Mum & I have just found your wonderful site and have spent some time
reminiscing about both our days spent at Mapua School - years 1949-1956 &
1968-1972. We remember that there were about 100 students in the 50's & 120
in the 60's. We are glad to see there are so many children in the area able
to enjoy attending Mapua.

We would love to see more on the site regarding the school history, how the
school has evolved and plans for the future.

Kind regards

Susan & Marie Taylor

Hi
I was at Mapua Primary school from about 1970 to 1974. I am on the bottom row second from the right (wearing the collarless t-shirt). Mr Gale was our teacher. He was a very nice man and we all liked him very much. He was a fighter pilot in WWII (he flew Hurricanes) and I believe when he retired he moved to Christchurch.
From looking at the photo below the faces I remember are:
Top row: 2nd from left Paul Wells, then John Bowen, the tall guy in the middle was Stephen Tucker, Glen Goodman, then Philip (whose surname I can't remember). Next to Mr Gale is S (Steven I think) Bailey.
2nd row standing from left: Mr Gale's son, the two girls wearing the flowery tops are the Gregg twins, Craig Goodman (one of my best friends) is on the far right.
Top row sitting from left: second is Alison Wells (who I was madly in love with).
Bottom row sitting from left: an American boy whose name escapes me, Steven Stout (who now lives in Motueka and was one of my best friends), Andrew (who had moved from Malaysia and became a commercial fisherman), me, and lastly Michael Parkinson (who became an academic and was also one of my best friends).

Apologies to people whose names I can't remember, but it was a long time ago :-). Perhaps other people can fill in the gaps.
I have very fond memories of my time at the school. Rugby played a big part in our lives; so much so that Craig Goodman and Steven Stout wrote a very good book about the history or rugby in the district.
Sadly in 1974 my father sold his share in Tasman Orchards and we moved to Perth. Since then I have lived in lots of places, including a long time in the UK, and now live in Cape Town with my two young kids. I spend much of my time taking photos: www.johnbradleyphotography.com

Kind regards John Martin Bradley
(I can be contacted through my website).