Children’s Welcome To Queen Wet Or Fine

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30055, 13 February 1963, Page 12

Children’s Welcome To Queen Wet Or Fine

No plans have been made to cancel the assembly of up to 30,000 school pupils at Lancaster Park on Saturday if the weather is bad.

The Christchurch civic welcome to Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh will be held there, wet or fine, and arrangements for the province’s biggest gathering of children will operate whatever happens. Distant country children will leave home so early that no announcement would reach all of them or all those in the city in time.

Mention the possibility of| rain or very hot weather to any of the organisers and they blanch and hold up crossed fingers. The best arrangements possible have been made for most contingencies, but much depends on a fine but cool day. All is ready for the transport of nearly 17,000 children to the park, and their assembly there with over 10.000 more, but the Canterbury Education Board, which is in charge, emphasises that the success of the whole operation depends on:— (1) Absolute adherence to five foolscap sheets of instructions which should reach schools tomorrow. (2) Informal but firm control which will keep each school together at all times. (3) Wise advice against drinking or eating too much before the event so as to avoid excessive breaking of ranks for trips to the toilet, which may entail trouble in finding the school group again. (4) Provision of a compact lunch as most children

I will be away at least between 10 a.m. to 2 pun. (5) Wearing of clothes suitable to the weather, especially hats in case of hot sunshine. 20,000 So Far Tlie official count of pupils who will definitely attend already exceeds 20,000. There will be 3000 arriving by railway from Timaru, Ashburton. Amberley, Rangaora, and Lyttelton; 3500 by 100 country school buses; 10,000 by 50 Christchurch Transport Board buses making three trips each: and 5000 post-primary pupils. But late returns for whole schools and additions from others are still coming in. Country enthusiasm is such that ballots for places on trains have had to be taken; Christchurch city responses vary, chiefly because some parents with children at different age levels do not want to split their families and prefer to see the Royal couple somewhere along the route; and post-primary schools (which have had to make their own plans) have turned up trumps. One boys’

college will parade the whole school, another has a very high proportion' of volunteers. and a co-educational school will send more than 600. Instructions Tomorrow Tomorrow all schools will receive with their instructions two detailed diagrams, one showing the routes for official transport and the other showing the entrances to the park to be used by the various categories of pupils and the places to which they will go. the location of all toilets and first-aid posts, and the layout of all official enclosures. To help school parties on arrival, the Education Board will have a staff of 60 to act as escorts in addition to the teachers from each school. Some will meet the trains, others will meet the buses, and others will marshal the huge assembly at the oval.

These final instructions (general plans were issued when school opened) have been delayed so that they may include precise times for buses leaving each school, train times, and other lastminute advice. Time Away

Country children will leave home early but most Christchurch pupils will be picked up between 10 a m. and 11.30 a.m. though some may be earlier and some later. Children must be ready at school 10 minutes before the bus time stated. They may not be home till mid-after-noon. Headmasters will have detailed instructions for assembly of pupils on arrival at the park. All children will sit in their places on the oval or in the stands until the Royal party arrives. Although they are expected to demonstrate then, they must hold their places. They will stand for the National Anthem but be seated again until the reception is over.

Dispatch of the children from the park will be a bigger job than their assembly and keeping school groups together will be essential. The last in will be the first out, unavoidably because they will use the gates by which they entered. All transport will be labelled with the names of schools concerned. Schools will leave in predetermined groups w'hich will move only on instruction by loudspeaker. The Royal entourage will reach the. park at 12.30 p.m. and leave at 1.10 p.m. Christchurch children may leave their schools up to three hours beforehand and get back there up to three hours afterwards. The Canterbury Education Board says that it will do its utmost to reduce the time children are away from home but everything depends on the fullest cooperation from all concerned. To achieve this some of the board’s staff have been working up to 14 hours a day on the plans.