AKAROA DISTRICT HIGH SCHOOL.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume LIII, Issue 2768, 1 May 1903, Page 2

AKAROA DISTRICT HIGH SCHOOL.

After reading the annual report to th householders' meeting laet Monday night the Chairman, Mr J. D. Bruce, spoke at soma length on the need of a new site for the school, and expressed great regret tha' the Education Board should have spent so much money on the present building, af there would be every excuse for not erecting a new building.

The Mayor and Mr Geo. Armstrong, jr., agreed that the present building was bad. and Mr Armstrong considered that the Board did not allow sufficiently for incidental expenses. This was a question that was being debated throughout the colony, and, for his part, he considered that thf Education Boards did not help the Commit tees nearly enough.

The following is the annual report:— Tour Committee have to report that they have held 12 ordinary and two special nu'et , ngs at which the attendarce has been ps follows :—Bruce 14, Munro IC, Checkley 13, Kerridge 11, Chappell 10 Barwich 8, an i Lelievre 5.

The Attendance of scholars was :— on roll average March 1902 130 113 June 1902 129 116 Sept. 1902 129 114 Dec. 1902 125 112 March 1903 128 108

This has nob been as good as the Committee hoped for and hid a right to expect. The bad attendance is confined to a few families who take no notice of repeated warnings ; but we understand that the police have now been instructed to enforce the " School Attendance Aot," and act as truant officers in places where none are appointed. If this is so there should he no difficulty in ensuring regular attendance, a? the Act is a very stringent one. Salaries, etc. -The amount of £619 9a 9d has been received from the Board for salaries, atfd duly paid to the teachers. The amount received for ordinary incidentals was £41 Is Id. A special grant of £5, to supplement this, was received from the Board with a similar amounb from the High School Board, making the total amount received £51 la Id. To this has to be added the balance brought forward of fill 6s 4d, making a. total of £62 7a sd. The expenditure was £45 8s 2d, leaving a credit balance of j£l6 19s 3d, against which we have liabilof iibott £9 The Committee has had grot difficulty in doiog this necessary work with *he funds available. The school is an old omV'iftnd, in the opinion of the Committee, will require to ho replaced byTtsiiew one ; one rooSi in particular having built of white pine, is rotten, and wt.s scarcely worth repairing. During the year we had to repeatedly prete on the Board the necessity of making the school habitable, it buing 80 bad that.it yas not fit for scholars to sit in, in cola or windy weather. They eventually has* a large amount of-work done on it, two rooms having been reflocrsd. and graded, en oil cloth dado placed round the whole pchrol and interior painted. We have also received a "urtber grant of £6 in aid of ing th« school ground, asphalting latrines, etc. This will not go far towards doh;g what is neoeesary, as it wou'd take £20 or £30 to do what is required.

Examination. —The jehool was examined on April 29th, 30th ana May lab by Inepeo tor L. B. Wood, whoe.i report was, on the whole, a very satisfactory one. The repor has been published and you will have tea

it Thft Bclinol was a;/.iu eximined on Oct. 23 (1, 1902, by Dr Anderson. Hie repirb has also been before jou. Wβ would cdll your attention to a clause in it in which he rfco.TiiiiMida the acquiring a new site and • hi! erection of at least a new class room for tho fccnidary A pirtmenfc. '" t ihe rcqirs cf the committee I conveyed to the teacher*-, through the head master, the committee's satisfaction at the results attained, and their appreciation of their efforts geuerally. Prizes.—The Committee cjnvissed for subscriptions for prises, and over £13 was collected. Over £8 of this was spent in buying looks, etc., whioh wtre presejtei to the prize winners at a very successful function, held in the school, »ad we hope this will be perpetuated and made an annual aff tir to which the children will liok forward.

An amount of between £5 and £6 i 3 in haod, and we have arranged to hold a break up qatheriog on '1 hunday next, with epirta and games on the Recreation Ground, and tea, cakec, etc., at tho school, and we would ask the assi.-tance of all interested to mike this a suoocsp.

Owiog to the shortness of funds during tin yrar we found it necessary to dispense with the services of a paid secretary, Mr Munro doing tho work for the latter half of the year.- J. Brucb, Chairman.