WANTING NOTHING!

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 138, 13 June 1929, Page 22

WANTING NOTHING!

WHAU VALLEY SCHOOL.

MINISTER RELIEVED. TRIBUTE TO PARENTS' WORK,

(By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.)

WHANGAREI, this day,

During his northern tour the Minister of Education has been inundated with applications for grants for various school improvements, and it was with a feeling of relief, when he opened an extension to the Whau Valley school this afternoon 1 , that he was assured that the settlers were satisfied with their treatment by the Department and had no immediate demands to rhake.

The fact that the school required enlargement within four years of its establishment is indicative of the growth iof the district on the border of Whangarei. It is a beautiful little school, newly i painted and set amidst neatly-kept grounds that are the pride of an energetic committee, and the pupils and teachers.

"The school is well equipped, and the teaching staff all that is to be desired," said the chairman, Mr. J. S. Donaldson, in welcoming the Minister. "The children are happy and justly proud of their school and surroundings. A transformation of the grounds has been accomplished in three years owing to the co-operation of parents and teachers with the committee, which has been liberally served in the way of subsidies by the Department."

Describing the surroundings as an object lesson to other schools, Mr. Burns, chairman of the Education Board, said they bore testimony to the generosity of the settlers.

After Mr. A. J. Murdoch, M.P., had added his tribute to those responsible for the appearance of the school, the Minister congratulated the parents on having manifested such keen interest. He concurred in the view that the schools should be social centres from which emanated refining influences.

Replying to *a remark by Mr. Burns that he would not undertake the Minister's work for double his salary, Mr. Atmore said: "I would do it for half that amount. While the portfolio entails long hours and much travelling, I can honestly say I would work longer if necessary. My interest in education has been intensified rather than diminished during the months I have been Minister."