Pitcairn Island School

View of Pulau School from below

Pulau School is situated at the end of the Adamstown main road on Pitcairn Island.  It is a well appointed school with a pleasant sea view out towards the north. The grounds slope steeply, however there is a small concreted area at the entrance which is used extensively for play.  The lower dirt field has very little grass.  A trampoline sits under the mango tree.  A long veranda extends the length of the school and provides welcome shade. The grounds are surrounded by mature trees and a banana grove. The Eco Trail out to Christian’s Cave passes the lower boundary of the school.

View of the rear of school from the entrance driveway

Inside the school, the main classroom is spacious with an adjoining library, storeroom, and a kitchen which doubles as a pre-school. 

Fans, children's desks, filing cabinets, stage seating, teacher's whiteboard station, flat screen TV

The door to the rear leads into the library. 

Pre-school table and pre-school resource shelves

Kitchen and Art area share the pre-school space

The school has a good range of resources built up over the years by past teachers.  There are ample art supplies, numeracy and literacy resources and children’s reading books although some of these are getting quite dated. 

Junior Readers and School Journals

Computer Bay

In the computer area there are five laptop computers for the children’s use.  Internet access is difficult and expensive and children are only allowed on-line with permission for essential projects. 

photocopier

In addition to the teacher publications and pupils’ books, desks, tables and shelves, the school has a small HP Laser jet photocopier, a large flat screen TV, a small CD player, filing cabinets, whiteboard, ceiling fans, guillotine, laminator, binder and a moveable teaching station.  All of these resources make for pleasant teaching.  If additional resources are required it has been easy to put in a request and there seems to be sufficient in the budget.  Teachers need to think well in advance of supplies needed for specific projects and order them to arrive on the previous supply ship.

2012 Art work taught by Ruth Shelling

Pitcairn Island General Store

Pitcairn General Store

The general Store is operated by a team of four.  Olive Christian and Brian Young are usually to found serving behind the counter. Steve Christian and Ariel Brown work on administration and accounts.

After the arrival of the supply ship every three months, the shelves are bulging with the usual array of goods you would find in any New Zealand supermarket.  The freezers are full to the brim and the chiller cabinets are topped up with cheeses and delicatessen items.  As the weeks go by, the items on the shelves slowly diminish.  There is a good range of items but you will not find endless brands of any one product. 

Wine and Cheese and confectionary

If you require specialist goods you need to order these on your own private order and wait for the supply ship to come again.

You can buy all kinds of canned goods and dry goods, household cleaners, drinks, frozen items and hardware. There are no fresh vegetables for sale. Some frozen meats and chicken are available in the freezers. Butter, cheese and eggs are usually available for the first few weeks after the supply ship but these tend to run out before the dry goods.

Pay at the counter using cash or have an island account

The Pitcairn General Store opens 8:30-9:30am three times per week on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.  This coincides with the other businesses that open these days; the Post Office, Finance department, the hardware Warehouse and the Divisional Managers Office, which also houses the Library and loans out DVDs.