FEEDING AGRICULTURAL HIGH SCHOOL

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6866, 22 March 1929, Page 3

FEEDING AGRICULTURAL HIGH SCHOOL

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT. The following report was submitted by the Principal, Mr. L. J. Wild, to the meeting of the Board of Managers, held on Wednesday night:The Minister of Education in company with the Hon, John Cobbe visited the school on March 1, and his party, with other welcome visitors, were given an. opportunity to acquaint- themselves with our conditions. As a result of representations then made a grant lias been approved for materials for the erection of a building for animal husbandry, woolclassing, and workshops. Other important matters apparently remain open for further consideration. The Minister desired that a holiday bo given and it is proposed to take this following the Easter holidays. During the month Mr. T. Seddon has given two of a series of lectures on the History of Music. These lectures givo variety of interest to the studies, as well as entertainment, and arc especially valuable as Mr. Seddon is ablo to shorv tho connection between this particular mode of self-expression and other aspects of a country’s history, environment and development-. On March 13 the boys in Forms IV. A and V. A wero given a demonstration on the Milking Shorthorn breed by Mr. J. H. Mason at his farm. Such demonstrations arc invaluable and as usual, others arc planned. The boys' swimming sports were successfully held on February 28, P. Eado being senior champion with L. Brainwell runner-up; and M. Prcbble junior champion with Ct. Hoffmeister runnerup. Tl'.o girls' sports were held on the afternoon of March 14, the senior champion being G. Hausmnnn with G. Andrews runner-up; and the junior champion C. Andrew's with P. Lange runner-up. The quarter-mile race for flic Campbell Shield was swum .on March 6 when the following six swimmers entered for the race and completed the full distance: P. Bade, M. Preble, G. Mitchell, A. Fidlor, N. Fits Patrick and A. Trass. The. winner was P Fade whoso time of Cmin 44 2-a sees is a record for tho race. Tho following donations are gratefully acknowledged: From Mr. R. Oakley, Ashburton, through Mr. Stevens, a 2-tooth Romney stud ram; from boarders who worked at the ram fair. £4 for the baths fund; from Mr. G. Cowan, Apiti, £1 for the same fund. Report of the Agricultural Committee. During the month .the oats in held 2A have been cut into chaff except one stack which was threshed. The field is 17 acres and the return of chaff is 3.1 tons per acre, while the stack threshed yielded G 8 bushels per acre. Tho barley in field IB yielded 43 bushels peracre of a first-class sample, tho wheat 27 bushels and the peas about the same. The wheat shook rather badly an'd birds also affected the vield, while tho peas suffered from a strong gale just after cutting. Gross profits from sheep (flock and stud) for the year now ended are £625 17s 5d and from crops tho gross return, after allowing for bags and chaff-gutting is £378 11s (id; roughly £IOOO. Field 2A is now practically ready for seeding to temporary pasture an'd field 1A is being ploughed. Besides the two stud flocks there arc 329 crossbred ewes carried.

Report of Grounds Committee. The committee held meetings on March 14 and 19. The boys’ and girls’ bicycle sheds have been painted and the accommodation in the latter rearranged, the work being done by tho boys. Rearraugement in the faoys ; cycle shed wiL be parried out this week. Outside gates havo been painted by the bops. Garden seats will be made when the timber arrives. Asphalting: Mr. Hayden, Mr. Beddon and Mr. Stringer havo been asked to submit prices for asphalting the place of assembly. Drinking fountains: Jt ha 3 been decided to provide one for the boys and one for the girls. Baths: Plans and specifications have been received from C. E. Daniell Esq. and approved.

MATRICULATION PASSES. In commenting upon the success of the pupils of the Eeilding Agricultural High School who sat for matriculation examinations at the end of last year, Mr. H. Tolley (chairman of the Board of Managers of the school) said that the school had been blamed in the past for not achieving matriculation results gained by other high schools. The results for the last examination however fully vindicated the school’s position. These remarks, made at the meeting of the Board of Managers on Wednesday night were followed up by a statement by Mr. L. J. Wild, the principal, who said that the results were exceptionally good. Of the 13 boys who sat 11 passed and of the nino girls only one was successful. It had been said: “ Yes the boys are all right, but what about the girls?” The position was that for the matriculation test both boys and girls were taken in exactly the same classes and taught by' esactly the same teachers. In English the range of marks for girls w-as 31 to 52 and for boys 41 to 57, and the average for the girls was 42.1 and for the. boys 4C.S. In French the range of marks was, for girls 31 to 49 with an average of 40.7 percent ami for boys 30 to 53 with an average of 47.9. In history (lie range of marks for girls was 27 to 58 with an average of 47,1 and for boys 37 to 73 with an average of 53 per cent. Again in geography the range of marks was 30 to 4S lor girls with an average of 38 per cent and for hoys 32 to 62 with an average of 48 percent. The results showed that the boys presented were better qualified for matriculation studies than the girls. In further discussing the merits of the matriculation examination and the baKef that soma schools were more

successful in getting passes than others Mr, AVild referred to the records of three boys who came to the school at the same time. At the first matriculation examination, one passed and of tho two that failed one was sent to another school by his parents convinced that a better result would be obtained. Tho next, year the boy who remained at the Feilding institution passed and was now in the public service while the boy who left for the other school failed again. Last year this boy sat again and again failed. He would not say that had this boy remained at the school he would have passed—ho would probably never pass and ho had every sympathy with the boy and his parents. "Mr. AVild then quoted from official returns showing how the Feilding school compared with other schools in the examination tests. Touching on fho agricultural, training Mr. AVild quoted figures showing that iu 1927. of all the boys leaving secondary schools in New Zealand 19 per cent went farming while the figures for the Feilding institution showed that 44 per cent of the boys leaving went farming. Last year the percentage was 37—a figure which had very much impressed tho Hon. H. Atmore.