NEW SCHOOLS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22984, 11 March 1938, Page 10

NEW SCHOOLS

AUCKLAND AREA PLANS

COST OF £150,000 LIKELY.

NEED OF TEACHERS* HOUSES

ANOTHER BUSY YEAR AHEAD A building programme of approximately £150,000 will bo included in the estimates of tho Auckland Education Board for tho coming financial year, which holds prospect of being ono of tho busiest tho board's ofticors, especially tho architectural division, havo had for many years. As it is, tho architects aro almost overwhelmed. Building was continuous throughout tho current year, which closes on March 31, and tho construction of both secondary and primary schools in various parts of the Auckland district has taxed to tho limit tho working capacities of various departments. Much Work in Hand At present tho architects are endeavouring to keep abreast of works already authorised. A good illustration of the labour and preparation involved in that department is given by tho schedules for the intermediate school to be built at To Awamutu, which include 13 sheets of drawings and 130 pages of specifications. There arc HO scheduled school buildings and additions to schools in hand, exclusive of teachers' houses and school dontal clinics authorised. In the estimates for next year, teachers' houses will bulk largely, for the need is said to be pressing in all parts of the board's district, and within recent months teachers in isolated areas have repeatedly requested the provision of reasonable accommodation. Some havo to contend with very cramped quarters, and others are obliged to live in tents. Proposed School at Onehunga Among tho major items in tho estimates will appear the following:—lntermediate schools at Onehunga, Paeroa, Cambridge and Ponsonby. The old Mount Albert primary school is to bo rebuilt on the site known at one time as Wilson's quarry, near the overhead railway bridge which spans tho New North Road at Morningside. The site is being cleared, although as yet the board has not received a grant for the building. The intermediate school proposed for Onehunga is of tho single-storeved type. It will havo 16 classrooms and a central assembly hall. Tho subsidiary rooms will include those for domestic science, needlework, commercial, arts and crafts, woodwork, metal work and a chemical laboratory. As a central feature adjoining the assembly hall, and leading out on to a balcony overlooking the main playing area, there will be a library and a common-room for teachers.

All classrooms will be of the open-air type, incorporating the latest features of school planning. The other intermediate school proposed for Auckland is to be built on what is known as Carder's site, behind the Three Lamps at Ponsonby. This will embrace tho samp facilities as those enumerated for the one at Onehunga, but because of the nature ot tho site it will have two storeys J similar to the primary school being built in Beresford Street.