NEW DORMITORY WING

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27916, 13 March 1956, Page 6

NEW DORMITORY WING

GIRLS’ HIGH SCHOOL ADDITION OPENING BY PRIME MINISTER Boarders at Christchurch Girls’ High School who use the new dormitory block, which was opened at Acland House yesterday afternoon by the Prime Minister (Mr Holland), will sleep in separate clean, airy cubicles, each with its wardrobe, set of drawers, a shelf, an electric lamp, and a floor mat. The chairman of the school board of managers, Mr P. J. Lawrence, said at the opening ceremony that the new block represented a great advance on the old type of dormitory. Built at a cost of about £9OOO, the new building, which is to be called after Miss J. I. Stewart, who was headmistress from 1948 to 1954. will provide accommodation for 21 girls. Mr Lawrence said the credit for the new wing went to Mr G. A. G. Connal, who was chairman in 1949, when the first moves for the new wing were made, and to his board, which had worked jn collaboration with \ Miss Stewart. The building, he said, had been erected in surprisingly quick time. The contractors, Paynter and Hamilton, Ltd., had begun laying the foundations on the Monday after tenders had been finally accepted on June 17, and the wing had been completed before Christmas. The Old Girls’ Association had given £BO, which had been used for blinds, curtains and bedside mats. Value of Boarding Establishment The headmistress. Miss R. F. C. Tyndall, said she believed that the school was greatly enriched by having a boarding establishment attached to it. Board members would raise their eyebrows at this because at every meeting they had to contend with all sorts of complaints and requests, and they could hardly be blamed for thinking that she thought the hostel was a nuisance. At the hostel they had; girls from Marlborough, isolated parts! of the West Coast, from North and; Mid-Canterbury, and this year there was one boarder from Fiji. Just as a country benefited from overseas visitors, so the school benefited from having country girls in its midst. Miss Tyndall said that the school found difficulty in securing resident mistresses, and the hostel was now being conducted without any assistance from the teaching staff at the day school. In coping with these problems she was helped by the house-keeper-manager and the matron. With the new dormitory she felt that the hostel would grow from strength to strength. “I believe that if you eive anyone a pleasant and favourable environment they will re-1 act favourably to it.” said Miss Tyndall. New School Buildings “We who are interested in government feel that expenditure on education is unsurpassed in importance.” said Mr Holland. Last year the Government had spent £21,000,000 on education. This year and last year, according to information given him by the Minister of Education (Mr R. M. Algie), more than four grand new classrooms had been opened every day. In the last six years more than 4000 new classrooms had been built. For the next six years 78 new post-prim-ary schools were planned. These plans for new school building would help to relieve the pressure on such schools as Christchurch Girls’ High School, which had 692 pupils, said Mr Holland. Mr Holland opened the door to the new dormitory after he had been handed the key by the managing director of Paynter and Hamilton. Ltd., Mr J. M. Paynter. Afterwards Mr Holland and Mrs Holland, who is an old girl of the school, and other guests were shown over the new building.

Girls in their light blue summer uniforms lined the driveway to the hostel as Mr and Mrs Holland arrived for the ceremony.