STRONG PROTEST

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20955, 8 September 1933, Page 3

STRONG PROTEST

SHIRLEY INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL MEETING IN ST. ALBANS The meeting called by the St. Albans School Committee to protest against the erection of an intermediate school at Shirley, which was held in the St. Albans School last night, was largely attended by parents and householders, and was practically unanimous in its opposition to the proposed site of the intermediate school, and emphatic in its support of the demand for a new school to replace the present old building at St. Albans. Opposition to the site of the proposed intermediate school was based chiefly on the allegation that it was at "a dead end," and on the inconvenience of the existing means of transport. It was estimated that the intermediate school (site and building) would cost about £12,000, while a new school for St. Albans, on the lines of either the Fendalton or Linwood Avenue schools, could be built for £4OOO. Mr C. D. W. L. Sheppard, chairman of the St. Albans School Committee, presided. The chairman expressed his pleasure at seeing such a good attendance and also at seeing that the Education Board was represented by Mr S. R. Evison, chairman of the appointments committee. Broad View Taken. The school committee had taken no narrow, dog-in-the-manger view of the proposal to erect an intermediate school at Shirley. They had considered it from the point of view of the interests of the children and whether it was in their interests that at the St. Albans School there should be 50 in each class. They also contended that if the intermediate school system was what it was claimed to be then it should apply to a larger district, the north-east district being too small. Since last October the school committee had been consistent in its opposition to the proposal, and they considered that before £12,000 was spent on a new school the children at St. Albans were entitled to proper accommodation. They had applied for a new school, and the request was favourably considered by Mr H. Atmore, the then Minister for Education, but his successor did not favour it. He spoke of the disadvantages of the Shirley site and said that the committee had suggested a site in Innes road, and there had been offers made of other sites. The Acting-Min-ister for Education (Mr J. Bitchener) had visited the district and had assured them that the proposed intermediate school would not be proceeded with until the return of the Minister for Education (Hon. R. Masters) from London, and that though tenders had been called for the erection of the school none would be accepted till the Minister returned, so that the committee would have an opportunity of making further representations to him on the subject. An Unhealthy School. The present St. Albans School should be replaced by a school of the Fendalton or Linwood Avenue type. With the exception of only one room no child in the present school got the space required by the regulations. He read reports from Superintends C. C. Warner, of the Christchuch Fire Brigade, and from Dr. F. V. BevanBrown and Mr W. W. Rowntree, members of the executive of the Open Air Schools' League, regarding the unhealthiness of many of the rooms in the old building. Superintendent Warner concluded his report by expressing the hope that the Government would do something to overcome the dangerous state of affairs at the school. Of the Standard I. room, Dr. Bevan-Brown and Mr Rowntree reported that it was the worst in the school—"cold, sunless, and depressing," and that the conditions were unnatural. The majority of the rooms in the old school, they stated, were so ill-designed or so unhealthy and ho harmful to the physical and mental well-being of the children that it was undesirable to continue their use. Resolution of Protest. The chairman moved, and Mr F. C. Bird, the secretary of the school committee, seconded: — "That this meeting of parents and householders of the St Albans School district, having heard the correspondence to and from the school committee and the Minister for Education; also, the results of the deputations which waited upon the late Director of Education (Mr T. B. Strong) and the Acting-Minister for Education (the Hon. John Bitchener); also, the reports of the Superintendent of the Christchurch Fire Brigade, and Dr. F. Bevan Brown on the state of the school buildings, etc., enters, in the interests of the children of the district, its strongest protest against the proposed erection of the intermediate school at Shirley. This meeting also requests the Minister for Education, the Education Department, and the Canterbury Education Board to abandon the scheme for the erection of an intermediate school in north or northeast Christchurch:— (a) Until the present main building of the St. Albans School is demolished and replaced by a modern and up-to-date school preferably of the type of Fendalton or Linwood Avenue Schools. (b) Until the Education Department acquires, for the erection of an intermediate school in North Christchurch, a site which would be more central and in a more thickly populated district, with better tram and bus communication, and which would be more able to serve a greater number of contributing schools than the proposed Shirley site. (c) Until the primary schools are staffed on the same basis as the intermediate school system, and with a view of further specialising. (d) Until the department can erect an intermediate school in North Christchurch which could eventually develop into a High School in which both academic and manual education could be received." Mr J. E. Thwaites, the headmaster, spoke in detail regarding the unhealthiness and overcrowding of some of the rooms in the present school. He objected to the site of the proposed intermediate school because it was at a dead end. Referring to the present St. Albans School he said that the class-rooms of Standards 111., 11., and I. would not be allowed in America to house fowls. Opposition to Proposed Intermediate School. O' l ® parent said that the motion ought to be in stronger terms. Another parent said that he did not intend to send his children to the Shirley intermediate school, but would send them to West Christchurch, or anywhere else. That was the only way to block the proposal Another parent asked if there was any proposal to provide transport from the district around the St. Aloans School to Shirley. The chairman said that there was no such suggestion. Mr R. S Badger said that the ( motion might be considerably curtailed. Ihey ought not to consider j the motion from its effect on an intelligent audience, but on the Minister. (Laughter.) The simpler the i wording of the motion was the more ; effective it would be. Mr A. C. Wiison urged that the meeting should concentrate on obtain- • ing a new school for St. Albans. It ■ was that phase of the matter that had '■ brought him, and he believed many : others, to the meeting. ; An amendment was moved and sec- • onded, that clauses (b), (c), and (d) • should be deleted. Mr R. Laine objected to the amend- < ment and said that those who sup- < ported it did not understand the de- i