Children from Sumner School for the Deaf test their navigational abilities in a car rally at Sumner.
Deaf students dress up and parade around the back of Titirangi School for the Deaf at its annual Christmas party.
A look at the cultural education needs of Māori Deaf students. Māori Deaf are likely to experience more barriers in the education sector. Interviews undertaken by ‘Marae’ shows us that the multiple cultural identities of Māori Deaf are not completely accommodated for with aspirations on how to resolve this.
Footage from 1955 – 1965 during the annual Christmas Picnics held by St Dominic’s School for the Deaf in Island Bay. In New Zealand fashion, Santa arrives on horseback, bringing presents to the pupils who all take turns riding the horse!
Deaf pupils visit Auckland Zoo and enjoy group rides on an elephant at the zoo.
St Dominics School for the Deaf in Fielding celebrates their first school reunion in 1965. The reunion was one year after the school had relocated to Fielding from Wellington.
Footage from the 50th Jubilee of St Dominic’s School for the Deaf, with over 200 people attending a weekend of festivities at the Fielding Racecourse during the Anzac Weekend of April 1995.
Verna McRae is filmed at her home in Napier alongside her husband, John. Verna talks entertainingly about her life growing up on a Manawatu farm, going to Sumner School for the Deaf, work, travelling, and married life.
Footage from the 40th Anniversary of St Dominic’s school for the Deaf in Feilding held in June of 1984. This video shows a tour of the school grounds, welcoming speeches to attendees and the celebrations that follow over the weekend.
St Dominics School for the Deaf hold their annual Gala Day – year unknown.
Nearly 500 alumni and members of the Deaf community, well presented with dinner suits, bow ties, evening gowns, hairdos and the works enjoy an evening at the Avondale Racecourse.
Mai Time made one of their episodes accessible in NZSL to mark Deaf Awareness Week 1999. KDEC’s sign singing choir and Patrick Thompson made an appearance along with as did Rūaumoko Marae’s kapa haka roopu.
A tour of the old St Dominic’s school grounds in Feilding as part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations in April 1994. Ex-pupils explore the old school grounds and reminisce about their time here.
'You and Your Child' programme focuses on Deaf children, education and language and interview some parents about their Deaf children.
A look at St Dominic’s School for the Deaf twenty-one years after its opening at Dover Street, to its relocation to Feilding. ‘Twenty-One Years’ features speech therapy, classroom activities and ballet, swimming and sewing lessons, as well as its infamous Gala Day and a Mass in its Chapel.
Ex-pupils talk about their memories and tell stories about St Dominic’s at the 60th reunion in Feilding, during Waitangi Weekend in 2004.
The Battle of Whau: a drama by Kelston Deaf students for the opening ceremony of Kelston School for the Deaf, 7th November 1959.
The Governor-General Sir Bernard and Lady Fergusson visited Kelston School for the Deaf on 4 April 1964. They were entertained by swimming and gymnastics display by its deaf pupils.
Annual Parent’s Day at Titirangi School for Deaf, where students show their parents around the school and put on a performance – dancing, tītītōrea (short stick games) with end-of-year prizes.
Kelston School for the Deaf had a rugby team that played in the secondary school Grade 2C division, coming third in the 1958 season. Kelston beat St Kentigern 16 to 0.
A look into the world of Deaf people, in particular a glimpse into Deaf education at the time, and how technology improves the lives of Deaf people, with Daniel Beech demonstrating the use of a TTY.
Annual Parent’s Day at Titirangi School for Deaf, where students show their parents around the school and put on a performance – tumbling, boxing, puppetry, ball handing and ballet.
Several clips of teaching and classroom scenes at St Dominic’s School for the Deaf, with one-on-one speech therapy, oral communication methods, a physical education class, the Rotarians Picnic Drive, playing with jet aeroplanes, folk dancing and their annual Christmas party.
Susan Hamilton is interviewed by Meghan Coppage, where she recounts a range of experiences from her life. From growing up at a Deaf school, to her memories of time in the Deaf community in bygone days, to seeing the changes at Kelston Deaf Education Centre including the transition to new school building.
