BROOKLYN SCHOOL.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVII, Issue 107, 7 May 1909, Page 4

BROOKLYN SCHOOL.

jWAOT OF ACCOMMODATION". A CASUAL VISIT. The committee of Brooklyn School* is much exercised over the matter of accommodation tor scholars. They have interviewed the Education Board, they have even interviewed the Minister himself : and still they are not content. They have accommodation for 434 children on lh,e basis fixed by the Government of 12 feet space for each child. But there are' 556 on the roll, and the average attendance is over 500. So crowded was the school that provision had to be made for the pupils outside. In one room with regulation accommodation for 90 children there were packed 128. The congestion was relieved by talcing Fullford's Hall — a building excellent as a hall, but necessarily not fulfilling the requirements of a school. Yesterday afternoon a reporter from Tiie Kvening Post paid a visit to the school and interviewed the headmaster, Mr. J. B. Hopkirk. He learned from that gentleman the details of the attendance and the capacities of tho rooms. In the upper school, room No. 1, there wero 50 children, but taking the regulation 12 feet for each child as a basis there was accommodation for 42 ; room No. 2 had 55 children, instead of 60 ; room No. 3 had 63 children, instead of 60 ; room No. 5 had the full allowance of 50' ; and room No. 4 had but 64, where there is room for 90. 14 was from this room that the children in Fullford's were drafted. Taking what is called the lower school, it was found that in the large room there were 82 children instead of 50 ; in the middle room there were 32 instead of 30 ; in the third room, 55 instead of 42. THE TWELVE FEET BASIS. ■Here it should be stated that yester-r day afternoon, on account of the threatening weather, the attendance, was 508. but there are 559 on the 'roll. Three rooms were added to the upper school a few years ago, and were constructed so as to" provide 12 feet of floor space for each child. The rest were built on the assumption that 10 feet was sufficient. This idea has been abandoned for the more enlightened policy of 12 feet per child, and it is on that basis that the children and their accommodation are considered. It may be suggested that the vacancy created by the overflow to Fullford's Hall should be utilised in relief of the pressure on ether rooms ; but those with piactical experience of teaching point out that children must be kept in classes, and while one class may have 50 or 60 children in it and be too big for Us room, another^ may have but 40 to 50, ,and ye» balancing of numbers would be undesirable. MORE ROOM WANTED. There is a likelihood of the school being provided with another room ; but thi6 will barely meet the present case, for tho school has already seventy children in excess o-f accommodation on a 12ft basis, and no provision will be made for one of the most steadily growing ■districts in Wellington. Two rooms at least appear to be required, and for two rooms the committee pressed, and that with some emphasis, when they waited on the Minister. The population of Brooklyn is estimated to be some 3500,' and it is growing. The district is described as chieflya "wm-ldng-class" district. (Moreover, the school is attended by children from Vogeltown and Frtchett. The committee estimates that "by the time one additional room is built tho school-age population will have much exceeded that increased accommodation. A glance ro-und the school buildings and. the broken ground on which they stamd, will show how zealously the various committees have looked after their trust. They hkve laid out a tennis court and levelled a play-ground, with money raised by themselves and subsidised by the board ; they have kept the buildings in good, repair, and the school well cleaned. It is, however, obvious that to utilise all the ground available for playing purposes would be entirely beyo-nd the 'financial resources of the committee, even when by the board. The relations* between the committee and the board appear to be extremely satisfactory ; but the problem of hov,r to reasonably healthfully accommodate tho children, . whose numbers are increasing, remains unsolved. Incidentally, it may be mentioned that tinder regulations patseel last session, but not yet gazetted, the school is understaffed when the average attendance of children is taken Into account.