MATAPU SCHOOL.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 7 May 1925, Page 6

MATAPU SCHOOL.

SPORTS F U NOTION S

PRESENT'A'IION OF CUP

Wednesday was a red letter day ioi the scholars of Alatapu School, and in fa,at for .the district, when two functions in connection with the spouts Tile of the .school were celebrated—the preisentaitiion of tfie Dennett and Suitjton (Jap lor primary ischooi a Wile tic .sports, run m conjunction with, the Dixon Han tier, and toe opening of the new concrete-asphalt court on the school. ’ grounds. the importance of the events to the school and the w it espreadl interest taken all over the district drew visitors from Haw-era and cither parts in addition to large numbers train) the immediate district, Amongst those present were Messrs. o‘. Hawken, AI.P., J. R Corrigan, \1 P Mr. and Mrs. B. O. Bennett-, Messrs. A. Lees, M ¥. Fuller, U. Purser, F. Stevens, D'. Mebentou and J. E. Campbell. . Air AY. A. Guy (chairman of the school committee) was director of ceremonies, and in a few fitting remarks welcomed the visitors, and -stressed the importance of the functions. _ Referring first to the cup, he stud the competition at the Dixon Banner Sports was very keen 'and was- remarkable for the number of trophies given by people interested. He said Maifcaipu had won the cup against all schools of 150 pupils and under He added that great credit was due to the committee running those sports for the great success achieved. He referred specially to- the excellent work of the hon. secretary (Air. J. It. Campbell). Air. AL F. Purser, .alter expressing hi.s pleasure at being asked to be present, saitl that the conditions governing the winning of the cup were that it'’was a challenge trophy and that two .successive wins or three at intervals would make it the property ot any school. He urged Alatapu to work hard and see if they could not score another win this year, and said he was sure they had the right, material. He said lie had been asked by Mr. E. Dixon to apologise for his inability to. be present and to give them the message that he would be. very pleased if lie had to. come to Alatapu this year to present to them the Banner. Hie thanked the press, for their libeilall, support, and in _ conclusion congratulated Alatapu on. their success, The cup was then piesented to. the headmaster (Mr. Adams) by Mils, B. C. Bennett. In handing it over, Airs. Bennett made a capital speech, couched in very .appropriate language. After congratulating the -school on winning the trophy so splendidly, she told the children that not long ago she was standing as close .to the King and Queen of England as she was to theim that day. She had heard it said how proud they were of the Empire, land could assure them, that this was a fact. The Queen, she said, was a beautiful woman and loved by everyone because she was a good woman and a good mother. The King also was loved by liis people and proud of the flag of the Empire. She urged the children always, to- honour .and respect the flag, the emblem of the. British Empire, the greatest in the history of the world. ..She said alsoi .she was pleased to. he back in New- Zealand, the most beautiful and wonderful country in the world, and .said the people were lucky to he in a, whiteman's country where- there was no native problem, and that they ought always to be happy and to. appreciate the good food and the beautiful fresh air they enjoyed. She said that in London she had seen big schools where there were no. gran-fids at all wheregames could he played. She congratulated Af/ataipu on. their success and hoped they would win the ‘cup again.

Air. J. R. Corrigan, M.P:, in acknowledging the invitation given him to lie present, said he realised that the children of to-day would both© men and. women, of the future. Afaitapu should be proud of winning the cup, and lie congratulated- them on the spirit displayed by them. He said that sports were at ranged .so as to cultivate the .spirit of sportsmanship and to encourage self-denial. He urged all competitors; to do their best, and. if beaten., to take their linking like a. .sport and go. on to try to. win the next time. He said that the .same spirit shown in th.ier most ordinary games would lie ’displayed in their competitions, and lie urged them, all to play the game and uphold the. traditions. of the schools. He advised them to recall in days to- come how they had striven to win when they were at eihcool. He hoped that they would go on. and win the banner, when Air. Dixon would conic out to present it to them. The competitions made for friendly rivalry in school® and helped to* make children in the years to- come, good men and good women. Air. A. Lees said he was. pleased to be present on this interesting occasion. Hie said in the old days, they mlaide the children try to learn as much as they could while at school and to do much home-work. Now the. idea was to. ensure that the children were always in good health, and, realising this, considered the. best means was to have s.poubsi and games so. a® to. make them more fit for their studies. He congratulated the head teacher and the assistants, that they were able to do so, well. He.urged .parents to take ani interest in the schools and to serve on the committees so. as. to forward the interests, of the children, and sc. enable a. great deal to) be done. The surroundings of the. schools could he much improved by local effort, and 'this was one of the best tilings they coukl do, and lie- hoped that all would help in this direction,. Referring, to capitation., lie said that . the t£bal earned in the board's district was fast year about £S7(X), and of this about £SOOO wais required for ordinary expenditure, so that if work was to he done round the ,schools it must be done by local effort. it gratifying to. know that last year £4900 was raised in this way and by subsidy, only £&0() less than the whole of the capitation. Actually £2900- came, from donations, by the people to carry on the good work of the environment-. He stressed the value of a, warm interest in. sports, for those schools in which the best outside- work was. iaceoinipliishied) did the best inside. He bore Aflaitiajpu: a, message of congratulation from Okinawa, and their headmaster, Air. tunes. 11e .said all deserved great credit, and he hoped the suceasis in the competition would lead to greater efficiency in the work of the school.

