Public schools ranged in size from one-room schoolhouses in the ‘backblocks’ to large primary and secondary schools in the main centres. In this photograph Ōpōtiki schoolchildren pose for the camera. The grounds provided open spaces for playing and trees for shade on hot afternoons. The importance of the flagpole is reflected in the way it towers over the schoolhouse and the children. During the First World War children took part in patriotic displays which included singing the Flag Song and saluting the flag.
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