HAWERA DISTRICT SCHOOL.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLIV, Issue XLIV, 15 April 1924, Page 4

HAWERA DISTRICT SCHOOL.

There was a fairly good attendance at the annual meeting. Mr J. W. Harding, chairman of the committee, was elected to the chair. In a few introductory remarks he explained the reason of the meeting:, and said that this was the day on which householders' had the opportunity of asking questions on the conduct of affairs during the past twelve months, and these, he assured the meeting, the committee would be glad to answer to the best of their ability. j The annual report was read by the chairman, and was as follows: In submitting an account of our stewardship for the year just ended, we have to report that during the year the school has undergone many changes. One of the most difficult matters to deal Avith is the perpetual changes of the teaching staff, as will be noted by the fact that the present staff consists of headmaster, 14 assistants, 2 pupil teachers, and 4 probationers, and out of this total only 10 were on last year's staff. The changes effected were the appointment of Mr. Butes as headmaster, and Miss Robertson as infant mistress. In spite of the many changes, most excellent results were obtained at the last examinations.

Out of 64 Standard VI scholars who presented themselves for the examinations 50 gained proficiency, 7 gained competency, and only 7 failed, whilst all the classes obtained equally good results. The roll numker as at March -31, 1924, stood at 675 (3QB girls and 353 boys), as against 739 (366 girls and 373 boys) for the corresponding period of last year, being a loss of 64 scholars, accounted for by the large number who have completed their primary course, most of them having entered the higher schools, whilst a few have commenced their life work. The reopening of Whareroa school also had an effect on our roll numbers, and a noticeable feature wag the small number of new • scholars admitted during the first term of 1924. Only 66 joined us, as against 90 for the corresponding period of 1923. Our average weekly roll number was 759, and the average attendance 675. The chief difficulty for the staff is the large number of scholars in each class, necessitating two j teachers having to work in one room at the same time, a condition unI favourable to the best teaching condi- ( tions. Two visjts were made by the j inspectors to the school during the j year, but their reports could not be published. Your committee have made the best use of the funds at their disposal in the matter of grounds imI provements. The new concrete fence ,on the road frontage was completed Iby the contractor, Mr. A. B. Burrell, at a total cost of £255, and reflects ] great credit on the contractor. The asphalting of the drill groHnd has been i entrusted to the borough engineer, Mr. Sturrock, and his staff. This work has been started, but is of necessity delayed owing to the shortage of tar and bitumen, but the commlittee have earmarked sufficient funds to complete j the work. The levelling of the extreme j end of the playing field at the western J side ha s been cajfied out as far as funds would permit, and thanks are due to Messrs Hobbs and Baker for their valuable assistance in this work. The whole western and part of the southern boundaries have been cultivated and planted with shelter belts, and w« find that it will be necessary to reserve some of the funds for maintenance work in the matter of keeping the grounds cultivated until the shelter trees have become well established. This is a matter that will give the incoming committee food for thought.: We have had three visits from the executive officers of the Education Board, and on two occasions they were accompanied by officers of the Department. All of them were most reasonable towards the committee's requests, as the result of which the whole of the school buildings received a very much needed coat of paint and repairs were done to the roof. As a result of a visit from the Minister of Education in September last, and after a lot of patience and perseverance, we have secured an addi-

tional £180 on account of the subsidy! on the queen carnival funds thus mak-' ing a total of £501 paid by the De-1 partment in subsidy towards oux claim! of £1200; but we still think i* may be possible to secure a further grant! from the Department, provided thej proposed expenditure is of a necessi-' tous nature. The furnishing of the' teacher's rest room i s now completed and is in daily use. This room has provided a long-felt want. The annual) school picnic was held at Moturoa' beach on February 15, in conjunction with Tawhiti school. We were favoured with perfect weather, and this helped, to make the function a huge success. Our share of the profit amounted to' £11: The matter of establishing a' dental clinio for the benefit of all the school children in this district has been brought before the board oh several occasions, with the result that the board has favourably recommended its establishment at Hawera. It is still "being considered" by the Department. The necessity of standardisation of school book s was forcibly impressed' upon the Minister of Education on his I visit to the school. He assured us that the matter was being dealt with and would come into operation on April 1, 1925. The committee have also considered the advisability of endeavouring to establish a junior high school m Hawera, and discussed the matter willy with the chairman of the Education Board. He considers it advisable to await the result of the Department's experiment on these lines now being tried out at Auckland. On December 18 last his Worship the Ma^or, the members of the committee, and a number of parents paid an official visit to the school on the occasion of the break-mg-up ceremony. This function appears to have been treated very lightly by the parents in the past, and the. committee have endeavoured to enthuse the parents into taking a more active interest in it by making it an annual function, when an opportunity is afforded to inspect the work of the scholars and to see them at work and taking physical exercises. Such a visit I s a7 ays welcomed, and is appreciated by the teachers. Some doubt existed as to the^xaet date of the establishment of tne present school buildings. The matter has been settled by Mr. Geo. Syme, senr., who built the school under a contract for Mr. Thomas North i n ,4 pril' 1875- This has now finally confirmed by a refefence to an old school log book which has been brought to li>ht, dated April 1, 1875, to December 19, 1889. It will thus tJe seen that the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the main portion of the present school buildings will fall on May 13, 1925. In conclusion your committee wishes to place on record its appreciation of the able manner in which Mr. J. R Nairn carried out the duties in a dual capacity of acting headmaster, filling his own position as first assistant, after Mr. Strack retired until Mr. Bates took up the position as headmaster, whilst at the same time seriously handicapped with ill health. The thanks of the committee are also due to its energetic secretary, Mr. Brough, who has carried out his work in a most conscientious manner.

Tlie chairman said the committee had guarded the funds carefully and used them to the best advantage. They always anticipated going out and endeavoured to leave a clean sheet and all records carefully written up. But they always ensured $h at funds were held for the incoming committee to continue upon work which was considered essential. He referred to the assistance given by Messrs Hobbs and Baker in 'the levelling of the school sections. He referred also to the amount received in subsidy, and said that by pegging away they had secured an increase of £181, and he believed if they went about the matter in the right way they would get more. More was received, but it was not half the claim made. Mr. E. Dixon congratulated the committee on the report and the work they had done. He said that if tfcey had money to spend there was no better avenue than that of providing a park for the boys and girls, as up-to-date as there was in the cities. He advised the chairman always to see that capitation was spent, for it was good policy. The chairman thanked Mr. Dixon for his kind remarks, and said they always spent the capitation, but tried to spend it judiciously. He urged that good, sound, solid men were required for committees, for boards, and for Parliament, and said that Hawera wanted direct representation on the board, |for New Plymouth and Stratford, specialising on secondary education, were forging ahead of Hawera. On the motion of Mr. Hall, seconded by Mr. Beale, the report was adopted. ELECTIOxV OF COMMITTEE. The following were appointed as the result of a ballot: Messrs J. W. Harding, T. J. Hurrell, G. H. Westwood, C. J. Rowe,. C H. Brough, H. H. Clement, S. J. Catran, Revs. W J. Oxbrow and E. N. Goring. The scrutineers were Messrs Hall, J. Foy, Trim, Candy, and Harding. THANKS. On the nfttioh of Mr. Beale, a hearty vote of thanks was accorded the out-

going committee, to be recorded on the minutes, for the capable and efficient manner in which they .had done their work. At the first meeting of the Hawera School Committee Mr J. W. Harding was re-elected chairman and O. H. Brough secretary. The visiting members will be Messrs Catran and Westwood. v - I