'Awareness’ Of Value Of Intermediate Schools

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31366, 11 May 1967, Page 19

' Awareness’ Of Value Of Intermediate Schools

The people were belatedly appreciating the merits of intermediate schools, the Regional Superintendent of the Education Department in Christchurch (Mr S. S. P. Hamilton) said in his opening address at the southern regional branch conference of the New Zealand Secondary School Boards’ Association. “There is now an awareness of the value of bringing together children in forms one and two in such a way that they can get the best education possible with the facilities available. This also helps to promote cultural and recreational activities which would otherwise be difficult,” Mr Hamilton said.

He said this system also helped to provide a corps of teachers trained in leading pre-adolescent children. It also gave a tremendous opportunity for the promotion of continuity between high schools and neighbouring primary schools. “Within a decade I can see an education system in the southern region where there are sufficient intermediate schools to cover the children in forms one and two. With good will and intelligence we can expect a smoother transition of children from primary to secondary schools.” Mr Hamilton said the Government recognised that country and urban schools were too small for this scheme and was evolving a policy for forms one to six schools.

Mr Hamilton said it was most important that the association did not lose sight of the long-term objectives of promoting continuity and coordination in the education of children. This was one of the major concerns of the Commission on Education.

He referred particularly to the advantages of the curriculum development unit and guide-line courses, which tended to bring primary and secondary school teachers together. “One distinctively novel element is the way in which primary and secondary teachers are discovering common fields of interest,” he said. “This is a healthy development which I hope wou will do all in your power to encourage, this crossing of boundaries with mutual interest in subjects and, more important, in children. “Primary and secondary teachers are developing more respect for each other because of the way in which they consult.”

Mr Hamilton said the lead given by the Education Department in continuity and co-ordination had not always been as great as it might hav6 been. The great development of the sixties in education was the move towards a co-ordinated syllabus.

Bacon And Pineapple.— Wrap fried bacon round pineapple cubes and impale on a cocktail stick, for a tasty canape.