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Film: History of the School Journal

This Archives New Zealand film about the history of the New Zealand School Journal shows extracts from the Journal, original art works that appeared in it, and black and white 16-mm motion picture footage of children at school in the 1940s. The film highlights the fact that many of the country’s best known writers and artists have contributed to the Journal.

Archives New Zealand
Reference: Moments in History: School Publications
See more about this film on Archives New Zealand's YouTube channel
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Schools and the First World War

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Gallipoli feature in the School Journal

New Zealand children learned about the reality of war as news of the terrible casualties from Gallipoli reached home. In September 1915, the School Journal included a detailed if not entirely accurate account of the New Zealand landings, which emphasised the ferocity, sacrifice, and danger faced by the men. The Journal did not attempt to disguise the costly nature of the landings:

The New Zealanders began to land about eight o’clock. Every boat-load was under shrapnel fire, and there were many casualties before the boats reached the shore. All day long the boats went to and fro between the ships and the shore under this hail. The New Zealanders charged up the hills in the face of heavy fire. One machine gun can fire five hundred bullets a minute; and the broken nature of the country and its vegetation enabled the Turks to conceal these weapons and their riflemen. Snipers, hid in the bushes, not only killed men as they advanced towards them, but waited until the line had swept past, and shot the attackers from behind.

School Journal, Part III, September 1915, p. 230

The feature concluded with General Sir Ian Hamilton’s praise of the Anzac soldiers at Gallipoli:

May I, speaking out of a still heart, be permitted to say how gloriously the Australian and New Zealand contingents have upheld the finest traditions of our race during this struggle still in progress, at first with audacity and dash, since then with sleepless valor and untiring resource. They have already created for their country an imperishable record of military virtue.

School Journal, Part III, September 1915, p. 233

Read the School Journal account of the Gallipoli landings (pdf)

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School Journal, Part III, September 1915

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The School Journal - schools in the First World War

Film: History of the School Journal

In May 1907 New Zealand pupils were for the first time able to read a schoolbook published in their own country. The New Zealand School Journal was initiated by Education Department head George Hogben to provide schoolchildren with a free magazine containing information on history, geography and civics. Each year one of the 10 monthly issues was dedicated to Empire and Dominion, with material selected to develop ‘an appreciation of the higher literature … an admiration of truth and goodness in daily life, and a high conception of patriotism and national service.’

During the First World War the School Journal played an important role in encouraging ‘patriotism’, ‘self-sacrifice’, ‘obedience’ and support for the war effort among schoolchildren. There were feature sections on Gallipoli and the Western Front, and reports on children’s fundraising efforts. In July 1915, as the casualties at Gallipoli mounted, the Journal included a stirring letter by the Earl of Liverpool, Governor of New Zealand, on the importance of children’s contributions to the war effort:

You children previously helped by subscribing the handsome sum of £2,289 for ambulance equipment on land. With this sum motor ambulances and other requisites were bought, but at the present time it is impossible to give full details. In response to His Excellency’s appeal, too, many of you have worked devotedly making articles that were so much needed. May your labor of love reap its full reward in the comfort and relief it brings to our sick and wounded.
Earl of Liverpool, New Zealand School Journal, July 1915

Gallipoli account in the School Journal

By 1915 children could read about the trenches that had become homes for so many men. The Journal noted that living conditions could be rough, and reminded children that the soldiers were ‘very thankful to anyone who tries to make their life more pleasant.’ First World War battles were named in the ‘key dates’ section of the School Journal as significant days or months that should be acknowledged and commemorated in classroom and school ceremonies.

Many teachers pinned maps onto the walls of the classrooms and tracked progress at the ‘Front’. Children were constantly reminded in class or at special assemblies of the sacrifices that ‘old boys’ and brothers and fathers were making in their name. They were also reminded that when they were old enough they could be expected to be called upon to make the same sacrifices.

