Figure 1.--Onehunga at the time was a small town near Auckland with a rural setting. Thus the school was a small town school. The class portrait here was taken in 1939. It was I think the Standard 3 class. The same board was used for all the class photographs and the constand erasures make it difficult to read the standard numbers. (Standard was a New Zealand term for early primary grades (forms). |
New Zealand like other countries suffered during the 1930s with the World Depression. Times were hard. Few children, unless they were from affluent families, were able to continue schooling beyond the primary level. Primary children especially the boys commonly went to school barefoot.
Here we see the Onehunga Primary School (figure 1). Onehunga was at the time a small town located near Auckland with a rather rural setting. Today it is more of a suburb. The Onehunga School had was situated on a wonderful site. It was built on a hill providing a panormanic view of Auckland's Manukau Harbour. It was built in 1901. The classrooms were designed for 60 students. The school had a bell tturret. The class portrait here was taken in 1939. It was I think the Standard 3 class. The same board was used for all the class photographs and the constand erasures make it difficult to read the standard numbers. (Standard was the New Zealand term for a primary grade or form. The children look to be about 10 years old. The children did not wear uniforms which was common in New Zealand primary schools. Note that several of the boys, but not the girls, wear school uniform garments like grey shirts. All of the boys seem to be wearing short pants. All of the girls wear dressess. Most of the boys, but few of the girls are barefoot. Note the one boy in fancy tw-tone shoes. None of the children wear kneesocks. Almost all of the girls wear white ankle socks.