Members of the Deaf community and their families attend the centenary celebrations at Sumner School for the Deaf.
An ‘Inside Out’ interview with Hilary McCormack where she talks about the advent of NZSL in Deaf education, advocacy and changing technology in the New Zealand Deaf community.
A group of past pupils visit the original Dover Street location in Island Bay, Wellington, as part of the Golden Jubilee of the founding of St Dominic’s School for the Deaf.
The National Film Unit visits Sumner School for the Deaf to film a typical day at the school.
The Deaf Sumner School for the Deaf marching team participate in a marching competition in Auckland, 1958.
Eunike Mose, a profoundly deaf Samoan high school student, and her mother Heather, talk about the challenges of being Deaf, particularly in relation to the family’s Pasifika heritage, and education.
Footage by Sue Penman, of members of the Deaf community and their families attending the centenary celebrations at Sumner School for the Deaf, and taking a tour of the school.
The four-day festivities at St Dominic’s School for the Deaf during New Year’s 1989/1990 were a weekend full of activities! It was the last such event on the St Dominic’s Feilding grounds with a deaf unit set-up at St Joseph’s School in Feilding in May 1989.
National Foundation for the Deaf produce a promotional video explaining their role and the purpose of their member organisations.
Following the potential closure of St Dominic's, parents express their concerns at a community meeting for their deaf children’s future if they were to be mainstreamed into a local school.
Heather Campbell, a Teacher of the Deaf, talks about the need for Deaf children and their families to have access to language early in life. This episode screened during Deaf Awareness Week in 1986.
Tangata Pasifika visits Kelston Deaf Education Centre and meets with a number of Pasifika Deaf students part of the school’s transition programme, interviewing Rosie Amituanai and her family.
The Manawatu Deaf community thanks Terry O’Brien for his service as a Teacher of the Deaf. Terry taught for over 30 years at Freyberg High School in Palmerston North which had a Deaf Unit that St Dominic’s pupils often went on to attend.
This footage appears to be an early attempt in creating an educational filming activity for deaf children at Titirangi School for the Deaf.
Kelston School for Deaf sends its netball and rugby teams to Russell.
A karakia, the Lord’s Prayer, is given by two Deaf children using NZSL for the ‘Marae’ television series. This clip also contains Māori captions of the te reo Māori lyrics.
The first Deaf president of Gallaudet University, I. King Jordan, is visiting Christchurch, New Zealand for the World Games of the Deaf in January 1989. Dr King Jordan is interviewed about the changes he has implemented at Gallaudet University, and Deaf education in NZ.
Annual Parent’s Day at Kelston School for the Deaf, with rides (horses, fire tank and alike!), performances and end-of-year prizes.
Annual school sports day at the large grounds at Mt Wellington, with the school surrounded by farmland. The Titirangi children travelled to Mt Wellington by buses. Mt Wellington closed once the Kelston hostel block opened in 1960.
After Mr Moon has been teaching Van Asch Deaf Education Centre Deaf students street theatre skills, they watch a performance from the Montreal Street Theatre at the New Zealand Festival in Wellington, in preparation for staging their own live performance.
Two traffic officers visit Kelston to teach older Deaf students the drivers road code.
Boarding students at Titirangi School for the Deaf are treated to a day out to Motihue Island (Te Motu-a-Ihenga) in the Hauraki Gulf, 17 kilometres from downtown Auckland.
Brief footage of the crowd at Kelston for its 45th reunion. The Auckland weather holds up for the outdoor festivities!
“A Deaf Child in the Family” is an award-winning film which shows authentic scenes from Deaf education centres at Kelston, St Dominics and Sumner, produced as a resource for families of deaf children.
Weekend celebrations are kickstarted with a Māori Deaf kapa haka group to perform a haka powhiri. Vintage teachers such as Les Bury briefly summarise their experiences of working in Deaf education over the years.