The School Journal increasingly found subject material in the war, mixing moral fables, stories of heroism and battles, and poems and songs to promote patriotism in the schoolyard.

New Zealand in 1918

It is hard to imagine what New Zealand must have been like in 1918. The First World War was finally over, leaving more than 18,000 New Zealanders dead and tens of thousands more seriously wounded – over 5300 soldiers died in 1918 alone. Between October and December another 8600 people (including 2160 Maori) died during the influenza pandemic.

Population

The New Zealand population on 31 December 1918 was about 1,150,000 (so multiply the figures above by four to get some idea of the relative impact today). Of this total about 50,000 were Maori, the majority living in rural areas away from the main centres. About 60% of the population lived in the North Island. Auckland was the biggest region (with 308,766 people), followed by Wellington (232,114) and Canterbury (181,869).

Little more than half of the European population lived in urban centres. Influenza historian Geoffrey Rice tells us, 'Boroughs varied greatly in size in 1918, ranging from the typical small country town of up to 2,000 people, like Temuka, to the regional centres, which were often twice the size of the next largest town in the region. Only six of these regional centres topped the 10,000 mark in the 1916 census. Wanganui was the largest, with a population of 14,380. There were another six smaller regional centres, while twelve more boroughs would qualify as larger towns or ports; these included places like Hastings and Oamaru. The rest (more than eighty per cent) were small market towns, mining or timber settlements, with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants'.

Politics

William Massey had been Prime Minister since 1912 (and would remain so until 1925). Although he was leader of the Reform Party, Massey's Ministry from 1915 until 1919 – referred to as the 'National Government' – was an uneasy wartime coalition with the opposition Liberal Party. Sir Joseph Ward, the leader of the Liberal Party, served as deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.

Labour stalwarts Peter Fraser, Harry Holland and Bob Semple were all first elected in 1918 via by-elections.

The King's (and British government's) representative in New Zealand was Lord Liverpool. His title had been upgraded from governor to governor-general in 1917, though this move didn't change anything in practice.

Religion

Almost half the population said they were Anglicans, while another 25% were Presbyterian. The other two main religious denominations listed were Catholic (about 15%) and Methodist (about 10%). Only 0.39% of the population said they had no religion. In November 1918 Tahupotiki Ratana began his Maori religious movement after experiencing a vision of the Holy Spirit, which had come to him in the form of a strange whirlwind-like cloud. Earlier in the year the Maori prophet Rua Kenana was released from jail early, having been arrested and charged with sedition in 1916.

Alcohol

A massive prohibition petition with 242,001 signatures was presented to Parliament in 1918. Six o'clock closing in pubs, which had initially been imposed as a wartime measure, was made 'permanent' (it was to remain in force until 1967). Women other than those related to or employed by the licensee were not allowed to be in or 'loiter about the entrance' of any licensed premises after 6 p.m.

Crime

Only one person was convicted for murder and one for manslaughter in 1918, though punishment for the former was execution.

Victor Spencer from Invercargill (Otago Regiment) was executed for desertion in February 1918, despite suggestions that he was severely traumatised by shellshock, having fought in and survived several campaigns. He was the last New Zealand soldier to be executed during the First World War.

There were only 54 convictions for offences against property (including theft and burglary offences). There were 78 convictions for ‘sly-grogging’ (selling alcohol without a licence).

Divorce

Of the 380 petitions for divorce filed in 1918, 194 were for adultery and 146 for desertion; the others were mainly a combination of these two and/or drunkenness and cruelty. Out of this total, 279 petitions were granted.

Employment

Unemployment was about 1.5%, though 83% of women were classified in the Census as 'dependents'. The biggest single employment sector was agriculture, mining and other primary production, which employed 22% of the male population. Just 3% of women and 4.5% of men were listed as being in 'Professional' employment.

