EDUCATION BOARD.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16406, 28 December 1918, Page 3

EDUCATION BOARD.

NOTES ON THE YEAR'S "WORK,

MEMBERSHIP.

There wore two in t.l io niGmbership of the Board durjng the year. Mr T. W. Adams, who represented the Middle "Ward and had been, a member for twentv-fivc years, resigned trlirough failing health, and Mr W. M. Hamilton, who represented the South \Yard and had . been a member for fifteen veats re-signed on account of his business engagements. Both tl ! L ' s , e men liad served tho Board faithfully and with ability. An election was held in Julv, when Mr T. Hughes, of Geraldine, was elected to fill the \acancj in the South' Ward. W. Banks was elected chairman m place of Mr C. H Opie, who had occupied tho position for throe 'years' and .did not secßf, re-clection. I BUILDING. I Tho number of schools open during the year was 3SB, and tho a\eiagc at" tendance at the ©nd of the September quarter,.was'.29,4Gl pupils;. New schools were opened at Mount Nessing, Hmitj ingdon, Lagmhor, Parnassus, Sherwood Dowtis. To Awa, Tesclieniaker.s, Cameron s,. Glen Alton. Schools wore ■ reopened at Kissel ton, "Westhro'ok, aD j Four Peaks, and schools were .closed at Lake Kanieri and Waikerikikeri. Additions were erectoS. at HignbanK, Ouruliia, Camerons, Waikuku, Fim--ton, Cashmere, and Sutherlands. Owing to the high cost of building work through the war, the.Board in the interests of economy held over as much re-building and repair work as rossible. This particularly applied to painting - and renovations, ; considerable arrears of such work haying to bo carried out after conditions become more normal. Tho largest work -undertaken school, towards, the cost of which Mr H. Friedlander generously gave H. Friedlander generously donated £1000. The building, which contains six class-rooms in brick,- with..all mod- 1 era improvements, is now practically, completed, ..and it is hoped Tvill be ready for occupation after tho holidays. The Board has also commended the re-building of the Sydenham and St. Albans schools. In the former case four rooms arc being forming the first portion of a - twostoreyed brick building to replace tho present old wooden school. At St. Albans three rooms arc being erected, which is the first section of a modern one-storeyed brick school, which will be completed as funds. permit. The Board sent one of its . members and its architect to the .Chatham Islands to report on the condition of the schools there. As a result of this visit it was decided to make application to tho Department for a grant for tho erection of new schools at Owenga and Te Roto, and arrangements were made to carry out the necessary repairs at tho other schools and residences. ■ ,

Owing , to several of. the classrooms throughout the district being in ; an overcrowded condition, the Board is asking the Department to increase the allowanco of ten square feet of floor space per child to twelve feet. Tho Board feels that in the interests of the health of tho children and teachers something in this direction should be done as soon as possible. •

FURNITURE. A workshop was erected on tlie Board's section in Moorhouise avenues, and machinery installed for the making of school furniture, and to provide .better facilities for the carrying out of building and.repair work. Repair staffs aro now stationed in Christchurch, Timaru, and Greymouth, and most of the work has been carried out by them. Thie arrangement has proved satisfactory, and the Board is now extending operations of its building staff and erecting many of its new schools hy its own workmen. NEW OFFICES. In June last the Board removed into new offices in Oxford terrace. Since the amalgamation of the four Boards the accommodation in the Normal School buildings has been 'found insufficient and unsuitable to meet ..the requirements of the enlarged field of operations of the new Board. This necessitated tlie removal into the new offices which, besides being more are, owing to their ccntral position, much more convenient for the teachers and public. WAR CONDITIONS. The war, which has now come to a close, materially affected the staffing of the schools, and in all 119 teachers, including forty-eight pupil teachers, probationers, and students, joined the Expeditionary Forces. Tne Board w«in fortunately able in nearly all cases to secure satisfactory temporary teacliers to fill their places. It is probable that with the increased staffing required under the new goale, unci the retirement of teachers on superannuation, together with tlie usual resignations, all"trained teachers will soon find employment. THE EPIDEMIC. The school year lias been cut hliort. bv the influenza epidemic and the annual examinations usually held in November and December, postponed . till the beginning of the New Year. This

