Parents' Association

Hutt News, Volume XXI, Issue 50, 9 June 1948, Page 12

Parents' Association

a ■ * ♦ HUTT VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL AIMS AND ACHIEVEMENTS For the benefit of those residents of the Hutt Valley who may not be fully conversant with the activities of the Hutt Valley Parents’ Asspciation, now in its 23rd year, the following comments may be of interest: —

The purpose is to foster .in the parents of the boys and girls of the school an interest in the school and its work, its play and its problems, and to co-operate with the principal and his staff in furthering the interests of the pupils, and to assist financially in the provision of the school’s amenities.

The activities centre round the annual garden fete held early in March and known, in the Valley as one of the year’s high lights. Later in the year a ball is also a feature, and in recent years the Association has combined with the Old Pupils’ Association in organising a second successful ball.

In addition the committee of the Association meets regularly to organise functions for the entertainment of parents and their friends.

Accomplishments

The list of accomplishments is formidable and is the envy of similar associations in other parts of New Zealand, who have frequently written requesting information. To start with, about four years after its foundation the Association was instrumental in providing for the school the handsome and spacious assembly hall, towards the building of which it paid £IOOO. The kitchen attached to the hall received £'3oo towards its equipment, among which is listed Junkers water heater, gas copper, crockery, etc. The kitchen is used daily by the pupils of the school, who make full use of its amenities. The gymnasium was completely lined at the expense of the Association and was thus made more pleasant for the pupils. Recently the Association paid £250 towards the purchase and in? stallation of a magnificent electric organ, which is used daily by the school and on which frequent recitals are given by eminent visiting organists. A complete set of volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica was purchased some years ago by the Association and presented to the school. Annual Grants The Association makes annual monetary grants to the school band, orchestra and fine arts club amounting to approximately £3O, and when a national emergency arose the Association paid over to the Napier Earthquake Relief Fund the whole proceeds of one of its garden fetes, amounting to £154. During the war the National Patriotic Fund received a grant of £IOO. During the last two years the Association has paid over to the fund for the building of a sports centre to commemorate the jubilee of the school last year no less than £715.

The invariable policy of the Association is to pay out to some deserving school activity sums of money as soon as they are available and to retain only a nominal amount for its modest, working expenses.

The above grants, totalling well - over £3,000, are by uo means the only assistance given the. school for the benefit of the pupils, but they indicate what can be done by an Association whose goal is to make school life a little more enjoyable for the sons and daughters of its members. The Association has had the benefit of the continuous services during 2 0 of its 22 years of existence of the energetic secretary, Mr. A. E. Spencer, who is still in harness for no other reason than his love of the old school and. its pupils.