Housing

There were nearly a quarter of a million houses with an average of 4.52 occupants per dwelling (occupants per dwelling had been on the decline for the past five censuses). Of these houses, 92.21% were built of wood; 2.97% were brick and 1% (2391) were of canvas. The majority (160,000 out of 238,000) of these houses had four to six rooms.

Economy

About 85% of New Zealand's exports came from the pastoral sector (wool, frozen meat, butter and cheese). The majority of these went to the United Kingdom (£18.2 million out of a total of £28.5 million), though in 1918 a much higher percentage than in earlier years went to the United States, Canada and ‘other’ countries.

The main imports were clothing and textiles and metals and machinery. Imports of automobiles had increased steadily since 1911, though only the better-off could afford them – most people relied on horses and bicycles for transport.

Technology

More than 12 million telegrams were sent during the year. Only 6.5% of the population had telephones. Electricity generation and domestic usage was increasing steadily, though, and in December the first power boards were created to control electricity distribution.

Education

More than 83% of the population could read and write. Public schools were free and ‘purely secular’. It was compulsory for children aged from 7 to 14 to attend a registered school. There were 2280 tertiary education students. The School Journal, then in its 11th year, included special numbers issued for Empire Day and Arbor Day. A total of 170,900 copies of the three-part November 1918 issue were printed.

Most of the information on this page is taken from the 1919 Official New Zealand Year Book. Feel free to add other 1918 information to the Community Contributions area at the bottom of this page.

31 reasons to love NZ books and writing

A selection of stories about the history of Kiwi writing, writers and books – one for each day of NZ Book Month.

Ponga and Puhihuia

'Surely the best of all the Maori stories', is how Margaret Orbell, then editor of the magazine Te Ao Hou, described the tale of the impetuous 17th-century lovers Ponga and Puhihuia. The story describes an illicit romance taking place in a world of desperate canoe voyages, flamboyant dances, cunning deception and hand-to-hand combat. More...

Buller's birds

Today many New Zealanders would undoubtedly find Sir Walter Buller's comment that 'the flesh of the pukeko [is equal] to that of the best English game' distasteful. But although he was a controversial figure, Buller's monumental History of the birds of New Zealand (1872-3) remains 'admired, coveted, and still consulted'. More...

The armed Chartist's book shop

Booklovers in colonial Wellington made a beeline for the 'Old Identity Book Shop' on Molesworth Street, run by the eccentric Robert Holt Carpenter. He claimed his shop was patronised by 'the cleverest men and prettiest women in the Southern Hemisphere', including the Governor, judges and 'all the leading statesmen'. More...

Julius Vogel looks into the future

In 1889 former Premier Julius Vogel wrote a futuristic novel entitled Anno domini 2000; or, woman's destiny, in which women held the highest posts in government and poverty had vanished. He also predicted that in all homes heavy manual work would be replaced by 'remarkable contrivances for affording power and saving labour.' More...

Edmonds cookery book

The Edmonds cookery book has sold over 3 million copies since it was first published in 1908, making it the best-selling New Zealand book by far. For several generations of Kiwis, the book with its distinctive rising sun cover and 'Sure to rise' slogan was 'as much a part of New Zealand kitchens as a stove and knife'. More...

The School Journal

In May 1907 New Zealand schoolchildren were able to read a school book published in their own country for the first time. Many of New Zealand's foremost authors and illustrators, from Alastair Campbell to E. Mervyn Taylor, have had their work published in the School Journal over the past 100 years. More...

Reminiscences of a wanderer

R.C. Bruce spent many years in the 19th century sailing on British, colonial and American merchant ships, interspersed with spells on the Otago and Queensland goldfields. His 1914 memoir, Reminiscences of a wanderer (written under the name 'Able Seaman'), is a ripping yarn of a nomadic labouring life at sea and on land. More...

Katherine Mansfield

This internationally acclaimed author revolutionised 20th century English short-story writing. Her short stories broke new ground, abandoning the traditional plot and allowing the reader to roam through a series of different narratives, perspectives and tenses. Sadly, she died from tuberculosis in France at the age of 34. More...

