JACK MILLS SCHOOL is on the Inland road trip route
The Kotuku Model Bungalow is impossibly cute. The Arnold Valley Rd is a typical rural narrow side road with paddocks, sheep and rural activity. At the end of the road is a tiny replica house built by students in the 1930’s. The property is open to the public although the historic Kotuku Model Bungalow is locked and closed. Peer through the windows and make a donation in the box to support efforts to maintain the heritage site.
The headmaster of Jack’s Mill School, Kotuku district Edward Darracott (appointed 1935) was an advocate for experiential learning. Mr Darracott redesigned the gardens (look carefully at the shape and arrangement of the flower beds) and got his pupils ( 10 -12 years old) to design and build a complete, contemporary, model house of the 1930s. As far as can be ascertained it is the only example in either New Zealand or Australia of this type of learning practice.