long break will interfere somewhat with the school work for tho coming year, and it will be some time before arrears can be overtaken and the schools settle down to tho usual routine. The closing of the schools freed tho teachers, who took .1 Terr activo part in the fighting of the epidemic. HIGH PRICES. The high prices ruling for fuel and material required in connexion with the cleaning and running of tho schools made it very difficult for committees to meet the expense of such items out of the incidental allowance paid to them. The Board is already paying to committees more than nine hundred pounds above the amount received from the Department for this purpose, an'<l lias done all it possibly ■could to obtain an increased grant from the Government. It> is understood that the new regulations provide =omc relief, but not to the extent hoped for by the Board. COWIE BEQUEST. The late Mr Alexander Cowie made a bequest of £200 for the establishment q£ four scholarships in connexion with the Christchurcli Protestant Secondary schools or Canterbury College. Tho Board has placed on record its high appreciation of tho generous bequest. MANUAL TRAINING. During the year there lias been considerable development in this district with regard to tne teaching of all subjects coming under the head of elementary handwork. Schemes of instruction provided by the Board at the beginning of the year were taken up and successfully carried out. There is distinct evidence that this newly-con stir tuted iarge district is now being brought into one harmonious whole as far as elementary handwork is conccrncd. The drnvbuck our - i ing the past year's operations was the limited supply of material available. It was quite impossible to secure certain Jines at any price, and in consequence the work was hampered. How- | ever, with a little • judgment it was found possible to supply every school in the district with material and apparatus to carry on some fornl of handwork. On account of tho influenza epidemic full returns of these 'classes are .not yet to haiid. ■ 1 A considerable extension has also taken place in what is known as the advanced branches of handwork. Included in this list are classes-as ..part of the agricultural courses of instruction, classes in woodwork, ironwork, -cookery, domestic hygiene, home science, laundry work, swimming and so forth. There are now twentytwo different centres at which _ woodwork and cookery are taken .in this district, and every available pupil was Conveyed by rail, coach, or tram to rcceive instruction. The need is_ felt for tho "establishment of additional centres, and during the year an attempt was made to establish new centres at Hawarden and Southbridge. | The Department gave a grant of £400 for the purpose of providing a building at. Southbridgo, but on account of tlie .fT'eat cost of .building at the present time it was found impossible to get tlie work carried out for this sum, while for the same reason a building could not be erected at Kaikoura, although tho Department gave £300 and tho Kaikoura County Council £150 for the purpose.' The increased attendances at the Christchurcli centres has made it very apparent that another centre is absolutely necessary here, consequently an* application lias been sent to the* Department for a grant for a manual training building at Phillipstown, as this position would best suit the wants of schools uneatercd for. The Hokitika were found to be much too small for all the pupils offering, and the woodwork room was condemned as being unsafe, so an application was sent to the Department... inakii<r an n'nyJ'cation for a grant to' provide a new building./ The sum of £750 lias been approved by tlie Department; and the work of erecting thebuilding will be taken in hand shortly. At Lvttcltori matters have been in a' bad state for some time past as the building in use is quite unsuited for a manual training building. After a good deal of agitation the Borough Council Iftis now generously offered a site of land and a grant of £200 for the erection of a technical school build-' ing in which tho manual classes will', be held. This work will be taken in hand as soon as it is known how muek ! the Department will give for the erec-, tion" of the • building.

AGRICULTURAL WORK. The interest in agricultural education continues to increase year by year. Tho McFarlane Shield for the north-ern-part of the district and the Hurdley Shield for the southern part were the means of producing a. great ' deal of enthusiasm and healthy rivalry among the different schools taking agriculture. For the first time a permanent agricultural instructor was stationed on the West Coast, and the Greymouth and Hokitika District High Schools took up the rural course of-in-struction. - Swimming and life-saving did not receive tho same attention this year as it has received in previous years. The weather 'towards tho latter end of last season was not all, that could bo desired, and the epidcmic at tho beginning of the present season did away with any .idea of holding classes at all.' The needs and wants of soldiers at/tho front have not been neglected by either the pupils or instructors in connexion) with their classes, as at all centres a great deal has been done by way of supplying articles-, for Red Cross and other " patriotic purposes. Too much praise cariot be given to the cookery instructresses who voluntarily steppedl into the breach and gave their services in their separate kitchens in the matter of cooking nutritious foods for those stricken down during the epidemic. War conditions again materially affected the attendances at technical and continuation classes throughout the district. In spit© of this, however, successful courses of instruction were carried out at Waimate, Timn.ru, Temuka, Geraldine, Ashburton, Greymouth, and Hokitika besides individual technical and continuation classes carried on at Fairlie, Akaroa, Doyleston, Leeston, and Lakeside. Tho increased facilities under clause 89 (iii) of the Regulations by which a literal allowanco is given for. students taking up courses of instruction in agricultural, industrial,.and! domestic subjects was largely taken advantage of by pupils attending somo of the technical schools in the district. With the exception of Greymouth and Lyttelton, most of the centres are well supplied so far as technical school buildings are concerned. Lyttelton is in a fair way to be provided for„ and it is probable that Greymouth's wants in this direction will be supplied, before the end) of the incoming year, as the Department has promised that something substantial will be done in the wav of erecting an. up-to-date building at that place, so that for the future all the young people of the district linay be able to equip themselves thoroughly as far as technical education goes for the great industrial and commercial struggle which is bound to take place in the immediate future..

The requirements of pupil teachers, probationers, and uncertificated teachers have not been lost sight of, as classes to cater for their wants have been conducted at Timaru for agriculture, drawing, and hygiene, at Christchurch for agriculture, drawing, andi hygiene/ and at Greymouth for agriculture, mathematics, English, drawing, and school method. These classes have been well attended, and the instruction given has been helpful to the younger teachers in their actual teaching work and also in their examination work.

In conclusion it may be said that the manual and technical work, in spite of the adverse conditions of the year, the war. the very severe winter, and the influenza epidemic, shows a steady anc', decided improvement, which should lay the foundation for greater improvement in the future.