Tutira: story of a sheep station

An internationally acclaimed classic of ecological writing, William Herbert Guthrie-Smith's Tutira: the story of a New Zealand sheep station (1921) was New Zealand's first major environmentalist publication. In it he describes what he saw as 'an occult sympathy betwixt the elementals of the soil and those who touch its surface with their feet'. More...

The Railways Magazine

The New Zealand Railways Magazine was published each month from May 1926 to June 1940. Historian James Cowan was the magazine’s most prolific contributor, writing more than 120 articles. Robin Hyde produced a lively travel series, while other contributors included Pat Lawlor, Alan Mulgan and Denis Glover. More...

Robin Hyde

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John A. Lee

A charismatic ex-soldier, orator and propagandist, John A. Lee was a dynamic figure in the Labour Party from the 1920s until 1940. But Lee had a parallel career as a writer and later bookseller. His best-known novel, the largely autobiographical Children of the poor (1934), was described as a 'sensational book on vice, poverty, misery'. More...

Helen Shaw

Helen Shaw's 50-year career as a creative writer began in the 1930s, when she was strongly influenced by the literary nationalist writing of the day. A growing interest in mysticism and spirituality led her to pursue a more personal kind of art and promote aspects of writing that she felt were too often ignored in New Zealand. More...

Ngaio Marsh

Newsweek described her novels, which featured the British detective Roderick Alleyn, as 'the best whodunits ever written'. Regarded as one of ‘Queens of Crime’ in the 1920s and 30s, Ngaio Marsh was also an artist, playwright, actor and director. The New York Times called her New Zealand's best-known literary figure. More...

Geoffrey Cox: eyewitness to history

Geoffrey Cox was as an eyewitness to momentous events in Europe during the 1930s and 40s. He wrote extensively of his experiences at the time – in Defence of Madrid (1937), The Red Army moves (1941) and The road to Trieste (1947) – and in later years, in A tale of two battles (1987), Countdown to war (1988) and Eyewitness (1999). More...

Littledene: a rural community

Crawford Somerset’s Littledene: a New Zealand rural community (1938) was a groundbreaking sociological study of a typical New Zealand small town – Oxford in North Canterbury. According to commentator Brian Easton, the book ‘combines the wry insights of a sociologist and the lyric observations of a poet’. More...

The Listener

'To what purpose is this waste?', wrote one reader in 1939. Fortunately he was in the minority, and the Listener was welcomed by many as a cut above the alternative, the gossipy Radio Rag. The arts were always a major focus, with the Listener publishing work by James K. Baxter, Janet Frame, Maurice Shadbolt and many others. More...

Allen Curnow

Allen Curnow's poetry has been recognised as among the finest produced in New Zealand, and has received critical acclaim both at home and internationally. He was one of the defining voices of 20th-century New Zealand literature, with a career spanning six decades, and a strong local and international following for his work. More...

The Esther Glen Award

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Landfall

Founded in 1947, the quarterly Landfall soon became New Zealand's foremost literary magazine. Otago poet Charles Brasch was the publication's exacting first editor, holding the post until 1966. Landfall's high literary standards reflected his ambition to stimulate a vigorous and critical cultural life in New Zealand. More...

Te Ao Hou

From 1952 to 1976 this bilingual quarterly provided, as its first issue promised, 'interesting and informative reading for Maori homes...like a marae on paper, where all questions of interest to the Maori can be discussed'. Now available online, it is a valuable resource for anyone researching Māori topics. More...

James K. Baxter

Acknowledged as New Zealand’s most accomplished poet, Baxter devoted the last years of his life to social work among alcoholics and drug addicts. According to Paul Millar, Baxter's 'criticisms of national life and his ultimate decision to step out of the mainstream seemed to develop naturally out of the preoccupations of a lifetime of verse.' More...

