DISTRICT HIGH SCHOOLS.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20412, 5 December 1931, Page 8

DISTRICT HIGH SCHOOLS.

SPECIAL SECONDARY TYPE. WEST CHRISTCHURCH MODEL. BRIDGING THE GAP FROM PRIMARY STAGE. (IrICIALLT VTRITTIH JOB TO PBSSB.) {By I/. F. i»b Beery, M.A., Headmaster. West Christchurch District High School.] ■>- ' We need to be occasionally reminded that education is a continuous process, and that education is more than mere schooling; hence at every stage we must look before andafter; and nowhere in the generally accepted system of edu-

vcation is this more necessary than at J the so-called secondary stage, standing j "aa it does in the mid-way between p»im-ai-y schooling on the one hand, and work or the Uni\ r ersity on # the other. The two epoch-making reports of the Consultative Committee of the English Board of Education—that on the Education of the ,Adolescent, and the more recent one on the Primary School—both stress the continuity>of the educative process and the need there is for bridging any gaps that may have been caused by lines of social cleavage, by mistaken ideas of education, or by the vagaries of organisation and administration. . Archaisms and Anomalies. In New Zealand our system has been developed more or less along lines suggested by. the Motherland, hence many of the archaisms and anomalies that are so obvious to-day, problems which perplex administration, prevent full value being obtained from the money expended; al >d which call for review and reform. As a consequence of the manner in which it was introduced, : secondary education has developed largely along lines which, if not divergent from, have been: too much detached from those of the primary school. This was not a vital question until the institution of the Free Place System, with its break -

ing down of social barriers in I and the consequent influx of pupils from the primary into the secondary schools. Then the question of the articulation of the secondary school with the primary school became for the first time a' problem of outstanding importance to New Zealand education. District High School Emerge®. It was at this time that the district high school system came into importance and prominence. In Christchurch the existing high schools were unable to accommodate all those qualified for and seeking admission, and so the Secondary. Department of the West Christchurch District High School was established under Mr C. D. Hardie (at pre- ! sent librarian of Canterbury University College) and so successfully has the school fulfilled the expectations of its founders that the roll number of secondary pupils has steadily increased until to-day nearly 400, pupils are enrolled above Form 11., thus making West Christchurch Ify far the largest district high school in New Zealand; indeed, I there are very few separate high schools in this country that have a greater enrolment of secondary scholars than has West Christchurch. Some Causes. What arc some of the causes of this increase in the secondary roll—an increase altogether out of proportion to the ; increase in the number of secondary pupils in New Zealand, or indeed in Christchurch T There may be many factors, but I shall emphasise only one that I believe is of paramount import- ! ance. A district high school such as West makes it possible for a pupil to pass on to and be initiated in secondary work with the least possible disi location. Under the new organisation tho teachers of Form 11. (Standard' VI.) [ are in close touch with, and in some I cases actually teach, pupils in Fprm lll.—that • crucial first year of secondary work—so that tho difficulties and often the misunderstandings that appear to be inherent in beginning high school work will tend to disappear. Further t the district high school makes it possible, with the trained specialised staff that it commands, to institute the Junior high school system—the essential features of wtoich are the treating of the adolescent and the pre-adolesoent as an individual, the placing of the pupils in homogeneous groups, the planning of the work to suit the child, increased facilities for purposeful hand and craft work,, the discovery of aptitudes, and for those who need -it and have the capacity, the early beginning in Form 1.. (Standard V.) of French and elementary mathematics. This, I believe, has been the greatest factor in causing the marked increase in the enrolments of the. secondary department. Moreover, such cultural and social organisations' as . the school-orchestra, the drama society, the magazine, the debating society, the cadet corps, and the various snorts clubs all jrfay their part in the: development complete boy oi^girl.". % All< tljel»i*ctiTltlea have been begun at West Christchurch with r.uch a measure of success as to encourage still further development. In _©ssehce the schboljs a junior, senior high ; school irith its own primary department.

Elan Sfaeta a Need. Hence it'can lse seen that the district high school plan, where the "break" is made at the end of Standard. IV», at about the age of 11, and where the phi Id develops during those formative years of 11 to 17, has proved itself at West Chrlstchurch J;o have been eminently successful. The record and- reputation of old '♦Westonians" is writ large in the educational, social, and commercial life of .this City and indeed of the Dominion. There is no doubt of the success of the district high school: type. Given adequate buildings, equipment, and staffing, the large district high school can give'the students everything the i best secondary schools in New Zealand can give and in addition can give bid continuity and articulation of the work and old understanding of the "thirdlonk student" that jfche Secondary school j as at present constituted cannot give, j ■ Special- Problems. Of course, such a type of sch 00l has ! its problems, and a glimpse at these may be illuminating. The first problem is financial—and though. educational finance must be spoken, of in whispers nowadays, yet I make no apologies for referring to it. The board of governors of a high, school receive as capitation more than twice as' much per pupil as does the Education Board for the secondary pupil. Clearly the boy or the girl in' the district high school is as valuable to the> State ; as is the boy, or the girl in a high school. Why should there a differentiation in amount of capitation! The -anomaly of one scale for secondary pupils at one type of school and another scale for another type doing identical work is'. jLndiefensible, and must be amended, and the same applies to the absurdity and injustice of a less liberal staffing scale for the secondary department of a district high school than for a high school. If the secondary department of the school were staffed as for. a high school, two additional teachers would: be-appointed. Why > should 400 secondary pupjls in one. school, under State control have 15 teachers, ; while • the same number of pupils'in. the 'secondary department of a district high- school have only 13 f The Crowning Absurdity. But the crowning absurdity is in the system of payment of salaries. Here is one example. The headmaster of a school- of 1000 pupils, 400 of whom ,are secondary pupils (a school like West Christchurch) receives less salary thair does the headmaster of a separate secondary school of only 300 pupils. It is no wonder that repeatedly West Christchurch District High School has been referred to as an anomaly. But the anomaly is to be found not in the type or quality of work done, not in the con-, tribution it' has made to ' educational theory and practice, but in the differentiation in treatment so far as 'its secondary pupils are concerned. , Reform is urgently needed to place all secondary pupils and all their teachers.. on: exactly the same. footing. Other problems relating to the type, of education to fit our changing civilisation, to internal organisation, to economy of time, and/ to education for leisuro, have been referred to abovespace will not here .allow of greater elaboration. The Work Goes On. . In the meantime the school' does its work, seeking to develop the mental and physical powers ojf its pupils, to discover aptitudes, and give outlets for the creative 'powers of youth, to develop character and self-discipline, and to give the; pupils such cultural and refined interests .as •to make for sweetness, sanity, and. strength in our young citizenry.'