VISITING TEACHERS

Evening Star, Issue 19196, 12 March 1926, Page 4

VISITING TEACHERS

ENTERTAINED BY DIRECTORS 1,200 CHRISTCHURCH CHILDREN STILL TO GOME At the Exhibition restaurant .yesterday attornonn vho visiting teachers accompanying the second Christchurch contingent of school children and the local lady teachers in charge of tho supper arrangements for the children were entertained by tho Exhibition directors at afternoon tea. Tho guests ware fifty to sixty in number. Air J. Somerville (chairman of tho Education Court Executive) presided, and apologised for tho unavoidable absence of tho directors, who had intended to bo present, but had been called away to another meeting. On their behalf lie assured the visiting teachers that it gave tho Exhibition authorities tho greatest pleasure to welcome both them and tho children under their charge, and lie expressed the, hope that they were all greatly enjoying themselves. Ho heartily congratulated Mr I’enlington (superintendent of the. contingent) and the teachers genera % on .the splendid discipline , shown by tho party. It was the hest-hohaved crowd that had come yet, be said, though the others had also been very well behaved. Ho thought that it relloctcd great credit upon the teachers, that they had undertaken the responsibility of bringing tho children to Dunedin, and had carried out their work so well. It was no light task, and tho teachers deserved a word of commendation for performing their duty in .such happy Fashion. Everybody was jolly about it, and tho spirit shown throughout amply repaid tho Education Court Executive for all flic trouble they were taking. (Applause.) •'SISTER CITIES.” Christchurch and Dunedin were sister cities. They had much in common—• Dunedin was a city set in tho hills and by tho sen, amid surroundings of great natural beauty, ami the people of Christchurch had made of their city a very beautiful , city—and ho hoped that tho two cities would always pull together for their mutual benefit. (Applause.) It seemed to him, however, that that little strip of water between tho North Island and the South was gradually widening, and they in the South Island should hang together. They had a community of interest. They knew that the. South Island suffered in regard to overseas shipping, for example, and Christchurch and Dunedin should work together to overcome that Tho Government had not helped them to bring down the children from the North Island to Dunedin, with tho result that they had only been able, to bring the children of the South Island together; but the Government might this have clone a good deed unawares. The Dunedin people had been glad to have tho Christchurch teachers and the children clown here, and had e.nioyetl every hour of their stay. Christchurch could scud as many more as she liked—up to 1.200. Siey could not take more than that which meant another two contingents (Applause.) The attitude of the Dunedin people was typified by the action of a business man. who gave him a £5 note the other dnv, saying: “Hero is £5. Spend it on fruit for the children.” That was tho spirit. Messrs Hudson and Co. had given them all the biscuits n.ud cocoa they needed, and Hie Education Hoard, whose chairman they had with them, had also done its bit." (Applause.) LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT EXHIBITION. Mr J. Wallace (chairman oMhe Education Hoard) .said that lie endorsed what Air Somerville had said about the feeling that should exist between —he would not say Christchurch and Dunedin, but Canterbury and Otago. (Applause.) They wore .sister provinces, and had always taken a kindly interest in one another. Ho even noticed that Canterbury had taken some of our teachers—(applause)—and ho was sure they were very glad to come hack and have a peep at the old scenes, just ns Dunedin was glad to see them again. (Applause.) The Dunedin people appreciated very much the work tho visiting teachers had put in to make tho visit a success. To achieve success in such an undertaking needed a great deal of thought at both ends. Dunedin had done her bit, but if tho Christchurch people had not done theirs as well tho expedition would have been a fiasco. At this end wo had a tower of strength in Air Somerville, and lie congratulated the Christchurch teachers on the way they had engineered the trip at their end. (Applause.) They had done a good deed for their children, and he believed that when—say, fifty years from now—another Exhibition was held in Dunedin, the children down hero to-day would bo tho keenest advocates of sending their children down in their turn—(applause)—while if they held another Exhibition in Christchurch the Dunedin people would reciprocate and send their children up to it. (Applause.) GREAT EDUCATIONAL ADVANTAGE. Air APAlpine (representative of the Canterbury Court) thanked Dunedin Committee very, very sincerely for what they had done for the younger generation in Canterbury, ft had, he assured them, been a very great pleasure to tho Canterbury people to scud their children to Dunedin to got this great educational advantage; and after tho splendid way in which the Dunedin people had looked after tho children ho was sure that Canterbury would do all it could to help them whenever they held another exhibition. (Applause.) He spoke in high terms of the educational value of the children’s excursions to tho Exhibition, and said that it had been one of tho greatest pleasures of his life to come clown and see tho Otago people, and he was confident that the two provinces would be very much closer together in spirit when tho children now visiting Dunedin grew up. (Applause.) < Mr Somerville moved a hearty vote of thanks, which wa,s carried by anclamation, to the Dunedin lady teach ers committee, under Miss Sullivan and Miss Robertson, for the way in which they had organised the suppers for the children. The executive, ho said, owed these ladies a great debt of gratitude for tho splendid work they had done. (Applause.) Miss Sullivan briefly and suitably responded. NORTH ISLAND SCHOOL TRIPS.

Mr C. A. Struck (manager of the Education Court) also paid testimony to the good work of tho lady teachers, and said that it was a pleasure to tho Dunedin people to know that not only teachers, but also many members of the school committees had como down with the children. (Applause.) As to North and South, he would like to see that silver thread of friendship, as it ought to be, between the two islands narrowed, not widened. (Applause.)

Ho was sorry, therefore, that the Government had 'not seen _its way to make it easier for the .'iorth Island children to come to Dunedin. Hut lie was glad to know that already many schools in Kapler, Wellington, and even as far afield as Palmerston North, were coming down here, and the executive had decided to set apart a special week for the technical schools, which had contributed so splendidly to the display in the Education Court. Mr Ponlington, replying on behalf of the visiting teachers and children and nil the parents in Christchurch, expressed the hope that, such visits would tend to bind Dunedin and Christchurch still more closely together. Whoever had initiated (hose visits of school children, he declared, had done a hold thing, and lie (iMr ronlington) was very glad—as ho was sure they nil were—that it had proved such a well-deserved success. (Applause.) Thov had given the children an opportunity which would otherwise never have eomo their way. (Applause.) He cordially thanked the Dunedin people for all thev had done and were doing for the children of North Cantori nry, Thev would, he assured them, have the * full 1,200 additional children, in two lots of GOO; and they were only too impatient to come. (Applause.) Appreciative speeches were also made by Miss Archer, Mr Partridge, and Mrs Barber.