{"id":16392,"date":"2026-01-21T06:07:48","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T17:07:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=16392"},"modified":"2026-01-21T06:07:48","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T17:07:48","slug":"much-loved-teacher-and-sportsman-killed-in-northlands-bay-of-islands-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=16392","title":{"rendered":"Much-loved teacher and sportsman killed in Northland’s Bay of Islands"},"content":{"rendered":"

A much-loved teacher and sportsman in the Auckland and Northland communities is being mourned following his\u00a0death on a road<\/a>\u00a0in Northland’s Bay of Islands.<\/p>\n

Harry Darkins, 36, died after being struck by a vehicle on Puketona Rd in Haruru, near Paihia, in the early hours of Sunday.<\/p>\n

Darkins had worked at a number of schools in Northland and Auckland including Whang\u0101rei Intermediate School, Whang\u0101rei Boys High School and more recently, Auckland’s Ormistion Junior College. He was also a keen sportsman playing cricket for Onerahi Central Cricket Club and Northern M\u0101ori Cricket.<\/p>\n

Sam Walker, from Onerahi Central Cricket Club, said words couldn’t cut the loss the community was feeling.<\/p>\n

“Harry will be missed by so many people, he engaged and helped so many within the community that this is a huge loss, everyone from the club is thinking of his family at this time, so tragic.”<\/p>\n

The club said Darkins was a “massive force” in the club who played in both senior teams and served on the club’s committee until he moved to Auckland to teach at Ormiston Junior College.<\/p>\n

“Even whilst teaching in Auckland, Harry regularly made the trip north to play for the club, nothing was ever too much hassle for Harry who was willing to help out in any way possible.<\/p>\n

“Harry will be a massive loss to the club and community and many of us have lost a great friend far too soon.”<\/p>\n

Whang\u0101rei Boys High School said Darkins was both an old boy of the school who graduated in 2006, and a staff member until 2022.<\/p>\n

\"Whang\u0101rei<\/p>\n

Darkins was a past student and teacher at Whang\u0101rei Boys’ High School. (File photo)\u00a0<\/span>Photo:\u00a0RNZ \/ Angus Dreaver<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

He worked primarily as a PE and health teacher who also served as a year level Dean.<\/p>\n

“Harry’s strength, dedication, and unwavering commitment to our boys were evident in everything he did. Beyond the classroom, he gave enormously to the life of the school as our First XV coach, proudly committed to the anchor and all it represents.<\/p>\n

“He was passionate about young people, deeply loyal to this kura, and leaves behind a lasting legacy through the many students and colleagues whose lives he shaped.”<\/p>\n

The school said he would be remembered with great respect, appreciation and fondness.<\/p>\n

The principal of Whang\u0101rei Intermediate School, Haley Read, said on social media, Darkins had aspirations of becoming a school principal and spoke with real excitement about the next step in his journey.<\/p>\n

“Harry was an exceptional teacher with strengths across PE and health, mathematics, and inquiry learning. He was thoughtful, organised, and deeply committed to his students offering meaningful guidance and mentoring.<\/p>\n

“His passing is a tremendous loss to education and to the many communities he was part of. Our thoughts are with Harry’s wh\u0101nau, friends, colleagues, and students at this incredibly difficult time. At this time, funeral arrangements have not yet been confirmed.”<\/p>\n

RNZ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A much-loved teacher and sportsman in the Auckland and Northland communities is being mourned following his\u00a0death on a road\u00a0in Northland’s Bay of Islands. Harry Darkins, 36, died after being struck by a vehicle on Puketona Rd in Haruru, near Paihia, in the early hours of Sunday. Darkins had worked at a number of schools in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":16393,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[222,174],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-nz-news"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16392"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16392\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16394,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16392\/revisions\/16394"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}