CADDICK WING COMPLETED

Press, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 26857, 9 October 1952, Page 3

CADDICK WING COMPLETED

MODERN ADDITION TO HIGH SCHOOL OFFICIAL OPENING ON SATURDAY Accommodation difficulties will be ( considerably relieved and modern ( amenities provided by the completion < of the new Caddick wing at the Christchurch Boys’ High School. The wing will be officially opened by the 1 Prime Minister (Mr Holland) at 11 a.m. on Saturday. Unlike most new blocks, this has the advantage of opening in a ready-made attractive setting, as it has been built to the west of the assembly hall, amid flowering trees in the memorial park. The modern design of the new block blends with that of the older buildings. The exterior is of brick veneer on the ground floor, and the upper storey is finished with chocolate and cream-painted timbering. Art, music, and social studies (history and geography) will be taught almost exclusively in the new building, and the requirements of each department are well served by up-to-date amenities. The art room, like the others, will benefit from the generous windows which have been fitted along most of the north-west frontage. The walls are lined with display boards, giving plenty of room for permanent or changing exhibits. Furniture will include drawing “horses” incorporating seats and easels. One side is taken up by a long bench with two sinks for the convenience of painters. The walls are painted cream and brown. Miniature Concert Chamber The music room is a miniature concert chamber with acoustic tiles in the ceiling. The lower walls are woodpanelled and the rest of the walls are painted cream. There is a small stage, complete with a new baby grand piano. Adjoining is a spacious music and instrument storeroom. The stairway, with a slim iron balustrade, leads to the social studies department. History classes will have a room with good space and extra library accommodation. The new geography laboratory, already fully fitted, gives the best indication of innovations in the new building. From the door a globe swinging from a pulley gives the room an air as well as marking its designation. Display boards all round the walls are gay with maps and charts. Double tables for the pupils give ample space for map work. A slot along the edge of each table enables big maps to be turned underneath without damage. In the middle of the room is a stand for the epidiascope, which projects sUdes or printed pictures, and this unit has its own drawers for storage. Three big tracing tables at the back of the room have glass tops with tube lamps and mirrors underneath to throw up a clear outline. These ; benches have drawers for sheet maps, and elsewhere the walls have brackets "j for disappearing roll maps. There is another small classroom for social studies next door. On both floors, storerooms and staffrooms divide the building, and corridors run along the shaded side. There is a casualty room near the main entrance. Associated with the building is a new boiler house to heat the whole school. Heating equipment is expected to arrive in time for use next winter. A covered way joins the new wing to the school. In the foyer at the foot stairs is a plaque naming the building after Mr A. E. Caddick, the former headmaster, who worked so energetically to have the new building erected.