SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORTS

Evening Star, Issue 17329, 17 April 1920, Page 11

SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORTS

GEORGE STREET. The annual report of the George street School Committee states : A hoard containing the names of those •"■ho had been at any time connected with, the school and who had participated in the war was erected in the school. The board contains a large number of names, of which wo are justly proud; but the committee arc not-satisfied that the names of all those who have a right to be on the board are on it. As it is very desirable that the list of names should be as ] complete as passible, we will be greatly j Indebted if parents and others will take j the trouble to make sure that eligible j names are there, and to inform any of the i committee or the teacheis of omissions or i corrections, so that they may be attended' 'to. The committee have endeavored to: keep everything connected with the school; up to first-class standard. Various ini- ■ provementa have been carried out during | the year. We are at present applying to j tire Education Board for a shelter shed | for the girls. This is badly needed, and I we trust our application will bo ' success-1 ful. Mr Patterson lakes a great pride j in the garden behind the school, and,* along with the-pupils, has succeeded ini turning what was at one time a barren 1 waste into beautiful flower plote, which | are much admired', net only by those con-i nected with the school, hut by passers-bv. j The plot in the corporation reserve, juati below the George street bridge, continues: ■to bo cultivated by the scholars, under the supervision of some of the teachers. A ! considerable qaantitv of , vegetables was ! grown in this, but owing to the late dale! of the schools’ reopening, the best-results were not obtained tor the labor expended. I However, an educational value attaches 1n ; the cultivation of these flower plots and vegetable gardens which cannot be mens-1 red by a money standard. We regret to! record that thieves helped themselves to \ some of the vegetables grown hv the chil-1 dren. a considerable quantity having been 1 lifted and carried a wav on more than one i occasion. These thefts are particularly mean. Precautions will bo taken to prejr vent a recurrence of this next year. It was decided by the ‘committee and the teachers that a flower show should be held, and this took place in the gymnasium on March 20. It was the first one over held ■in connection with the school, and we are pleased to report that it was verv successful. i'qiythe first half of the year there | was a difliculty in procuring a. suitable in- | stmotor for the band. This difficulty i? j experienced by other schools, am! vour j committee asked the School Committees' Association to endeavor to arrange for an instructor who would he prepared to under--1 take the conductorship of all those schools I which required his services. The a.-sucia- | tiou favorably considered this request, hut iso far nothing has come ox it. Towards I the end of the year Mi- Colbert was appointed as our conductor,’ and the band boys made substantial and steady progress under his guidance. Early in the "year the Education Department voted an extra sum to school committees, and asked that a p:irt of this money should be used to 'provide not louche^ to scholars. Vour committee complied with tins request, and during the winter mouths and well on into the summer hot drinks wore supplied at a nominal charge. A considerable number of the scholars availed themselves of this | privilege. This meant a lot of extra i work, and also a substantial inroad into | the committee’s fund's; but the benefits i more tiian outweigh these disadvantages. Thanks to the great enthusiasm and hard work of Mr R. Ferguson, "he letting of the gymnasium continues to he a fruitful source of revenue. The sum of £lsl 1?,-. was obtained from this source during the year. This money is ail used for school purposes, and enables the committee to incur expenditure that would not otherwise be possible. 'Whereas wo started the year with a credit balance of £l7 Ps Sd, we ended with £6B 2s 7d. The receipts for children's lunches amounted to £2O 10s, and the expendituie? to £33 3s Bd. leaving a debit balance for this item of £l2 15s Bd. The sum of £57 -Os 5d was spent in prizes and medals. Fuel cost £27 14s.