Twenty-four former pupils returned to Maori Hill School and were met with waiata, haka and a sing-along yesterday.
Organiser and former pupil Stuart Penny, of Rangiora, said people came from across the world for the three-day reunion, which featured a tour of the school.
Former pupil Eric Millard had worked in Europe since the 1980’s and now split his time between Latvia and the United Kingdom.
He had planned to return to New Zealand for a Lincoln College reunion when he heard about the Maori Hill School celebration.
"I said, ‘Well, if you want to kill two birds with one stone, I'll be very happy’," Mr Millard said.
"Stuart's done a magnificent job."
He was pleased to be back in Maori Hill — particularly as Dunedin had put on beautiful day.
"You must love the country you’re born in ... but if you’re born in New Zealand particularly, because we are so well served."
"It was wonderful, actually, to be quite honest," he said.
The school’s choir and kapa haka group performed before encouraging the visitors into a rendition of She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain.
Current pupils gave tours of the grounds, all the while asking plenty of questions about what the primary school looked like in the 1950s.
Questions about the dreaded strap featured prominently, Mr Penny said.
In 2018, the former pupils celebrated 60 years since leaving primary school.
"One lady in the group really enjoyed it, a person I kept in contact with," Mr Penny said.
"She passed, but she said one thing she really wanted to do [was] reinvent the wheel and have another [reunion]."
A booklet had been put together for former pupils to take away, which included the school’s history and class photos.
