1959 Enrolments For High Schools—2525

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28604, 5 June 1958, Page 12

1959 Enrolments For High Schools—2525

About 2525 applications for the 2711. third-form places which will be available next year , in the 11 State post-primary schools in the Christchurch metropolitan area have been received this week. Although vacancies thus number nearly 200, about 300 pupils will not gain admission to the school of their first choice.'

This return covers the nine high schools under the Christchurch Post-primary Schools’ Council, the Christchurch Technical College, and the New Brighton District High School. Seven of the schools have received more* applications than they can accept, and there are fairly obvious reasons why the other four still have vacancies:— The Christchurch Technical College is probably the largest educational institution in the city and, therefore, has plenty of accommodation. The New Brighton District High School is on the coast and thus draws pupils from a “half area.” Further, with the Aranui High School opening in 1960, parents may wish to send their children to a full high school next year so that the changeover to Aranui will come more easily. The Christchurch West High School has the 500 acres of Hagley Park at its front door, with the city proper nearby, so that it also is not the centre of a big residential district. Some pupils who would otherwise have attended this school have probably been drained off by the new Cashmere and Riccarton High Schools. The Riccarton High School opened only this year and has accommodation exceeding the requirements of the third form pupils it has accepted so far. Extra rooms will be filled as the early intakes move into upper forms. There is no suggestion that the teaching or amenities of these four schools are inferior to those of the others. Past experience shows that many places will be taken by latecomers.

New Schools Full The seven schools which have excess applications are the Christchurch end Shirley Boys’ High Schools, the Christchurch and Avonside Girls’ High Schools, the Papanui, Linwood, and Cashmere High Schools. The significant feature here is that, earlier, restriction of entry was confined to the older “acamedic” high schools; but now three of' the new ones (built since the Post-primary Schools’ Council regime began) Linwood, Cashmere, and Shirley —have excess enrolments. All three “started slowly”; but they have rapidly established their own appeal—to serve large districts of which they are centres; to take their share of the increasing school population; and also to ease the pressure on the others. Neither the Post-Primary Schools’ Council nor individual boards of governors yesterday would release details of the places available at each school or the separate applications. This is because numbers to be accepted have not yet been settled exactly and all schools are anxious to avoid disappointing anyone until all aspects of the problem have been considered.

Special Meetings Sometimes the settling of new rolls and selection of pupils has been left to principals, in consultation with their staffs, but this week most boards are holding special meetings so that they may accept the final responsibility. Where applications have to be rejected, the system of selection varies in detail from school to school but the broad principles are common to all. They are:— Ability to profit from the courses available (not simply academic achievement of most merit); residence within the school territory; and family connexions through the attendance of earlier pupils. Most schools will advise appli-

cants of acceptance or rejection this week so that other arrangements can be made where necessary. Final numbers will probably be reported to school boards and to the Post-primary Schools’ Council at meetings this month. The round figure of 2525 applications for 2711 places was obtained to ascertain that there would be places somewhere for all pupils. It is also of special interest in calculating total rolls for next year for comparison with Education Department estimates. The department predicted that Christchurch would have 7820 State post-primary pupils next year. This week’s entries indicate that this figure is about right. Future Estimates This gives greater credence to the department’s estimates that future total rolls will be:—l96o, 8810; 1961, 9730; 1962, 10,440; 1963, 10,770; 1964, 10,860; 1965, 10,980. The jump of almost 1000 in entries for 1960 is the reason why the Post-primary Schools’ Council is pressing for the Burnside High School to open simultaneously with Aranui in that year. The second jump of almost 1000 for 1961 is the reason why it is already considering yet another high school. It has a site in mind north of St. Albans. All these figures—entries for next year, primary school rolls which indicate future high school enrolments, the ratio of boys to girls, and the areas from which pupils come—will be of particular interest to the council at its meeting next month, when it reopens the question of whether Burnside should be a single-sex or coeducational school. Longer-range proposals will inevitably influence this recommendation.