ASSEMBLY HALL FOR SCHOOL

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27911, 7 March 1956, Page 15

ASSEMBLY HALL FOR SCHOOL

£1223 RAISED AT ST. ALBANS

The St. Albans School has £1223 in hand toward the erection of an assembly hall —one of the first such projects for a primary school in Christchurch. The school committee has been raising funds for some years for a library and music room for which it expected to meet the total cost; but when the Minister of Education (Mr R. M. Algie) last year announced the new subsidy of £2 for £1 for the building of assembly halls, the school had £lOOO and decided to aim for the higher objective. A hall with a floor space of 60 feet by 30 feet, excluding stage, kitchen, and other amenities, is estimated to cost £6OOO. With another £lOOO required to qualify for the full subsidy, the school committee began an appeal to parents a fortnight ago and already £223 has been received. Because of the large sum already raised, it is hoped that this will be one of the first primary schools to receive a hall under the new scheme. This was announced at the annual meeting of the Parent-Teacher Association by Mr W. H. Jones, chairman of the school committee. New Headmaster Welcomed Mr G. Macdonald, who this week took up his appointment as headmaster at St. Albans, was welcomed to the school. After attending the Gore High School, he trained at the Dunedin Teachers’ College and then taught at Cattle Creek in the Hakataramea Valley. Five Forks, near Oamaru and Hari Hari. In 1936, he became first assistant at Timaru South. Two years later, Mr Macdonald moved to Timaru West and, just before the outbreak of war, had a year’s exchange teaching in London. Enlisting immediately on his return, he served throughout the war with the 4th Armoured Regiment in the Middle East. Afterwards he was headmaster at Waianiwa (Southland), was appointed headmaster at Sumner in 1949 and then headmaster at Timaru West from 1952 until coming to St. Albans. He told parents that he followed a middle course in education, giving equal importance to the older disciplines while appreciating the trends toward individual development. Officers were elected as follows: President. Mr C. M. A. Thompson; vice-presidents, Mrs J. Buck and Mr B. T. Miller; immediate past president. Mr K. A. W. Doell; secretary, Mr B. A. Gapes; treasurer. Mr H. R. Sim; committee. Mesdames B. Miller, J. Miller, H. Rankin, J. Green, E. A. Beaumont, J. Burt, and J. G. M.' Trotter, Messrs B. Boelens. L. D. J. Whatman. H. Walker. E. C. Burmester, B. Cox. A. Cooper, and J. M. Koppe; auditor. Mr K. T. Sugden. Mr A. B. Cottee (recently retired headmaster) and Mrs D. G. Borrow • former infant mistress) were elected life members of the association. There was an attendance of about 150.