Replying to tho variomis .spelakers, Mr. Adatms (headina'Siter) said lie had great pleasure in ncceptinp: the ou.p on. behalf mf the. ftiohool, so happily proseated, hv Mrs. Bennett. Some said that l oo in lu ll time was given to sports, bnlfc lie realised that, thev c-mild not pet ehicienov unless, the children were healthy. The children were all keen in spent 1 -'. TTe realised some of the- boy® of the present were* the All Black® of the future, but all would turn out good sports- He ' thanked

all who. had come out. to be present at this function, and would, like to take the opportunity of specially thanking Air. J. E. Campbell lor his very good and efficient management of the sports, and for his consideration to the competitors) and his enthuisdaistio “boosting” #f the sports. Ho heartily thanked the- donors, of the cup ioi their generosity. The motto, of the “Play the game,” and he hoped all school, he said, in conclusion, wjais the scholars would in after life remember that motto and act up to. its spirit. Hearty elieens. were given by the pupils for the. Dixon Banner Committee and the donors of the trophies, and .also for the teachers. In concluding, the ceremony. Air. Guy said lie would like the opportunity of publicly thanking Messrs. Hawken and Lees for their efforts in inducing the 1 Alin Ister for Education to give the school the extra, accommodation they had so urgently needed. FORMAL OPENING OF TENNIS COURT.

Following the presentation of the cup, the newly-completed tennis court and school assembly ground were officially opened bv Mr 0. J. Hawken, ALP. Air Hawken was introduced by Mr W. A. Guy. who also explained that the. court was the result of the combined efforts of a strong local committee working in conjunction with the School Committee. He paid tribute to the services rendered by Aliss Hawke and Air R. Hooker, who had officiated as hon. secretary and chairman- respectively of the" combined committee. The various appeals made for public support- had met with a generous response, which had enabled the preparation of a concrete court to be proceeded with, and completed in accordance with the best recognised standard. He felt sure the court would serve a highly useful purpose in providing facilities for playing tennis, and also as an assembly ground for the school pupils. . ALr Hawken commenced by thanking Air Guv for the appreciatory remarks passed" during the cup presentation ceremony concerning the assistance rendered the school by the speaker. Air Hawken said he remembered visiting the school with the Minister ot Education, when ft had been seen that certain improvements were needed and 1 the work had been completed as early as possible. He referred to the active part taken bv the peop'e of the district- in furthering the interests of the school, and said he recognised it must afford them some measure of gratification to know that tlieir efforts were backed up at the education headquarters. Air Hawken gave some amusing reminiscences relating to his own school days, and stressed the remarkable progress made since those times in the building of schools and the educational facilities afforded. At the present time greatly improved methods were employed by the Education Department in the endeavour to provide every possible advantage to ,the school, child, but the best facilities were made possible only by the assistance of the people themselves, and evidence' that the latter were affording valuah’e support was given by the very fine assembly ground and tennis court which had been completed at the Alatapu School. He was sure the court would be of very great assistance in the general training of the school children as well as affording much pleasure in the game of tennis, and the people of Alatapu, whose interest in the welfare of the school and efforts to beautify its environs had often been admired by the speaker were to he congratulated on the means achieved. Continuing, Air Hawken intimated that the lessons learnt on the playing field constituted a very important factor in the scheme of education and the development of character, as was evidenced by the fact that :i considerable number of ex-represen-tative footballers were now members of Die New Zealand Parliament, aud he appealed’ to the school children to cultivate the spirit of fair play, and whatever game was indulged in to pi ay it in accordance with that principle, in conclusion, lie said- it gave him very great pleasure to declare the assembly ground and tennis court open, and he hoped it would afford many beneficial and pleasant hours to -scliol:.rs and others interested in the school.

Suitable appreciation of the honour conferred by Air. Hawken was expressed by Air. O’Sullivan, win! also took the opportunity of congratulating the hoys and girls of the school on winning the cup with whiqh they had keen presented earlier in the afternoon.

To celebrate the event and christenthe court, a four was played, Aliss Hawke Air 0. Hawken AI.P. opposing Air. R. Corrigan, ALP. • and Air. Jas. O’Sullivan. The game ended in a win for the former, best out of three games, after a very interesting, display of tennis. In the first game the American service of Aliss Hawke proved too good for her opponents, Alt'. O’Sullivan finding difficulty in returning them and Air. Corrigan being several times caught in two minds on the middle of the court. The second game was much more closely contested, the fast service of the All Black finding a weakness in the Reform returns and the .Liberal volleying resulted in Air. Corrigan, AI.P. scoring points very brilliantly on several occasions. In the third and last the Reform member showed his hand had not lost its cunning and he scored off Liberal on several points. AVhen they were called off for the afternoon tea so kindly supplied by the ladies, the two sides" were just" getting into their stride, and but for this call a great display was certain. The afternoon tea was served in the hall, the accommodation being severely taxed, so great a company was present. The kindly attention" of the ladies’ committee was much appreciated by all and formed a fitting conclusion to a most interesting double event that will not- soon be”forgotten by the children and teachers of the school and by the people of Alatapu generally.