EDUCATION BOARD.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 22 October 1924, Page 10

EDUCATION BOARD.

ORDINARY MEETING. further business xvas dealt xvith as he- . ' Wt the monthly meeting on Monday, loxv_: ... Among the list of those teachers granted leave of absence were the following;—Mr, H.. W,-. Jackson,,-head-mastex*./fawhiti; R. Wells, probationer, Taxyhiti; Mr. L. Des Forges, assistant, Mangtvtoki; Miss M. Bayly, assistant, Mokoia; Miss M. Haxvkes, assistant, Matapu; Mr. J; R..Nairn, assistant, Hawera; Miss E. M... Burgess, assistant, Taxvhiti; .-Miss M. Krutli r assistant, Tawhit-i; Mr. E. •S. Baker, Hawera. .. FINANCE COMMITTEE. The finance committee recommended that the folloxving matters he referred to tfie rii’chitect : Tataraimaka, drainage; Oakur a school,. repairs to roof; Matapu, water supply; Okaiaxva, dfainage- ■ The Mangatoki School Coirimittee is t'o be granted half the cost of renewing tjie boundary fence. Messrs Lees and White'were appointed to report on the question of. the supply, of tables and chairs in -lieu of desks in the infant department, and the headmaster of the Hawera school will be informed .to, this effect; the Oaonui School Committee is. tq he informed that a cheap heater xvill be supplied on the usual terms; the Kaponga School Committee is to he informed that the board had no funds xvith xvhi'ch to supplement capitation. A cheap heaten is to be installed at Te Kiri. Application for subsides will he made to the department as folloxvs: - Koru £3 10s 2d, Tokaora £1.13s 9d, Norfolk £27 18s 6d. Inglexvood £35 2s 7d, Ohura £3O, ’Kaimiro 10s, Cardiff £7, Ratapiko £24 v Okaiaxva £ls 4 S . 7 Some discussion took place, on tTie question of seating . accommodation in playgrounds, which was raised by applications from the West End arid Otakelio schools. It xvas stated that this opened up a big question and that the board xx*as not in a- position to supply seating accominqdation for Oritside. .It xvas. resOWed that a committee comprising the chairrhah, Messrs White, Dempsey arid . Deare be appointed to report on tlie question. MANUAL CLASSES. Mr. H. W. Insull reported on the question of the estahlishment of maiiiial classes at Opunake. There would be available for xxoodwork 55 pupils and for cookery 43 pupils from, surrounding districts. -It xvas estimated that it xvorild cost £543 for the erection of a .building arid £205 15s for equipment. , An applicatipri is to be made to the Department foi* the'necessary grants. AGRICULTURAL INSTRUCTION •- Mr. R. Ridlirig, senior inspector, :reported as follows: — . Primary Schools.—During the month i; 53 schools ha\ r e received ; yisits from i iristrrititors. Experimental garden work ; is occupying the . greater ;paTt of the time:- at,,present, arid a good propor- : tioih; ‘of. this term will, be given up to garden xvork. There is still in a few l schools a tendency to devote too much ! time to purely mechanical work in the garden, but, considerable improvement has been made in this matter and ’ the .garden is being freely used as a field for observation arid logical ■ thought. Grounds. —During the term that has just closed, effort has been made at * further improvement in the grounds of most'"of the schools. There are, however, still some schools where the grounds fire in a had Condition. Often enough 'this is riot , •the fault bf the teacher or the scholars, who are unable to deal xvith. the work requiTed. Effort has beriri made to stimulate the committees of these schools, brit. it is 5 difficult to convince some that en- ' yironment play's any part in. the education of the child. There are still a few schools xvhich are not-attraritiye placfes, [ arid in which educational xv6rk riiust 3 he extremely difficult. \ Competitions.—Thri potato-groxvipg • competition has been commenced in. the • noT-them. .atea,V..'MMs'sr'sv t "L. A. Nolan " and Co. very kindly donated-the man--3 ures that xvere needed. . These cOm- |. 'petitirins 1 among schools have, a- very ‘ definite .value, for they result in a fine spirit of. 1 work and in the development of scieiitific thought. They also add-: 3 very definitely te agricultural know--5 ledge of the district. A copy of the 3 results of the competition for last year is attached. 7 Afforestation Work.—The Education 3 and Afforestation Departments • are " anxious that afforestation woTk should ■ lie taken up in all the schools, and a " New Zealand afforestation competition 7 has been commenced very much on the ’ lines of our local competition. While it is recognised 'that-'this, work is most desirable, and is accordingly being " freely developed in the schools, the main agricultural iproblem should 're- ' " ceive priority, for- forestry is hut an : important adjunct to the main xvo.vk r of the and therefore of the ‘ schools. 1 Rural Science Classes.- —These are • 'proceeding - satisfactorily in all the centres. With the re-establishment of 3 the science room at the manual school " at Eltharir, the only centres xvlieTe irn- ' provements have still-to be effected are 3 Mariaia and Inglexvbqdl The latter is . urgent, for xvhiie the classes are being well maintained it is at the expense , of the comfort and efficiency of the [ work of the Inglexx*ood scholars. 1 . TeacKefs’ Classes-—" These have been v commenced once more after the holi- • days; Attendance at the Stratford ; classes' has riot been .very satisfactory, 7 but. iri; J)oth Hawera and ' New' Plymouth k the .course of the xvorks proceeds in 7 an imiriterrupted manner. 7 - . Boys’, and Girls’ dribs. —The corixr 'petitions under the auspices of the ’ clubs are proceeding. , There are very " clear, indications of revix’-ed interest ’ in this branch of the xvork, and the 3 reorganisation xx r hich has been carried - out. in. both districts is definitely beriee - ficiak . 3 .7 ARCHITECT’S REPORT, r The architect (Mr. C. H. Moore) res ported, inter alia, that the Eltham .nexv school had progressed xvell, though tlie .weather' condition s had been a gainst them lately. Within a fortriight the concrete work would be about finishedf He also submitted details of proposed , work at Fraser Road, Awatuna, arid - Te Kiri schools. ; . MANUAL AND TECHNICAL. The manual arid technical committee recommended that application be;made a to the. department for a grant for the - purchase of equipment for. woodxx’ork e rooms at Eltham and Hawera; that t the chairman of this committee, the k chairman of the .hoard, and Mr. F. J. H. White make the necessary arrange- . ments and details in regard to tlie old e technical school at Haxxrira for use as '• a laboratory, Mr. A. Lees said it xvas x-ery pleasL > ing -to see that the young teachers s were getting such satisfactory trainr big.