
2004
video – Taonga source: AUT Visual Languages Section
Memories of Susan Thomas (2004)
Susan Thomas talks about her many life experiences, love of sports, and what it was like to work on ‘News Review’ as a Deaf presenter in the late 1980s.

NZSL Stories


1993
publication – Taonga source: Deaf Education History Aotearoa NZ
School Magazine: van Asch College, 1993











1995
publication – Taonga source: National Foundation for Deaf and Hard of Hearing
NFD Communicate: July 1995





NZSL Stories


1998
video – Taonga source: AUT Visual Languages Section
Memories of Susan Thomas (1998)
Susan, born as the only deaf person in a hearing family, talks about the dialect differences in sign between the South Island and the North Island, oralism, moving cities, participating in the Trans-Tasman Games, and meeting her husband, Paul.







1998
publication – Taonga source: National Foundation for Deaf and Hard of Hearing
NFD Communicate: Summer 1998







1980
article – Taonga source: Education News
“Deaf kids aren’t dumb you know?” 100 Years of Education for the Deaf
Van Asch College, as it will now be known, is no longer a school exclusively for the deaf.


1988
publication – Taonga source: National Foundation for Deaf and Hard of Hearing
NFD Journal: July 1988 (Vol. 2, No. 2)





NZSL Stories






Est. 1958
COLLECTIONS – CURATED BY SIGNDNA: DEAF NATIONAL ARCHIVE
Kelston Deaf Education Centre (Ko Taku Reo)
Kelston Deaf Education Centre (now Ko Taku Reo; previously Kelston School for the Deaf). Kelston was established on a site in Archibald Road in 1958. The school had relocated firstly from Titirangi, then from Mt Wellington. KDEC used to provide education in a range of satellite classes throughout Auckland the upper North Island. Kelston, which also hosts Rūaumoko Marae, merged with van Asch Deaf Education Centre to become Ko Taku Reo in 2020.


1988
video – Taonga source: Television New Zealand Archive
van Asch students learn street theatre skills from Mr Moon
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.






1995
video – Taonga source: Television New Zealand Archive
Deaf Blacks’ first ever international match
Holmes’ Jo Malcolm catches up with the Deaf Blacks team at their training in Christchurch in preparation for the first of three upcoming test matches against the visiting Deaf South Africans - the first ever international match for both sides.




NZSL Stories


1992
publication – Taonga source: Deaf Education History Aotearoa NZ
School Magazine: van Asch College, 1992











1992
publication – Taonga source: National Foundation for Deaf and Hard of Hearing
NFD Communicate: June 1992





NZSL Stories


1994
article – Taonga source: City Voice
In the mainstream
Theresa Newson and Maria Griffiths are completely deaf. They are also students at St Catherine's College, Kilbirnie. Their mothers looked at several schools in the Wellington region because they wanted their daughters to stay at home rather than go to Van Asch.


1996
publication – Taonga source: Deaf Education History Aotearoa NZ
Yearbook: van Asch Deaf Education Centre, 1996











1980
video – Taonga source: Sue Penman
Demolition at van Asch, 1980
Footage of the demolition of the ‘Main Building’ of van Asch College, April 1980.






1979
video – Taonga source: Sue Penman
Trans-Tasman Deaf Games: Opening Ceremony and sports
Coverage of the Trans-Tasman Deaf Games, Lincoln College, Christchurch, 10 January 1979, including opening ceremony and various sports.






1986
publication – Taonga source: Deaf Education History Aotearoa NZ
Hostel News: van Asch College, 1986











2003
publication – Taonga source: Deaf Education Aotearoa New Zealand
Deaf Education Aotearoa New Zealand Journal: Spring 2003


1997
publication – Taonga source: Deaf Education History Aotearoa NZ
Yearbook: van Asch Deaf Education Centre, 1997











1989
publication – Taonga source: Deaf Education History Aotearoa NZ
Yearbook: van Asch College, 1989











1984
video – Taonga source: Television New Zealand Archive
You and Your Child – Deaf edition
'You and Your Child' programme focuses on Deaf children, education and language and interview some parents about their Deaf children.






2002
video – Taonga source: AUT Visual Languages Section
Memories of Greg Pateman
Greg talks about his passion - Deaf sports, and why the Southern Deaf sport teams are superior to their Central and Northern counterparts!







1987
article – Taonga source: The Press
All the world is a stage – for the deaf, too
“Speaking hands, hearing eyes” is the title of an Australian folk song about the deaf. It is also the dictum by which Anne Tweedie lives and why she has started a Theatre for the Deaf.


2017
article – Taonga source: Stuff
St Theresa’s School sets example for NZSL friendly schools
A Porirua school is being heralded as a great example of inclusive education. St Theresa's School in Plimmerton is the focus of a new short documentary by van Asch Deaf Education Centre, which will be used as a resource to show how to effectively integrate deaf education and culture into schools.








Est. 1880
COLLECTIONS – CURATED BY SIGNDNA: DEAF NATIONAL ARCHIVE
van Asch Deaf Education Centre (Ko Taku Reo)
van Asch Deaf Education Centre (now Ko Taku Reo; formerly Sumner School for the Deaf then van Asch School for the Deaf). The school has a long and illustrious history, with its services covering a huge geographical spread. Established in 1880, van Asch was the oldest special school establishment in New Zealand and also believed to be the oldest fully government funded residential school in the world. van Asch celebrated its 125th Anniversary in 2005. It merged with Kelston Deaf Education Centre to become Ko Taku Reo in 2020.


1980
video – Taonga source: Sue Penman
Sumner School for the Deaf 100 Years Centenary celebration
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.






1991
publication – Taonga source: Deaf Education History Aotearoa NZ
Yearbook: van Asch College, 1991











1989
article – Taonga source: The Dominion
Board of trustees accepts extra challenges at school for deaf
Board member Ava Buzzard, who has been deaf since birth, is excited by the chance to have a greater role in a school she has been involved with for many years.


2004
video – Taonga source: AUT Visual Languages Section
Memories of Shaun Fahey
Shaun Fahey, a Deaf artist, talks about illustrating signs for the NZSL Dictionary, and what life was like for a young Shaun growing up in Christchurch under the rule of oralism.





NZSL Stories


1999
publication – Taonga source: Deaf Education History Aotearoa NZ
Yearbook: van Asch Deaf Education Centre, 1999
















