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29/01/2026
Ross Stewart
[FYI request #32593 email]
Tēnā koe Ross
OIA: 1354219 – Information about Mt Wellington Residential School/Waimokoia School
Thank you for your emails of 17 October 2025 and 29 October 2025 to the Ministry of Education (the
Ministry) requesting the following information:
I am requesting information held by your agency relating to Mt Wellington/Waimokoia
Residential School between 1960 and 1978, limited to the following categories:
1. Staff Qualifications and Training
a) A list of staff employed during this period, including their roles (where available).
b) Any records or policies outlining staff qualification requirements or training
expectations in childcare, education, or social work.
c) Any staff vetting or background check procedures in place at the time.
2. Field Officer Reports and Concerns
a) Reports, correspondence, or internal memos from Auckland-based education field
officers or District Child Welfare Officers that raise concerns or suspicions of
misconduct or abuse involving pupils.
b) Any records showing whether such concerns were investigated, and the outcomes
of those investigations (if available).
3. Use of Isolation or “Time-Out” Rooms
a) Any documentation or policy guidelines regarding the use of isolation or “time-out”
rooms at the school.
b) Any records of incidents involving pupils being placed in such rooms, including the
stated reasons and duration of use.
4. Disciplinary Practices
a) Official policies or guidance documents on physical punishment or disciplinary
practices in effect during this period.
b) Records of complaints, investigations, or disciplinary actions involving staff accused
of excessive or inappropriate punishment
Wellington National Office, 1 The Terrace, Levels 5 to 14, Wellington 6011
PO Box 1666, Wellington 6140, DX SR51201 Phone: +64 4 463 8000
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Your request has been considered under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act). Please note
your request has been numbered for ease of responding.
As outlined in our email to you on 29 October 2025, the research report
Mt Wellington/Waimokoia
Residential School: 1960-2010 Historical Summary Report (the Summary Report) is available at
the following link:
https://web-assets.education.govt.nz/s3fs-public/2024-
09/V.5%20Mt%20Wellington%20Waimokoia%20Summary%20Report_Redacted.pdf?VersionId=d
bkQuPYPNN4OQnmsk5p9WIGvRctQr4WT. This Report, based on significant research into
archive documents for the school, provides an extensive overview of the history of the school,
including Governance, students, residential life, discipline, staff and complaints, which are relevant
to your request.
My response below will highlight which sections of this report are of relevance to your request. In
addition to the information provided in the Summary Report, a thorough re-examination of historic
documents held by the Ministry has been undertaken for this response, including Annual Reports,
Psychologist’s Reports, Inspection Reports and numerous other documents.
Staff Qualifications and Training
In response to
part 1a of your request, I am refusing this aspect of your request under section 18(g)
of the Act, as the Ministry does not hold a list of staff employed during that period and I have no
grounds for believing that the information is held by another department or organisation subject to
the Act.
The Ministry does hold historic files containing employee lists for certain years in that period;
however, these were not provided at regular intervals, or in the same format. It is also likely that they
do not include part-time or short-term employees. These could be used to create a staff list for this
period; however, it is likely that there would be information missing as the staff lists, we hold are a
snapshot in time.
Due to the public interest in this information, the Ministry has made the decision to compile a list of
school employees, and their positions, to the best of our ability. You can expect to receive this list
as soon as practicable. Please note, because you have already received a staff list for 1960-1965 in
a previous Official Information Act response in 2014, we will be compiling this list using records from
1965-1978 only.
You can find an overview of staffing from page 72-89 of the Summary Report.
Regarding
part 1b of your request, the Ministry has not found any specific policies for Mt Wellington
Residential School outlining staff qualification requirements or training expectations in childcare,
education, or social work. As a result, I am refusing this aspect of your request under section 18(e)
of the Act, as policies related to this do not exist or, despite reasonable efforts to locate it, cannot be
found.
