Dunedin’s longest surviving set of model primary classrooms has been demolished, but the spirit of the programme is still well and truly alive, the principal says. Block 4 at George Street Normal School was demolished last week as the buildings had exceeded their use-by date. The block, opened in 1959, was Dunedin’s oldest set of model classrooms. Principal Robyn Wood said the classrooms were originally built to replicate a country school. COPYRIGHT - ALLIED MEDIAGeorge Street Normal School model classroom pupils in 1974. The original caption read: "The price rise, budgeting, short-changing - the things an 8-year-old housewife has to cope with!" Pupils at the George Street Normal model schools are faced with a very practical curriculum. Photo: Odt Files Each model classroom, two for the junior pupils and one for seniors, was designed to function similar to a two-teacher rural primary school. “They’d have children who’ve got siblings and cousins in their classes, and they would stay together for three years, have the same teacher, same cohort of friends, and then they’d go into the senior models.” The model classrooms were now housed in different sections of the school, Ms Wood said. In more recent times, the block had been used for after-school care and music lessons, she said. The demolished block would be converted to green space for the pupils to play on. ©Allied MediaGeorge Street Normal School model classroom blocks in 2023. Photo: Stephen Jaquiery George Street Normal School was the only school south of Christchurch to offer model classrooms. The school was affiliated with the University of Otago College of Education and provided pre-service training for trainee teachers. Ms Wood said it was that partnership which made the model classrooms possible. Website builtindunedin.com said the model classrooms were designed by architect Clifford Muir, who said in 1959 that the structures were designed to be a “home for children” and should “express the ideas and feeling of a family”. “The teacher would take his or her rightful place as the head of the family, the whole pattern thus giving a feeling of unity and security to the children.” [Missing Credit]An Evening Star article about George St Normal School's model classrooms published on April 3, 1974. Photo: Odt Files Ministry of Education southern regional infrastructure manager Simon Cruickshank said now that block 4 was demolished, essential infrastructure issues at remaining blocks would be remediated in a staged approach. laine.priestley@odt.co.nz