Hutu and Kawa

During the 1950s Avis Acres produced a comic strip for the New Zealand Herald featuring two pohutukawa fairies called Hutu and Kawa, who lived in the bush with friends such as Willy Weka and various pixies and elves. The strip was developed into a series of three richly illustrated and very popular books. More...

Barry Crump

Barry Crump established himself as the iconic 'Kiwi bloke' in the three-and-a-half decades before his death from a heart attack in 1996. His many books captured the humour and personalities of rural New Zealand. Crump's best-known novel, A good keen man, was published in 1960 and became a Kiwi classic. More...

The boys of Puhawai

The publication in 1960 of a collection of stories about the day-to-day adventures of three young Kiwi boys was a welcome addition to the limited range of quality children's literature. The stories in The boys of Puhawai are unusual in that they give a clear and unromanticised view of the place of Maori in post-war New Zealand. More...

Sports writing

The story of New Zealand writing wouldn't be complete without acknowledging the enormous popularity of books written by or about our sports stars. How many New Zealanders besides rugby legend Colin Meads, for example, could inspire two biographies, published 30 years apart, and sell a combined total of more than 110,000 copies? More...

Hairy Maclary

The publication in 1983 of Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy skyrocketed Lynley Dodd to the status of picture book legend. Since then Hairy has been sent off on six more adventures. He's rescued hats on windy days, caused a rumpus at the vet, and even saved archenemy Scarface Claw when he got stuck in a tree. More...

Keri Hulme wins Booker Prize

By 1985 Keri Hulme had already won several New Zealand awards for her writing. But the decision to award her first novel, The bone people, theprestigious Booker Prize was a surprise to literary critics, bookies and Hulme alike. It was the first time any first novel had ever won, and the first time a New Zealand book had won the award. More...

Writing about New Zealand’s internal wars

Over the last 60 years writing about war has become a mainstay of local non-fiction publishing. Generations of New Zealanders are familiar with our exploits in two world wars and the impact of these conflicts on the nation. But how familiar are New Zealanders with our own internal wars of the 19th century? More...

Duck hunting in New Zealand

Some 30,000 Kiwis purchase a game-bird hunting licence each year. Duck shooters flock to ponds, lakes, swamps and rivers to enjoy the annual ritual of opening morning – the first Saturday in May. Gary Girvan's excellent Duck hunting in New Zealand is a recent addition to this country's surprisingly sparse game-bird hunting literature. More...

State-funded history

The New Zealand government has a long history of involvement in the culture and heritage sector. In particular, it has commissioned and published historical works of all kinds, ranging from the 50-plus volumes of Second World War history to the cutting-edge digital projects of the early 21st century (including NZHistory.net.nz!). More...

New Zealand in 1907 - Dominion status

Just under a million people lived in New Zealand in 1907, but cities such as Auckland and Wellington were growing rapidly. Suburbs were expanding, and electric trams, motor cars and cinemas were multiplying. Distinctive cultural and intellectual traditions were developing. Locally composed classical music was played at the Christchurch Exhibition of 1906/07. Novels and poetry about ‘Maoriland’ were enormously popular.

Maori remained a largely rural people, but, after decades of population decline, their numbers were rising. The term ‘Young Maori Party’ denoted a new generation of leaders, such as Apirana Ngata, who would make an enormous impact on the country.

Britain was still the main source of migrants. By 1907, most people living here had been born in New Zealand. Ties to the British Empire and Anglo-Saxon racial identity were strong. Through the Treaty of Waitangi, Maori too claimed a special relationship with the British Crown. It became increasingly difficult for non-white people to settle here.

The Liberal government, now led by Joseph Ward, had dominated the political scene since the 1890s. It promoted New Zealand as the world’s social laboratory, a ‘workingman’s paradise’ where hard work and thrift paid off. Reality did not always match rhetoric. The country was reasonably prosperous, but wealth trickled down haphazardly. The white-collar sector was growing, and more women were moving into paid work (before marriage, at least), but life could be precarious for the old, the sick, Maori, and the many who relied on seasonal work.

