educational, Contributing
established = 1875
address = 168 Clyde Road,
Christchurch,
New Zealand
coordinates =
principal = Paul Sibson
roll = 520
decile = 10
MOE = 3338
homepage = [http://www.fendalton.school.nz/ www.fendalton.school.nz]

Fendalton Open Air School is a primary school in Christchurch, New Zealand known for its open-air classrooms. Fendalton Primary School was established in 1875, continuing to provide education for primary school children in Fendalton for over 125 years. As of 2007, the school has 520 students, and the principal is Paul Sibson. In 2002 and 2003, it was runner up in the Goodman Fielder School of the Year Awards. [cite web|title=Fendalton School former Principal biography|url=http://www.fendalton.school.nz/po_principal.html|accessdate=2007-11-11]

History

The Fendalton School opened in 1875 at a time when half of the school-aged children in New Zealand were not attending school.

The school started open air classes in July 1924. It was based on pilot programmes in England where it was found that plenty of fresh air and open spaced classrooms allowed children to recover more quickly from disease. The school was closed during the Spanish flu epidemic of 1919,Fendalton Open Air School history] by the principal Ray Blank, Christchurch medical officer R B Phillips and Professor James Shelley, Education Professor of the Canterbury College. Blank and Phillips paid for half of the cost of building the new sun facing class rooms with long verandahs and large windows themselves."The Press" Op. Cit. 2004] The previous rooms were so cold that one cup of hot cocoa was sold to the students at a cost of 1d a week.

The School was officially renamed as Fendalton Open Air School in 1963.

Former Students

Notable students who have attended Fendalton Open Air School include:
* Sir Richard Hadlee, New Zealand swing bowler. [cite web|title=Sir Richard Hadlee biography|url=http://www.hadlee.co.nz/Biography|accessdate=2007-11-11]
* Lynne Rudkin Thompson, author; ["The Press", Christchurch New Zealand 6 December 2003, page A15]

References

* [http://www.fendalton.school.nz/history.html Fendalton Open Air School history]
* "The Press", Christchurch New Zealand, 2 August 2004, recovered from Australia/New Zealand Reference Centre, 4 December 2005
* [http://library.christchurch.org.nz/Heritage/Photos/Disc7/IMG0025.asp Christchurch City Library photo of Fendalton Open Air School room]

Notes