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Kaipara Flats School will farewell one of its longest-serving and most popular staff members this month when office manager Jan Kose retires on December 18 after 35 years in the role.
Jan first joined the school in 1985 as its bus driver and became office manager in 1991 initially working two mornings a week. She continued doing both jobs for 20 years before giving up the bus run.
“When I began, we had around 38 children enrolled and only two classrooms. We had the pool, the field and the tennis court. That was it. But it was always the community hub,” she said.
Jan grew up just a few kilometres away from the school on Old Woodcocks Road and had two boys attend before they went off to Mahurangi College.
She’s seen the roll rise to around 120 students, classrooms expand to five (having peaked at six), and technology evolve from open fireplaces – which the children used to light in the mornings – to heat pumps.
“It wasn’t a problem though. The kids were sensible and never got burnt,” she said.
As the school expanded so too did Jan’s job description and hours.
“When I first started I was mainly just typing the newsletter and sending invoices. It’s gone from that to anything from providing sticking plasters to payroll, accounts and everything in between,” she said.
Jan has worked with eight principals at Kaipara Flats including the current one, Jason Irvine.
Jason arrived at the start of last year and said having someone with Jan’s experience and knowledge had helped him and his predecessors find their footing at the school, especially those who were principals for the first time.
“If I’ve got a question, then I can go to Jan. She knows a lot of the history of the school and it actually made my induction easier. There’s a legacy there. And she also has the school office locked down.”
When Mahurangi Matters asked if Jan unofficially ran the school Jason joked, “I’m the eighth principal Jan has worked for. Or rather that has worked for Jan.”
He added that the students knew Jan as Ruru, a nickname given to her by a former deputy principal when the classroom names were changed to native birds.
“It’s just stuck since then. Children will often come to the office and say excuse me Ruru can I have this or that, and Ruru will say what’s the magic word?”
Jan said she would miss both the staff and the kids – “it’s kind of pretty even really” – and that her retirement would be a clean break from the school.
“It’s always been an awesome place to work. I still don’t want to leave, but the time is right to do other things.”
Jan said she planned to go on bicycle tours with her husband Bernie, stay involved with Mahurangi RFC, and also hoped to return to tennis, which she played when she was younger.
“The kids are going to miss Ruru but the staff will as well,” Jason said
A farewell for Jan will be held on the Tane stage – named in memory of former student Tane Tangaroa Gregory, who passed away last year aged nine (MM, Apr, 24) – at Kaipara Flats School, December 18, from 11am.