Transport and communication links were expanding. In 1907 the North Island main trunk railway line was nearing completion after more than two decades of construction; it would open in late 1908. The Union Steam Ship Company introduced the modern steamer Maori on the Wellington–Lyttelton route in 1907. The number of telephone subscribers rose by more than one-third in 1907 alone.

Extractive industries – timber, coal, gold, flax and kauri gum – remained important, but the agricultural economy was thriving. Britain absorbed most of New Zealand’s production, which centred on the processing and export of frozen meat and dairy products.

The adoption of dominion status was just one of many significant events in 1907. The Plunket Society came into being that year, heralding further improvement in child health. Two of the country’s best-loved publications, the Edmonds cookery book and the School Journal, appeared for the first time. The first issue of Wellington’s Dominion newspaper was published on 26 September. Cricket’s interprovincial Plunket Shield was first contested in the summer of 1906/07. Women’s basketball (netball) arrived in the country, and the first New Zealand rugby league team toured overseas. The first New Zealand Open golf championship was held, and in tennis, Anthony Wilding and his Australian partner defeated the mother country to win the Davis Cup for ‘Australasia’.

First School Journal published

In May 1907 New Zealand pupils were for the first time able to read a schoolbook published in their own country. The quarterly School Journal was initiated by Inspector-General of Schools George Hogben as a free publication containing information on history, geography and civics. This was a cheaper option than publishing several separate textbooks.

Until 1939, when a School Publications Branch was formed, the School Journal was the Department of Education’s sole publication for children. From 1993 until 2013 the School Journal was published by Learning Media for the Ministry of Education, but has sinice moved to a private publisher, Lift Education. Believed to be the longest-running serial publication for children in the world, the Journal continues to provide seven– to 13-year-olds with New Zealand-based reading material that is relevant to their lives. Around 750,000 copies of the School Journal are published annually in four parts.

Many of New Zealand’s foremost authors and illustrators have had their work published in the School Journal over the past century. They include Rita Angus, James K. Baxter, Alistair Campbell, Russell Clark, Jack Lasenby and E. Mervyn Taylor.

Children and Empire Day

'So we'll do our best while we're children
To grow up kind and true,
To keep up the fame of our Empire's name
And the old Red, White and Blue'

'Our Flag', New Zealand School Journal, Part I, June 1921

Children were key targets for Empire Day. Lord Meath's Empire Day messages encouraged them to celebrate the history of British royalty or the Empire. 'Remember brave warriors, pioneers, sea captains, 'Queen Victoria the Good'' ', he said in 1912.

Empire Day at Stratford

Think of the Empire as one big happy family, younger children were told. 'Britain is like a mother with many children who have gone from her into other countries to earn their living', the School Journal advised. 'She still loves them; she sends them many kind messages, and helps them in every way she can. And the children, the people far away from her, love her in return ... This little mother and all her big children we call the Empire, and we keep up Empire Day just as we might keep up our mother's birthday in the family, to show that we are still her loving children'.

In 1909, the School Journal likened colonials to swallows leaving their nest, flying overseas and then returning. That swallows were northern rather than southern hemisphere creatures did not worry Journal editors; dormice and other foreign critters infested their magazine.

Older children got a less homely homily. In 1912 Classes V and VI were warned that if 'citizens of the British Empire lose their simple and hardy ways of living, and become lovers of ease, the Empire will pass away'.

Occasionally, darker family secrets were shared. 'While we call to mind to-day the great multitude of brave men and women who sowed that we might reap', the School Journal told pupils, 'it is well that we should remember that the British Empire has sometimes grown by ways of which we are not proud'. That meant slavery and the Opium Wars.

Here, as elsewhere in the Empire, educators often diluted or resisted imperialism's propagandists. The School Journal kept printing articles about royalty, but by the 1930s the special 'Empire Day Numbers' had been dropped.