HUTT VALLEY SCHOOLS

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 8, 9 July 1935, Page 13

HUTT VALLEY SCHOOLS

MINISTERIAL VISIT

PETONE TECHNICAL COLLEGE

The Hon. S. G. Smith (Minister of Education), accompanied by Mr. W. V. Dyer (chairman of the Wellington Education Board), Mr. J. Stonehouse (a member of the board), and Mr. W. I. Deavoll (private secretary), paid a visit to secondary and primary schools in the Kutt Valley yesterday. The Minister was met at the Petone Memorial Technical College by the following members of the board of managers:—Mr. W. B. Nicholson (chairman), Messrs. E. S. Neill, W. Parkinson, E. N. Campbell, J. W. Longman, and F. A. Tombs. Messrs. Dyer and Stonehouse are also members of the board of managers. The Mayor of Petone (Mr. A. Scholefield) and the principal of the college (Mr. A. McFadyen) were present. Addressing the children, Mr. Smith said that in his young days he served his time under a blacksmith, and later worked in the railways. Petone was regarded as that time as the centre of the Railway Department. When he was a boy he had to learn the practical side of his occupation while he was at work* during the day, and the theory at night under private tuition. Nowadays both could be learnt at the technical colleges, and for this the children should be thankful. Whoever occupied a .prominent place in the world had achieved it by hard work. He did not think times could change so much that hard work could be superseded. If the children did not work hard they would become drones and lose in the race of life. Some time ago Petone was known all over New Zealand and Australia as the home of champions of Rugby football. This position they achieved by hard work and concentration on the game. He advised the children to concentrate hard on their work and play. A half-holiday was granted by the Minister amid acclamation. Hearty cheers were given for the Minister, after which he called for cheers from the children for the principal and the staff. In conclusion, the Minister said that Dr. Elizabeth Gunn had mentioned that girls at ten years of age were more advanced and in better condition than boys of the same age. He had noticed when on a visit to the West Coast that the girls were much more robust and better looking than the boys. He saw the same thing today in looking round the room. The boys would have to "buck up." This announcement was received with glum looks from the boys and delighted giggles from the girls. The Minister was introduced to members of the board and the staff, and was conducted over the buildings by Mr. Nicholson, who pointed out that there were now over 1000 children attending classes in the college, comprising day and evening pupils, students of the Hutt Valley High School taking,the agricultural course and primary school pupils taking woodwork and cookery. The acute need of further workshops and classrooms was emphasised. The cookery, science, dressmaking, art, cabinetmaking, and electrical laboratory rooms were, on two or three days of the week, being used as ordinary classrooms, for which they were most unsuitable. It was necessary for these rooms to be cleared of all the previous classes' work before being used for their secondary purposes. The attention of the Minister was drawn to the need of making the brick building waterproof, and it was also suggested that it might be a wise precaution to remove the upper storey of the building. There was also need for a staff room, principal's room, board room, library, and room for applied art, electrical wiring, motor engineering and an extra drawing room, and also the need for storage and lavatory accommodation. ' It was suggested that the minimum needs of the school could be met by the addition of four classrooms to the wooden annexe to the brick building, and the addition of three workshop rooms at the rear of the present ferroconcrete building. Plans for these additions had already been submitted to the Education Department. Later on in the morning the Minister visited other schools, where he was met by the headmasters—Mr. Marryatt at Wilford, Mr. A. E. Werry at Randwick, and Mr. C. Browning at Waiwhetu. On his visit to the Hutt Valley High School he was met by the principal (Mr. J. N. Millard). He addressed the children at each school and granted a half-holiday. Morning tea was served by the ladies at the Wilford School. Mr. Smith paid particular attention to the Maori children, principally at the Randwick and Waiwhetu Schools, and in his addresses made suitable reference to them. _ , In the afternoon he visited the Hutt Central, Eastern Hutt, and Boulcott Schools. •