One of the goals of 1996’s Deaf Awareness Week was to better educate New Zealanders about New Zealand Sign Language, and as part of this, One Network News visited Kelston Deaf Education Centre in Auckland. KDEC which has a new bilingual teaching method using both NZSL and English.
Deaf children are taught drama skills by two Deaf visitors from the UK, in preparation for their show at the opening night of the inaugural Deaf Festival, hosted by Kelston Deaf Education Centre.
Titirangi students and their families picnic at the Parau Camp House in West Auckland. The property was purchased in 1955 and groups of children, teachers and parents spent many a happy weekend here.
There are many speeches from past pupils and staff recalling their time at St Dominic’s. The casually filmed footage covers part of the four-day 45th reunion at St Dominic’s School for the Deaf, with many speeches from past pupils and staff recalling their time at St Dominic’s.
The School for Deaf annual sports day is held at Kelston with athletics, long jumping, relay races and performances.
The modern dictionary of New Zealand Sign Language has been launched, and the 'Tonight' crew visit Kelston Deaf Education Centre to see Deaf students and their NZSL tutors making good use of the resource.
Parents of deaf children raised thousands of pounds to buy a beach property at Parau where a large brick hostel was built. Groups of children, teachers and parents spent many a happy weekend there.
Footage of the demolition of the ‘Main Building’ of van Asch College, April 1980.
Michael Wi, is profiled on ‘Marae’, where he shares his experience of growing up as Māori Deaf in a paheka-centric education environment, and learning as an adult about tikanga Māori, and marae protocols.
What was school life was like for pupils who attended St Dominic’s School for the Deaf in Feilding? Footage includes hearing tests, classroom teaching, and celebrating a pupil’s 5th birthday with his classmates, before Mass with the Sisters.
Students from the Titirangi School for the Deaf visit the construction site of the future Kelston School for the Deaf.
Kelston Deaf Education Centre hosts its annual sports day, with athletics, swimming and prizegiving.
The 75th Jubilee of Sumner School for the Deaf in Christchurch, including alumni parades and marching girls!
John McRae is filmed at his home in Napier where he lived with his wife Verna. John explains some highlights from his life story including his experiences at school, travelling the world for Deaf sports, and his involvement in the Deaf community. The video includes his commentary of various photos and objects in their house.
This segment from Māori TV’s Te Hēteri focuses on the experiences of Māori Deaf, catching up with Patrick Thompson, Whiti Ronaki, and Hemi Hema.
The courtyard at Titirangi School for Deaf’s came in handy in events such as the Christmas parade with everyone in fancy dress!
Around 250 people attended the 50th Jubilee, commemorating 50 years of St Dominic’s School for the Deaf. Footage shows many old photo albums, reunion photos being taken, a Jubilee Mass and a visit to the old Dover Street school grounds.
Students from Kelston School for the Deaf enjoy a two-day trip to a snowy Mt Ruapehu.
In November 1986, film maker Ann Andrews organised a week-long drama workshop for six 13 year olds from Kelston School for the Deaf. The workshop concluded with the play, The Magic Park, written and acted by the students.
A ‘Frontline’ documentary that touches upon an on-going topic - Deaf Education - in the Deaf community, not only in New Zealand but worldwide as well. In 2019, the message remains as familiar as it was twenty-five years ago.
The first NZSL interpreting course has recently started in Auckland, being led by Drs. David and Rachel McKee. We take a peek at one of their NZSL classes, and Rachel predicts the areas of work graduates will go into.
Students at Titirangi School for the Deaf are treated to a day trip to the Parnell Baths.
Footage of the St Dominic’s four-day 45th reunion depicts the cutting of the cake, friends, classmates and family catching up over a picnic on the lawn of the school grounds.
The Government’s National Film Unit follows the City District Health Nurse as she visits students at St Dominic’s School for the Deaf.
The opening of Kelston on a site in Archibald Road featured the infamous ‘Te Pakanga o Whau’ (The Battle of Whau) in 1959 where 86 deaf students acted in an outside play featuring a Māori-Pakeha battle near a big gum tree field.