MAORI HILL SCHOOL.

Evening Star, Issue 12868, 18 July 1906, Page 4

MAORI HILL SCHOOL.

OFFICIAL OPENING. Tiie Maori Hill School -was officially opened this nrornmg by thfc members bf the ]sdtlcation Board and the School Committee. At te'ri o'clock; the hour fined for th.e een>iriony, there was *-large attendance of ladies and gentlemen. It was the department that kept things ■waiting. It .wanted but a minute or two to eleveh o'clock.when the delayed dignitaries drove into tie school playground: The children were, then dismissed' and the chairman bf the School Committee. (Mr S. N. Brown) Jook the chair. The members .of the Commrttee \vere bresetit, arid the following inemi)ets of itife Education Boards—Messrs A. Mirierrow. J. Mitchell;.the secretary (Mr P. G. Pryde), at€ the architect (Mr J. Rodger). Amongrt others- iii attendance were tb« Revs. D, Borrie and A. N. Bcotter; Messrs A. H. Barclay, M.H.R.i J. L. PassmotCj and M. Cohen. Apologies .were received from Messrs J. A. Johnston; P. Duncan, P. R. Sargood, Gibson, and ex-Judge Ward. The Chairman of the.BdticatJ.on Board (Mr I). Borrie) was unwell,.and his.absence was apologised for by the Hon. T. Fergus. The Chairman said that to the Government, tb the Education Board, and generally to those whd assisted in the initiation of the school the warmest thanks of the community were due. He then pTCieeded to give "a brief account of the history of th« movement, placing the greatest credit with Mr J. L. Passmore (the late mayor of the district), whose generous assistance (financial and otherwise) had largely made it possible for the school tb be opened this day. The earnest wctk of those interested tad fully justified the action of the. Government and Board, and the faitli of Mr Passriiore; fp» the school was but just opened, and already they found that it was yiadequate to jneefc requiremente The school opened with an attendance of 164, and it was anticipated that at the end of the vear there wpukl Ik not less thail 200 on its' roll. So that the time hnd already arrived to look to the Board for a larger measure of grace. Jr. Mr Fitzgerald and Miss Andrew they had secured the services of two teachers 'W&.osi ltearta were in the work, arid who would do their utmost to farther the interests of the school. —■ (Applause.) lite speaker con eluded by impressing oh parents tie nccw sity for the constant attendance of tba children} aiid by thanking a number « donors of sehoof necessaries or useful no juncts. He mentiotiedj also* that the Con* mittee had collected enough money to paj for the school organ. The Hon. T. Fergus, alter explaining the belated arrival of the Board, said that when the question of such a school came up sonic two years ago he felt that it was not seemly that Maori Hill should be the only borough outside the City where tiiere was no sclibol building. The Board knew that the lands feo long locked up in. the district were being broken up for closer settlement, and the. population was bound to expand and a school become more and more necessary. The school was fitted with new desks (single desks and semiindividual desks) and new furniture, which it was hoped would be a great success, an in other places. They had an up-to-date school and excellent teachers, and with the natural increase of population in Maori Hill the school must soon be as big a school as any, in Dunedin. —(Applause.) Mr J. L. Passmore said that the district was much beholden, to those who had chosen the site for tto school, and lie thought that Mr.Prvde might be credited with that part of tJhe performance. The members of the Maori Hil) Council were to be congratulated on the great success which had attended their labors to get a district schocL They liad had a big uphill light with some members of the Board and of the Roslyn School Committee, who apparently believed in centralifiafcion. CeutralisatkHi meant tte gathering of children from no matter tow far away and cramming them into a school, irrespective of its site or.the distance children had to go to it. Tl>e Education. Board were to be thanked for this lovely school and for the splendid manner ill winch they had furnished it. He believed that had it not been for the dogged determinatiob of Mr Pryde it was questionable wteiher the School would have been built to-dajr. Mr Barclay, M.H.R., spokfe briefly, mhfTatulating the district .6ft ita fine sctool. [e would snare no etfbrt to Bectira tte proper ttccommbaation oi children. The Jlev. I). Borrie spoke of life qualifications and. attainments of the teachers (Mr Fitzgerald and Miss Atadrew), And regretted that the school had hot in tiio first place been built larger. Mr Mitchell also referred in the highest

thc v.»*?»'■ tob ' f hat *keh..Uio school was "^'W^P^'''¥fe stzo of it was btelerty ™k .niiiicidl provision, aiid lb was hot tfaouffhi thai a bigger 3bhM would be teces&air for sortie tithe, As a general thing he tltought thiit very big schools were hot tf&ifabfe. What wanted was maiiy fcchbolsireil pUced. . . . After Mr Fitzgerald had replied oh behalf of- Miss Andrew arid himself to the tnanf tributes paid thehi, the gathering broke Up. .It \ros.announced that, in Order to enable .teachers and others who so desire to Mb fcho school appointments aiitl furniture, Mr Fitzgerald will bo in attendance at the Echool for a few Saturday afternoons.