Mairehau School Plan Rejected

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32322, 13 June 1970, Page 12

Mairehau School Plan Rejected

Proposals for making Mairehau High School into a Form I to VI high school, or, alternatively, establishing an intermediate school in the Mairehau area in order to avoid children from the district having to go some distance to an intermediate school elsewhere, have been virtually rejected by the Canterbury Education Board.

The Mairehau High School Board of Governors, which made the proposals, was informed of this in a letter from the board received at its meeting this week. The school made the proposals recently after the headmaster (Mr A. B. Ryan) re ported the announced decision of the Canterbury Education Board to “decapitate” Briggston, Glenmoor and Mairehau primary schools to Shirley and Heaton intermediate schools. It was a most serious decision to require pupils to travel so far outside their own district to obtain the benefits of intermediate schooling, Mi Ryan had said. He suggested that it would be logical for pupils from Gnmseys Road and in North Burwood to seek intermediate schooling in the Mairehau area rather than in Case brook or Chisnallwood. To preserve the total educational identity of the district, intermediate schooling in the Mairehau area could be provided by making Mairehau High School into a Form 1 to VI school, or by changing Glenmoor Primary School into a small intermediate school. This would achieve the board's primary objective of providing intermediate schooling for all pupils, but would at the same time eliminate the dangers and difficulties of travelling greater distances to school. “MISAPPREHENSION”

There appeared to be some misapprehension by the school board of governors about the hoard’s proposal for children from the Glenmoor and Mairehau Primary Schools to attend Heaton Intermediate

School, the general manager of the board (Mr W. P. Spencer) said in a letter. The school’s suggestion that; an intermediate school be established in Mairehau, drawing pupils from the Grimseys Road area and North Burwood, would obviously mean that these children would; have to travel far greater distances than pupils from Glenmoor and Mairehau attending Heaton Intermediate. In any event, this would not; be possible, as, in accordance; with Intermediate School Re-; gulations, these children must! attend the intermediate school) which served their own area.:

In the opinion of the board it would certainly not be logical for these pupils to attend

11 an intermediate school in Maih rehau. The question of Mairehau ' High School becoming a Form !r I to VI high school was not Is one for the board to decide. However, the Minister of Eduo. cation had said on many oecaj. sions that the Government B . had adopted the policy of establishing these high schools n only in rural areas where s . there was an insufficient numu her of pupils for the provision (j of an intermediate school. s The education board had not yet made a final decision on intermediate schooling in “‘ the area, Mr Spencer added. n Discussing the letter, Mr ls Ryan said that the regulations r were made for the better organising of education. If the were as inflexible ”las the letter suggested, it h i would be in the interests of e children and parents that they u be looked at with a view to ,e . having them amended. j. Mr Ryan said he had attent ded two meetings of a comp mittee representing the school j_ committees of Briggston, Maiu rehau and Glenmoor Schools. “ The committee had been established to assess local opin--4 ion on the board’s proposals e to do away with Form I and e II classes at the schools. He e ' would attend a combined e meeting of the Mairehau and lt Glenmoor parents next week, i- The board of governors de- -- cided to write to the board, s- restating its request that the board be consulted before any decision is taken.