CLASSES TOO BIG

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 54, Issue 32627, 28 September 1945, Page 4

CLASSES TOO BIG

PAEROA SCHOOL PROBLEM QUESTION OF DISCIPLINE COMMENTS BY HEADMASTER The size of the classes at the Paeroa District High School, especially the primers, the unsatisfactory attendance of the pupils and the lack of discipline among the children were problems dealt with by the headmaster, Mr G. M. Ruscoe, speaking at the recent social afternoon held.by the Paeroa Parents-Teachers’ Association. “And ! now, if you will bear with me for two or three minutes longer, 1 will tell you a few of the problems which confront us to-day,” said Mi’ Ruscoe. (;< First, the size of the classes. Take the primers, for example, where there are fifty to sixty children in a class, no two of whom are alike, physically or mentally. Those children, who should be taught individually, are being taught along mass lines, and a child taught along those lines’ will never be a good citizen; instead, you are going to have the type of individual who is swayed by the masses. If we can give him individual tuition we are doing the right thing. Trouble In The Future “If the .Government is going to be allowed' to force the schools to carry on under those conditions, it is only asking for trouble in the future. If you, as .parents, expect Miss McKenney, for example, to train sixty children at once you surprise me. How can you do anything about it? You can instruct your Member of Parliament to do something about it. The Government is sympathetic, Mr Thorn is sympathetic, the Prime Minister is sympathetic. If you, as a body were to approach the (Minister, then something would be done. What we want is smaller classes, in which the children are going to get the very best that can be given them. Attendance Not Good • “Our second problem is 1 the attendance. The attendance in Paeroa is very unsatisfactory. If a child is not going to attend regularly, he is not going to make the progress he should. I do appeal to parents to see the children come to school as often as they possibly can. The parents must work with us, and not uphold the children when they play the “wag,” and if you will help us in this we will be very grateful to you.

“Lastly, the matter of discipline. Just as one rotten apple in a case will affect the whole, so, if there is one child in a class who is not disciplined, you will not get discipline from anybody. Must Be Trained ' “Someone has asked, ‘when do you start to discipline a child?’ The answer is, ‘At six weeks.’ We have got to get them trained before they come to school; make them do as they are told then, and our worries will certainly be less. ‘‘And so I make an appeal for cooperation. Bring your problems to us, and help us to overcome outs', and 1 we will appreciate it very much.” In conclusion, Mr Ruscoe quoted an extract from The Teachers’ iGazette on mass-miindedness, as being one bf the greatest perils in the community today.