A brief history of Albany Primary School
1865/1866: In August the Lucas Creek School was started on Reverend Bruce’s land. It was in a small building that was also used as a church, Sunday school and meeting place.
1876: A school house was built on land situated between the two bridges’ (now 546 Albany Highway) at a cost of 190 pounds.
1891: Lucas Creeks name was changed to Albany. It was stated by Captain McArthur that it should have the Scottish pronunciation of "Albany”.
1897: On April the 8th the Albany School burnt down. The only part left standing was the brick chimney. It was thought to have been accidentally lit by "an inebriate in quest of a nights lodging”.
1897: The school was rebuilt and opens October
1897. The school had been continuing in
a building on the Cowley property.
1918: A grove of 6 memorial trees were planted in the school grounds. Each bore the name of a soldier killed in World War 1 who was a past pupil of Albany School.
1936: On August 20th the Diamond Jubilee celebrations were held. There was a display of school work and old photos and an afternoon tea.
1945: The end of World War 2 and seven youngsters who were past pupils of Albany School never returned. The gate posts at the School are a memorial to them. A memorial plaque is also in the Memorial Library.
1948: The school swimming pool was finally officially
opened. It took 5 years to raise the
money and was built at a cost of 207 pounds, which included sinking a bore to
find water for it.
1966: On October 7/8th was the Schools 90th Jubilee celebration. It was organized as the committee was aware that in the next 10 years there would be many changes to the district. How right they were!
1976: February the new school is officially opened by the Governor General Sir David Blundell. The school in Bass Road is now open.
1976: October. A weekend of official celebrations for
the school centenary. The weekend consisted of a cocktail evening, time at the
old school, a parade through the Albany Village, a dance on the Saturday
evening and a community day on the Sunday.
1977: January roll 165
1985: A celebration of 10 years of the new school occurred on 14 June 1985. A wine and cheese evening was held.
1987: January roll 101
1996: Building of the school hall began. Official
opening was in October. Areas 14/15/16 built.
1997: Areas 22/23/24 built,
2000: March roll 324. Introduction of the compulsory uniform.
2002: Areas 25/26/27 completed.
140 year reunion held. The weekend consisted of a school assembly, a welcome by school pupils, morning tea with decade photos, lunch in the Albany Community Hall, viewing of the old school and an informal get together, followed by a guided walk around Albany on Sunday morning.
2008:
A28 completed
New senior playground completed
2009: Roll total reaches 700 pupils.
Music room added to hall
Areas 18A / 19A (now Areas 19 and 20 twin classrooms) completed
2010:
Grant awarded and Native Grove completed
Fitness Trail built
2011:
A17B (Now Area 18) completed
Climbing Tree removed for admin building upgrade
Dental Clinic removed.
2012:
New Admin building opened
New dental clinic opened at Albany Junior High School
2014:
Area 25/26/27 refurbished as a Modern Learning Environment
Hall upgrade – toilets and entrance way upgraded
2015:
Areas 14/15/16 refurbished as MLE
October roll hits 700
Reunion held celebrating 150 years of schooling in Albany.
2021/2022:
Excerpt from our 2021 Yearbook and 2022 Yearbook regarding building changes and upgrades.
July 2021: Portacoms installed
Over 20 portacom buildings were delivered on site and installed with external decking, bag hooks, and roofing. The portacom classrooms although smaller than our usual classrooms worked well to fit all of the furniture.
Toilet blocks were also installed - these included individual toilets in ‘the village’ which was a change from what we previously used
June 2022: Junior Block removed
November 2022: Blessing of Waharoa
2022:
Middle school playground updated
2023:
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Construction of our double storey 20 classroom block commenced with a Ground Breaking ceremony on 9th May. Over the course of the year we saw the construction site prepped including a formal entrance, and redesign of our bus bay. Underground services, drainage and sewerage upgrades took place, then retaining walls and concrete foundations were poured using 90 trucks of concrete. Our old library and zone were demolished and rebuild commenced. Framework was installed for both of these areas with framing going up by the end by the end of the year.
January 2023 – Removal of hall
In November 2022, knowing that the hall was to be demolished and removed early the following year, a special ceremony was arranged to bless the carved waharoa situated over the main entrance of the school hall for removal by Mate Webb and Reverend Beazley.
May 2023: Ground breaking
A groundbreaking ceremony was held on a wet May day attended by members of the Ministry of Education, Watts & Hughes (Contractors), Jasmax (Architects), OCTA (Project Managers), APS Board, senior leadership team and our kapa hapa group.
May 2023 - July 2024: Construction
2024:
June 2024: Completion and blessing
Grateful thanks to Mate Webb and Whaea Vicky for blessing our new block.
August 2024: Official opening
Erica Stanford the Minister of Education cut the ribbon in a formal ceremony attended by the full school community including the Board and invited guests. A highlight was the school being gifted a korowai cloak by Watts & Hughes to mark this significant event.
July – September 2024: Removal of portacoms and field restoration