Ae Marika! 29 October 2013

Posted on October 29, 2013 by admin in News

St Stephens is the oldest school in New Zealand, first opening its doors in 1847, and although based in Waikato, over the generations the school has built up a very strong relationship with the Far North. Old Boys include amongst many others the late Puni Makene and Glass Murray from Te Kao, and current alumni include Frank Wiki, Nicky Conrad, Te Mahia Nathan, Shane Jones and I (apologies to all those I forgot to mention). And when St Stephens used to come up to play Kaitaia College every couple of years, a big crowd always turned out to watch.

St Stephens was closed in 2000 following a spate of poor Educational Review Office reports. Since then, Joe Harawira (no relation) has worked tirelessly to try to keep the Old Boys together by email and phone, organising meetings, trying to set up branches, and holding annual reunions. For much of that time his has been an unenviable task of trying to conjure energy and enthusiasm from guys with a lot of other things on their minds. I went to one of the reunions and although Joe tried mightily to keep the focus on more important issues, the emphasis seemed to be more on golf and alcohol. I didn’t bother going to any more of them, but I stayed in touch with Joe whose commitment to get the school reopened was unquestioned.

Last year I met with John Fairbrother, chairman of the St Stephens and Queen Victoria Schools Trust Board, and asked that a feasibility study be done on the possibility of reopening St Stephens. The Board approved the request (widened to include Queen Vic as well), and since then Joe has used that to re-energise the Old Boys Association.

Last weekend, we held our Old Boys reunion in Manurewa, and what a great weekend it turned out to be. The boys started rolling in on Friday evening and spent Saturday playing golf and touch before a formal dinner that evening, the highlight of which was a roast where Shane Jones, Te Ururoa Flavell and I had to torment one another, all accompanied by uproarious laughter from our peers.

First XV jerseys were auctioned, speeches made, old school waiata and haka broke out, a few libations were imbibed, and the whole event was held together perfectly by Brent Mio, an Old Boy with years of broadcasting experience and enough inside knowledge of the school to destroy reputations, maximise embarrassment, and keep the whole evening rocking and rolling right through to the small hours.

And then at 9.30pm on Sunday morning, everyone dutifully reassembled out at the school for a church service on the oval, accompanied by a wonderful speech from Awi Riddell, making light of the past and laying down the challenge for the Old Boys to restore the school to its pre-eminent place in Maori educational and sporting endeavour. Photos were taken of the various generations before the weekend ended with a luncheon back at Manurewa.

I’m on the Feasibility Working Group. Our report goes before the Board this Xmas. They will then make a decision as to whether to reopen St Stephens and Queen Victoria Schools and if so, on what terms.

Given the convincing show of support the chairman would have seen over the weekend, I sincerely hope the decision is to reopen both schools, and that that happens within the next few years.

AE MARIKA is an article written every week by Hone Harawira, leader of the MANA Movement and Member of Parliament for Te Tai Tokerau. You are welcome to use any of the comments and to ascribe them to Mr Harawira. The full range of Hone’s articles can be found on the MANA website.