"This Is New Zealand" (Northland Series), Episode 3. This series of yarns, written and candidly narrated by Jim Henderson, focuses on the people, places and curiosities of Northland. In this episode, Henderson discusses the settlement of Te Hapua.
He talks about Te Hapua School, with a role of 54 Māori children and teacher Pat Gately. He reads the history of the school as told in the school diary. During the Depression, most of the isolated community was unemployed and standards of living were very poor, with the head teacher and his wife nursing many people.
Various epidemics of disease affected school attendance for many years, but now standards have improved. A school nurse and dental nurse began regular visits and two doctors also regularly visit the settlement from Kaitaia.
A graduate of Te Hapua School is Miraka Petricevich, the first Māori woman to graduate from University.