Based on information gathered from school Annual Reports and the Summary Report, teaching staff
were expected to be qualified teachers. Teachers were recruited from the general teaching service
and had not received any special training for teaching in a specialised school. Indeed, it is noted in
Annual Reports that no specific pre-employment staff training opportunities were available for
workers in that field when the school opened.
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Residential staff often started without any relevant training, and there was no requirement for specific
qualifications. There was recognition as early as 1962, however, that having trained employees in
all positions was valuable. Please see the extract below from the December 1962 Annual Report:
The appointment of a teacher as Housemaster after numerous “trial and error” efforts has
highlighted the fact that every position in this school needs trained specialized staff and that
one bad appointment can nullify the good work of all other staff members.
Section 9.6 of the Summary Report
provides an overview of staff training while employed at Mt
Wellington Residential School. Training for both teaching and residential staff was provided in-house
and externally.
Regarding
part 1c of your request, the requirement for pre-employment checks in schools developed
over the lifetime of the school; however, when the school opened in 1960 there were no national
requirements or processes for vetting staff. As a result, for the period 1960 and 1978, no staff vetting
or background check procedures were in place at Mt Wellington/Waimokoia Residential School. I
am therefore refusing your request for this information under section 18(e) of the Act, as the
information does not exist.
Field Officer Reports and Concerns
Based on the wording of your request, I have interpreted
part 2 of your request as being for reports
or records of concern raised during the period 1960-1978, not concerns raised more recently that
relate to that period.
I am refusing this aspect of your request under section 18(e) of the Act. I have not identified any
reports, correspondence, or internal memos from Auckland-based education field officers or District
Child Welfare Officers that raise concerns or suspicions of misconduct or abuse involving pupils.
As outlined on page 91 of the Summary Report “the records examined hold few complaints during
the 1960-1999 period”. The Report goes on to note:
One of the few records of a complaint made in the 1960-1989 period was in relation to a
housemaster (Mr D) who attempted to kiss a pupil in the 1970s. The principal requested and
received the housemaster’s resignation, but he did not report the incident to Police. The
former housemaster was later convicted on charges of sexual indecency against children.
No further information regarding this incident has been identified through our records examination
for your request. As the housemaster resigned, it is likely that no reports exist related to this matter.
The Ministry has previously advised you that concerns were raised about a Handyman/Housemaster
in 1960/1961. These concerns were raised after this employee left the school without informing
anyone and their room was searched, with items of concern being identified. No records from that
period have been identified that raise concerns or suspicions of misconduct or abuse involving pupils
by that individual, as already outlined to you in our past responses.
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Use of Isolation or “Time-Out” Rooms
Regarding
part 3 of your request, as stated on page 65 of the Summary Report, Mt Wellington
Residential School appears to have had no timeout policy before 1979. The Ministry’s re-examination
of historic records for this request has confirmed this position. As a result, I am refusing this aspect
of your request under section 18(e) of the Act, as such policies do not exist or, despite reasonable
efforts to locate it, cannot be found.
Disciplinary Practices
Regarding
part 4 of your request, please see pages 61-70 of the Summary Report. This provides
an overview of disciplinary practices at the school during this period. The Summary Report outlines
that in the 1960s and early 1970s, the school appears to have avoided a punitive approach to
discipline. No specific policy referencing this approach has been found, however, evidence has been
found that Mr Hill, the first Head Teacher at Mt Wellington, expected staff to avoid strict discipline.
As a result, I am refusing part 4 of your request under section 18(e) of the Act, not exist or, despite
reasonable efforts to locate it, cannot be found.
Thank you again for your email. You have the right to ask an Ombudsman to review my decision on
your request, in accordance with section 28 of the Act. You can do this by writing to
[email address] or to Office of the Ombudsman, PO Box 10152, Wellington 6143.
Nāku noa, nā
Stephanie Ramirez
General Manager, Network and Regulatory
Te Mahau | Te Pae Aronui (Operations and Integration)
OIA: 1354219
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