SCHOOL AT WARRINGTON

Evening Star, Issue 19918, 14 July 1928, Page 11

SCHOOL AT WARRINGTON

NEW BUILDING OPENED YEARS OF EFFORT REWARDED The need for a school at Warrington has boon stressed for many years, as the children from this steadily"rowiiK' seaside resort have been coni polled to walk to school at Evansdale. Supported by the Otago Education Board, Warrington, has at last been given a school building. Yesterday afternoon tho now school was opened The Evansdale School has now been closed. The seventeen pupils from Evansdale will now have to go to AVar rington, where fifty of the pupils live The new building is a modern structure with a tiled roof. It contains two schoolrooms and a teachers’ room, which are heated by a hot water system. The two main rooms, which are 22ft by 21ft Gin and ,20ft by 21ft Gin respectively, are each lined with plaster board, and each will accommodate forty pupils. dm school is situated on a rise halfway between the railway station and the beach, and,, ns is the case with all now school buildings, it is excellently lighted and ventilated, A piano has been provided free of cost by, the Warrington House; holders’ Association. Mr John Trail' was the contractor.

Mr T. Faid (chairman of the School Committee) presided, and the building was oflioinllv declared open by Mrs Faid.

■The Chairman staled that this was a red-letter clay in the history of Warrington. There was much to bo done in the direction of improving the school grounds, and the money which the committee had in hand would be used for that purpose. The committee wanted to have the grounds in a state of perfection, because it believed that a ‘school should bo a place of beauty. All the aims of the committee could bo realised with ‘ the co-operation of the people of the district. It was not possible to form a crkicet or football ground without spending a large amount of money, but he looked forward to the day when the school teams could play on their own ground. In a few years the present scholars would be shouldering the burden which their parents were carrying to-day, and all that the people of the district could do to make them more fit for their future responsibilities should bo done ungrudgingly. “The agitation-for the now school began six years ago,” the Chairman continued. “As it was apparent that a school was an urgent necessity, a public meeting was called, and representations were made to the Otago Education Board, which eventually let-om-mondecl to the Education Department that a school should bo provided. The people of the district simply 101 l the matter to the Education Board, and the board left it to the department. Whom the department left it to 1 do ; not know, but we bad to wait for four years. Another meeting was ailed, and a committee formed, and main the board made a recommendation to ’be department. The committee did not wait, and now we have the satisfaction ci seeing inis fine little school.’ As secretary of that committee, the Chairman added, lie had many dealings with the board, and he could not speaa too highly of -he courtesy which had been shown him. Congratulations on the success of the committee’s agitations wer.r extended by Mr J. Wallace (chairman of Ihe Otago Education Board), who staled that the '.ehool had be,en ib/lined by patience, push, perseverance. and parliamentarians.-' Ho congratulated the committee < n obtaining uol: a nn » building and such an'excel! :at site. In speaking of the agitation, the chairman had given only one side of the question. The board had had to consider both petitions and counter-XiyriLons, and there would be some wno would probably think that at had come to a wrong conclusion. , The 'ate Mr, W. Dawson had offered to provi 1c a site free of cost, but, unfortunately, his death had inti rvened, and the Irtir.ttv.could not carry out his wishes. The present site o’ three acres had been purchased at cost of C-JJ), without any quibbling about the price After the site had been obtained there had boon the difficulty of seen nog a grant for the erection of the school, but now the residents had a school of which they could he proud. The cost was £I,SOO. Tho department had'always been just to Otago. All urgen demands on the list last year bad been granted, and some had required a large sum of money. The department was never asked for anything that was not necessary. It recognised that fact and gave tho board anything it asked for. Ho congratulated the chairman on Ins success in leading the agitation, and the people of the district and the board on obtaining tho school, which, ho added, was well deserved. Archdeacon Whitehead added his congratulations. Tho school had excellent surroundings, he said, and on that depended the physical health of tho children. During most of his life ho had been a schoolmaster, and he had come to the conclusion that a school could do as much harm as good. Possibly that harm was due to tho outside lite of tho children. Everything depended on the children’s homes. A school and what it did depended upon the parents. It was a fact of Nature from which there was no escape. Education would alwavs bo a problem, because so much depended upon the personality of the teacher. Ho honed that (be lesults would bo us delightful as tire appearance ami outlook of the school.

Mr J. A. Wilkinson congratulated the committee on obtaining the school so speedily after tho agitation had begun. Four years might seem a long time, he added, but he was connected with a committee which had been agitating for twenty years, and it seemed to be as far from its goal as ever it was. He congratulated _ the architect (Mr J. Rodger) on designing such a fine building, and the work which had been done did credit to the contractor. The residents should regard the school as their own property, and do all they could to make it a credit to the district. New Zealanders could ho proud of the keen interest which was taken in education by every section of the community. Older people were keen that, their children should have better wheeling than they themselves had had. Every Government which had been in power had recognised that' to make the best of the country every opportunity must bo given to the people in the direction of education. Teachers - were now more highly trained than over before. Fie hoped that the school would have a very successful career. Tho Chairman also ongratulated the architect, on tho result of his work. Mr Rodger, in reply, stated that the school was well deserved, and paid a tribute to the work of his stall and the contractor.Mr S. M. Park, formerly secretary of the Education Board, expressed ■ shir cere appreciation of the efforts of the residents, who, he stated, had been staunch workers. ■ The Chairman, thanked Mr and Mrs H. Couper for the use of a room for committee meetings and for arranging social evenings by which funds had been raised. Mr Couper, in reply, stated that, seeing the school an accomplished fact was sufficient reward for anything he nad done. Thanks were also expressed to the ladies who had arranged the opening ceremony, and to the Warrington .Association for its .assistance in raising funds, Messrs ft. M. Read and A. G- Inglis replying. Afternoon tea was provided, and at the conclusion each child received a bag of SWGOIs. la the evening card games were arranged, and the celebrations concluded with a dance.