A History - Waiwhetu 1950-1986 - continued

The makeshift convent in Waiwhetu was meant to be only a temporary arrangement, as the building was badly in need of major repairs. It was eventually demolished and the site and surroundings developed as the school playing area.
Improvements were also made to the school. In 1976 a staffroom was added, and in 1979 a Principal’s office.
Four Josephite Sisters and a lay teacher taught in the school until 1974 when a second lay teacher was employed to replace one of the Sisters. The Josephite community comprised three teaching Sisters and a music teacher.
Then in 1981, the community increased to 6 Sisters when two Sisters, who worked in the Wellington Religious Education Office, joined the Waiwhetu community.
In the same year on 25 May, Our Lady of the Rosary School was integrated into the State system with a roll of 165 children. By 1983 there were just two Sisters teaching in the school, one the Principal and the other the Director of Religious Studies. They were the first two Josephites to hold teaching positions under the new Catholic Integration system. The school grew and the staff increased. In 1986, after 36 years of teaching in the School, the Sisters moved out of Waiwhetu with regret but also confident the quality of education and the values of the School would be continued by the dedicated lay staff.