New Government policy on educating disabled children has ended more than three decades of teaching deaf children at St Dominic’s School, in Feilding.
The policy to mainstream all disabled children into ordinary classes has emptied the school’s five classrooms and boarding hostel.
The Dominican sisters who taught at the school must leave the tree-screened old convent house and 9.5ha property as soon as possible. They are house-hunting in Feilding.
Twelve of the school’s primary-aged children left after the first term for St Joseph’s Convent School in Feilding.
St Dominic’s principal Sister Gemma became principal at St Joseph’s and two St Dominic’s staff went with her. Other children returned home to go to local primary schools.
St Dominic’s was the first Catholic school for the deaf to be set up in New Zealand, said one of the original teachers, who did not want to be named.
“Our roll has steadily dropped over the last few years,” she said.
The school began with nine children in Island Bay, Wellington in 1944. Previously, parents who wanted a Roman Catholic education for their deaf children had to send them to Australia. Many could not afford this.
The Island Bay premises were only temporary and quickly became overcrowded.
“We had property at Tawa and were going to build there, but the main highway went through it so we had no alternative,” the sister said.
It was eight years before the Feilding house was found. It had been built by a Bulls sawmiller in the grand old style, with billiard room and ballroom, several parlours, and maid’s bedroom downstairs.
The house required extensive remodelling. Five Dominican sisters and 40 children lived in it during 1953 while the classrooms and boarding hostel were built.
Children slept in double-decker bunks all over the house and the old hot-water system functioned nobly, producing enough hot water to bath everyone every day. Classes were held in the old stables, the garages and the garden sheds.
Five classrooms were ready by the end of the first term in 1954. The boarding hostel was finished next term.
At first, pupils ranged in age from five to 17 or 18 years, boys and girls, with hearing losses from severely hard-of-hearing to profoundly deaf.
“Doctors would refer pupils to us, or families would hear of us from other people,” the sister said. “Pupils came from all over the North Island.”
In the 1970s regulations changed and more facilities became available for deaf children. Pupils came from the lower North Island.
In the 1970s regulations changed and more facilities became available for deaf children. College-aged pupils went to high school deaf units and St Dominic’s only took children aged up to about 13, with sometimes more than 70 pupils.
Methods change
One of the biggest changes the sister has seen is in teaching methods.
“In the early days everything was lip-reading,” she said. “Those were the days before hearing aids.”
Some form of sound magnification was always used. One early method was to have children wear headsets plugged into a microphone into which teachers spoke. This was a far cry from the sensitive electronic equipment now used.
“The biggest challenge for us was seeing that the pupils could take their place in society,” she said.
She was unsure about how well mainstreaming would work. It sounded good in theory, but it would have to be backed up properly with enough resources, or some children would miss out.
“Some children can adapt to anything,” she said. “Others cannot.”
She was resigned about leaving the convent. “We’ve known it was coming for a couple of years.”
The sisters would not stop working with deaf people. Some would work with the deaf at St Joseph’s. Others would keep visiting deaf adults in Manawatu, Hawke’s Bay, counselling and helping them find jobs.
She did not know yet when the house would be vacated. Tenders close on October 5.
