HARD AT IT.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 31, 7 February 1927, Page 5

HARD AT IT.

I —•— j STUDENTS AND WORKMEN. j . | FIRST DAY AT TAKAPUN'A. ! J STUDY UNDER DIFFICULTIES. While tarr enters hammered. .jvers tcHT-eii tueir bricks into po>.tiv_n, plasterers wen: cn wii'a tlit-ir plastering. ' aim painters «vr.t.nu«.d their c-.evrat .r.g. the new Takapuiia Grammar Sc d was occupied to-day by '.'»er two hundred pupils, both toys an ,i girls, whose ,' homes are on the northern shore. ■ This occupation ot the new school is | probably unique in the Dominion's , educational history, for from outside j appearances the buildings look tar from I completed, and the idea of a school | being held amidst the din of construcj lion seems absurd. But ir. reality the j ea»tern and northern wir.gs of the 'school are almost completed, and it is anticipated that by the end of next '.week the plast.-rers and painters will : have completed their respective jobs, and tiiat at leas; in these part- of the school the scholars and teacher? w ill be | left unmolested. I Shakespeare's lir.es. "The whining , schoolboy, with his satchel and shining ' morning face, creeping hke snail un- ( willingly to school, ' could hardiv be ?aid to apply to the lads or la.— ie?" w1.., started their new school life at Taka- ■ ['Una to-day. for a quarter of an hour be to re nine u ciock t lie majoritv of the : pupils had gathered outside the hail.completed buildings, eager to explore ; their new ?chool. The first lad to arrive obviously a "new kid" appeared a ! minute or so after eight. In place of I tne well known b.ue Grammar School I cap i dangerously small m the opinion of I ?ome medical men) he wore a large felt jhat. they to start school here to- , '-ay was his question, after a glance at the workmen pottering about = t'"e- , job-. } Two Wings Nearly Completed. i Inside tne main entrance to th-> northern wing, before the dav's | commenced, everything appeared m j contusion. A small army of* ;.ia?terermoved about on platforms erected above I the pa--age. a; p.\ir.g their piaster t.» . the ceiling and t"p of the «a!i-. i.'r.e of the rooru? on tiie ground rioor. a " : f!e j tidier than the other-, was j..>int<-d".':i t. a? the "headmaster's -tudv." Here, in I iv : ,nz of a I' i!o of new d--k's. were ca-v's '.T hi-rorips. elementarv algebras s. -~r- ~ hand books. au(l others, "all readv f-r distribution. I. air-. t he s-hooi 10. nearer j completion, although workmen were sr;a engaged in nnishing on the corridor and j ?e\e ra i of tiie rooms, which are all large i .in.l n i rv. I outside, on the ground which will liter j converted into lawns, and p!avjmg areas, were piles of scaffolding, j bricks in their thousands, concrete mixers. mortar barrows, and the usual paraphernalia that is always associated with the erection of large buildings. Tucked ; away in a corner by the s-pps lea.'.ing to . the corridor, a ?ma T ! engine, used for j h'"dsting cement and bricks ur> the "lift" to the second sr.irer. was barkin- | sharplv. Indeed, there was r.o-hing to suggest that the plarn w.,- VvT i n . vailed by a couple of hundred ),i T s nnd girls. Mjor to res l!mo their -tud:.-.-i their <"hri--~.is h.-.'i l.iv s. I The First Muster. | At nine the Lids « ere r. is*ercd [j in rro.'.t of tiie mam Huili ng. while :h- ---. girls gathered in .-ir.-» of th- i-.rg-- r • - eastern vv.:it. Tli-.-e *,\ a - i form rs. and K y a .j-iarter t a-t nine were ?,-at t an i re.idv - , . ,i.,--, their day's work. Kx-fi-e ■ • an i ink were given o;j; and with;:; halfJ to the new s hoed vvvjld" have' #e en | hundred head- Ser.t over two i.u:i ir-d n -*-v desks, ail "hard at Waiki.u • .i.on.2 tno "'erc'inj i*r 11 | caution lest he ur-et a tin .-.'f' : a ;r.t • : j bump tne arm or ne the patient j plasterers, one 0 f the j• i:i:■. r masters. complete with Sowing' idack gown. I looked ridiculously cut of rdaoe. ;:i ( marked contrast to n:s within the das* r-^orn. The r.r-t .-kyiarki:i£ took p]a»"v Sofore tiie * toil was a <l"zen or so of the r.e.v h«\v> ;>einj ":nit:a:e«i" by having their heads held ier a tar. Be to re the com men-vment of tiie dav'work the new- hea.ima-ter. Mr. C. M. Littlejohn. formerly of the Waitaki | Boy?" High School, was welcomed to the | district !.y the Mayor of Takat ina Mr. |.T- D. Morison -. Other sjk.■ - = we"- 3 Mr. A. Harris. M.P.. who -aid that the opening of the s C ho.-; won'. 1 nil a long felt want on the North Shore. Mr. -T. son. member of the Takapuna roimcil. Mr. J. Collins, 'hairir.ar, .-.f j the Takapuna School ('..mm'ttee. Mr. A. M. lio-*,id and Mr. G. H. M»"h-ws. ! headmaster of the Takapuna IVstri - Tiie last-named s-,.-.a'< - | tioned that the e-tablishment of th- ' s.-aool would Sive the -Cltcls as ■'s tnree hours trave.ling e\*erv ii tv. a ; handicap which in the past ha i been , against the '-est advaneemen". I Rep!y:ng, Mr. Litt!eji-.hn s.i' 1t! at *h- ! peculiar con-litb r.s. Tiie staff, h ■ w---% : . j were imbued with the j,|.>a rhat th-v ! must carrv on. an i tl.ev were • ■ v 1... i ir.g forward to the iir wh-n *h- •• I would be oomrdettd ar. i a -- irt • •: ' be made in getting ti'.e z- ; • thr He as-ure.i f... : ;r ..-.-s -hit ' ' hundred, r-er eent • f th.e----i work, ar. i tiiat xint *h.ey "• k- t A'i kland.