RICHMOND SCHOOL

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20906, 13 July 1933, Page 4

RICHMOND SCHOOL

* TEMPORARY ACCOMMODATION CONDEMNED. PROTEST FROM SCHOOL COMMITTEES. The unsatisfactory temporary accommodation which is still being used at the Richmond School was condemned by several speakers at the general meeting of delegates to the Canterbury School Committees' Association last evening, and it was decided to protest to the Canterbury Education Board and the Minister for Education, to urge on them the necessity for erecting the required accommodation, and also to wait on the buildings committee of the Canterbury Education Board next week and place the matter before the members. It was mentioned during the discussion that plans for the required rooms had been approved by the school committee, and the timber for the work had even arrived at the school, but alter remaining on the ground for some time, had been carted away, some to be used in the completion of the new Sydenham schoolroom. Mr J. J. Howe, a member of the Richmond School Committee, opened the matter. He slated that about four years ago, when the school was condemned, temporary accommodation had been made, but this had been in use since. In August the Minister for Education had sanctioned the erection of two suitable rooms. At the same time hi; had assured the committee tnat if an intermediate school was not erected before the present winter, proper accommodation would be provided for the children remaining in the temporary rooms. Nothing had been done, however, and the latest information was that there was no money available for the work. The conditions were rr.ost deplorable, and the committee would like the association to move to have something done. Crowded Rooms. The chairman of the association (Mr C. R, N. Mackie) said that he had visited the school, and had felt that the whole situation at Richmond was very bad. There were 46 children in one room, and 45 in another, while the rooms measured about 22 feet by 14 feet. They wore ridiculously small, and the children were so crowded into the rooms that they could not get out from the inner sides without climbing over the desks. The place was fearfully draughty, and not fit for any children to sit in. One stove in one of the rooms was a terrible affair. The sheds were erected temporarily, and evidence of that was that the nails in the outside boards had not been driven home properly, but had been left ready to pull out. The health of the children and the teachers had to be considered, and the association would have to do something. Dr. Ada Paterson, Director of School Hygiene, had been interviewed, and had inspected the school recently, but her report had not yet been received. Material on Hand? The secretary of the Linwood School Committer (Mr W. H. Simpson), said that the school had been condemned after several examinations. The new rooms were promised, and the material actually delivered to the site, but the timber remained on the ground for some time, and was then taken away. Some of it was used for the new Sydenham classrooms, and the rest went qlsewhere. When the Minister for Education (the Hon. R. Masters) visited the school, he pronounced it rotten, said Mr Simpson. "We cannot understand why he has given us only half of what we wanted," he said. "The member for the district has stated that he has done everything for us except to hit the Minister." It was mentioned that the Canterbury Education Board would probably have before it at its meeting next week a report on the Linwood School. Decision to Protest. It was then moved that the matter be referred to the executive of the association for a report. Mr C. D. W. L. Sheppard moved as an amendment that the meeting protest emphatically to the Canterbury Education Board and the Minister for Education against the present conditions at the school, and to urge on them the necessity for the immediate erection of the required accommodation. "It is amazing that there should stand in front of these sheds a stately brick building which is a memorial to the mistakes of the board or the department," said Mr Sheppard in moving his amendment. "It cost £360 to erect the two new rooms at the school, and it should only cost that sum to erect the remainder of the accommodation." The amendment was carried, and it was also decided to send a deputation to the buildings committee of the board on Wednesday morning to place the matter before the members. Doctor's Opinion. After the association had made its decision on the matter, Dr. F. V. Bevan-Brown, who later gave an address on the medical aspect of open air schools, stated that he had been asked, with Dr. J. Restell Thomas, to inspect the Linwood School and make a report. He stated that the school did not conform with the medical standards laid down by the Education Department, as he understood them. For example, he said, the floor space for each chiid was nine square feet at the school, whereas the standard was- 12 square feet. The windows were so placed that if they were closed the sheds became like the Black Hole of Calcutta, while if they were open they reminded one of the South Pole. Such conditions had a very bad moral effect cm the child, which had to work in such sordid surroundings. Dr. Bevan-Brown reminded his hearers that years ago, when the time came for a new school at Linwood, the Open Air Schools League had been asked to address the school committee, which, however, had turned down the suggestion for an open air school. Had such a type been adopted, there would not have been such bother in securing additional accommodation, for with the open air schools new rooms could easily be added