NEW INFANT SCHOOL

Evening Star, Issue 22722, 9 August 1937, Page 7

NEW INFANT SCHOOL

MMEftN GAWR6HAM BiiiLEHNG PLENTY OF ROOM FOR EXTENSION HON. F. JONES PERFORMS OPENING The new; infant school at Cavcrshani *—a modern wooden building erected at a cost of £6,000 on the College street site until 10 years ago occupied by the whole of the Caversham School —was officially opened on Saturday afternoon by the Hon. F. Jones, member for the district and Postmaster-General and Minister of Defence. There was a Lacrge attendance of parents and pupils. .The new school has four large, excel-lently-equipped, and sunny rooms, all centrally heated, while the spacious playground ensures that cramping will not be threatened if extensions are made in the future. ‘ -Mr Walter Hudson (chairman of the School Committee), who presided, said the hew school had many advantages over the old building. Since the advent of the Labour Government education had ’been helped wonderfully. The readmission of the five-year-old children was welcomed, as was also the increase of the capitation fees to the school by 60 per cent. Mr Jones was personally thanked, as member for the district, for impressing upon the department the necessity for a school to take the place of the inefficient old school. The chairman and members of the Education Board were to be complimented on the wise manner in which the Government grant for the building had been spent, and also for increasing the maintenance grant for both the infant department and the main school'. Mr Hudson also complimented the staff on the efficient running of the school under great difficulties while the new building was in the course of construction. Former committeemen were also deserving of thanks for their efforts to secure the new; school. AN INTERESTING HISTORY.

“ There is an interesting story behind the erection of every new school. In place of the infant school here it was possible that a new school might have been erected on top of the hill,’’ said Mr James Wallace, chairman of the Education Board. “At one stage the hoard considered the securing of a site near the corner of Riselaw street and Corstorphine road, and building a school there for the purpose of relieving the Caversham School and catering for the extension of the town in that direction. If that had been decided upon the old Caversham School site would have been disposed of. The board eventually decided that any expansion of the cjty the. other side of Riselaw street down towards Concord would foe catered for foy the enlarging of the Concord School, while this side of Look-out Point and Riselaw street generally would foe provided for at the main Caversham School, together with a side school on the old site for infants and, if necessary, up to Standard 11. The old site is centrally situated so far as the Caversham School district is concerned, and therefore a. good position for an infant school.

When the new school on the South road was erected in 1927 the board did not anticipate that 10 years would elapse before the whole of the Caver■ham children would be housed in modem buildings. Mr R. H. Todd, while a member of the board, battled strenuously for the infant school, but eircumstanceS' were against him. During tho depression years it was ( impossible : to secure a grant from the department. At the end of 1933 the board pushed for a grant, but the department advised the board to carry out some maintenance work on the old buildings, as they would probably be required for a further two years at least. This turned out to be the case, for a grant was not finally approved .until May of 1936. Tenders were then invited, and it was found that the acceptance of the lowest tender would entail an expenditure of £837 in excess of the grant. The hoard asked for a larger grant, but the department finally arranged with the board to carry out the work with its own staff, and a commmencement was made in September last year. The new infant school stands on the very same spot as the old infant school of three rooms which was erected in 1888 at a cost of £563,” said Mr Wallace. “ Other buildings on that site wore the old stone and brick building erected in 1861, and added to from time to time, a wooden building of two rooms erected in 1881, and the gymnasium, which alone has escaped demolition. The total cost of the new building, including additional foundations, fencing, and laying out of grounds, will exceed £6,000. Of this sum about £2,650 represents direct wages on the in addition to this there will be indirect expenditure of wages in connection with the milling of the timber and all the manufactured building lines.” The work had been carried out under the supervision of the board’s architect (Mr A. B. Welch) and his assistant (Mr C. Muir), a former pupil at Caversham. The foreman on the job had been Mr A. G. Parker, and he and his men had carried out a difficult job in a workmanlike manner. The building embodied the latest ideas in school heating, lighting, and ventilation. The site covered an area of 1 acre 1 rood, 30 poles, and for tho purposes of an infant school it was considered large enough to meet all the expanding needs of the district. The main school sito had an area of 3) acre*, and there was ample room there for extensions. MORE LAND NEEDED. The head master (Mr AV. G. Burns! said all connected with the school should be proud of the new building. Under improved conditions, the staff would be able to do better work. He hoped that in time the cottages facing Playfair street would be removed and the whole block would be occupied by the school. At present 144 pupils were enrolled. An appeal was made by Mr Bfirns to the parents to raise funds for a piano for the school. The mayor (Rev. E. T. Cox) congratulated the department, the board, the school committee, and the parents of Caversham on the completion of this much-needed and beautiful building. Education to-day was much more than gaming a knowledge of the three R’s. It was recognised that when the State took the child at the age of five years, it undertook to equip that child for a place in the modern world, where he would be conscious of the beauty and glory of nature, the romance of history and literature, the loveliness of art and music, and tho dignity of labour, as well as for tbo important task of making a living. The most important part of the national defences was the efficiency and quality of the schools. A wonderful body of men and women gave their lives to teaching, and it devolved on the State to see that all tho equipment of buildings, playgrounds, and apparatus needed was available, and lie congratulated the Otago Board on the quality of its work.

Mr It. H. Todd, a former pupil and

member of the Education Board, conveyed congratulations on the demolition of the old buildings and the new equipment. THE MINISTER’S REMARKS. The Caversham Schbol had a special interest for him, said the Minister, as he was the member representing the district, Mrs Jones was a former pupil, and their three sons had attended the school, the pupils of which were prominent throughout New Zealand. To use the splendid playgrounds on the Surrey street site for the infant school would have been a pity. . With the house erection on the surrounding hills, more children would be sent to the infant school, and _ probably larger buildings would be required on the College street ground in the future. The ground was ideal, but additional land might be required, and he would be pleased to impress upon his colleague, the Minister of Education, the absolute necessity of removing the-old buildings fronting Playfair street. The buildings were an eyesore, and by their removal the school entrance would bo improved and greater facilities would be provided the children. (Applause.) He had always been impressed with the yeoman service to education given by Mr Wallace and the Otago Board. The old relationship- of veiled hostility between pupil and teacher of the past appeared to have changed, there now being a friendly spirit between thm. On the playing fields, teachers took an interest in tho varipus sports, and got more out of the children by encouraging co-operation. In the changes which took place from time to time, that spirit, he hoped, would remain. _ The value of the recent New Education Fellowship Conference was praised by Mr Jones, who said contacts between overseas and Dominion teachers would bo most beneficial. Paying a tribute to the Minister of Education, he said Mr Fraser was imbued with the desire to give better education to all children. Labour had been in power only 18 months, but had reintroduced many of the services reduced or suspended during the depression. Ho

enumerated at length tbo education work of the Government, which, he said, was determined to promote tho wellbeing of all young people, physically, mentally, and morally, by every means in its power. After Mr Jones declared the school officially opened, the building was thrown open for inspection, and afternoon tea was served in the Methodist Hall. The pupils were given, as a souvenir, a neatly-prepared and compact illustrated history of tho school, written by Mr Burns.