HOUSEWIFERY DUTIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18838, 13 October 1924, Page 5

HOUSEWIFERY DUTIES.

THE TRAINING OF GIRLS.

CLASSES FORMED AT NEWTON.

SUITE OF ROOMS FITTED UP.

The Education Board has just completed the fitting up of a suite of rooms at the Newton Manual Training School, Belgium Street, for use ia housewifery instruction for the girls attending the cookery classes. The rooms are a kitchen, a dining room and a bedroom, leaving a main cookery room about 28ft by 26ft for class purposes. The kitchen contains built-in pantry and cupboards, a gas cooker with a heat regulator attachment, a califont and a gas iron. The walls are white enamelled. A kitchen dresser and a table, with a special supply of cooking utensils, complete the equipment. The dining room and bedroqm are fully furnished for instructional purposes. The ordinary domestic science classes at this centre number from 27 to 36 girls, each class receiving a two-hour lesson weekly. The main part of the class will take the ordinary work, but six girls will be selected each lesson to take charge of the housewifery rooms. These girls will be required to oook and serve complete meals for six persons, keeping account of the cost of materials. The ordinary household duties, such as sweeping, dusting, setting tables for meals, waiting at table and bed-making will form part of their duties. Special lessons will be given from time to time on such subjects as homo nursing, i'urnishing and decorating of rooms and the caro of infants. There is keen competition among the girls to be included in the selectea six for housewifery duties. Miss L. J. McDonnell, who is in charge, and her assistant,, Miss Ruby Jewell, express themselves as "ery pleased with the results so far attained. The Auckland Gas Company has provided free of coat to the board the gas cooker, califont and gas iron.

The Education Board has applied to the Education Department for grants to enablo similar housewifery rooms to be set up at the Ponsonby and Thames cookery rooms.