ANNUAL MEETING SAWYER'S BAY SCHOOL.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 4027, 14 January 1875, Page 3

ANNUAL MEETING SAWYER'S BAY SCHOOL.

The yearly meeting of householders in connect'on with the Sawyer's Bay School was held in the schoolroom on Tuesday evening last.

Mr Ross was voted to the chair,, and called upon the Secretary, Mr Morris, to read the report of the retirli)',' Committee, the substance being as follows:—The report first touched upon the difficulty experienced in obtaining a suitable site upon which to erect new school buildings, but that at length one had been obtained by the Government leasing section IC, and setting apart two acres of it for school purposes. The erection of the school was thcu hastened on and the Committee congratulated the district on haviii" good substantial and most suitable buildings for educational purposes and accommodation of the teachers It praised the Government for liberal dealing, the total cost of the buildings being £553, whilst £40 extra was .'ranted to defray the cost of fencing, and in draining the school grounds. The report also spoke favourably upon financial matters. At the commencement of the year there was a balance of £0 15s lOd to the credit of local funds. Then two concerts were held during the year (the report thanks the ladies and gentlemen who assisted at them) and their proceeds amounted to £14 11s sd, which with tin original balance, and assistance rendered by the Government, enabled the Committee to fence and drain the ground, and do other necessary works whilst a balance of Mi ISs lid still remained. The report recommende i that that sum be expended iv fittiii" the school windows with blinds before the school reopens In consequence of the prevalence of measles interfering withtheattendaucoof scholars, the prizes, usual examination of scholars, and prize distribution were waived this year, but the report recommended that the new Committee should make provision for somctbiii"of the kind the first favourable opportunity. The average daily attendance of scholars throughout the year was 43, out of a total number of 82 names on the roll. The last quarter's returns showafalling o ff, that fact being attributable to the sanitary condition of the I scholars. Measles, however, .had quite disappeared and a full attendance was anticipated when the school opened again. The report "directs the attention of the Commissioner to the fact that the attendance has reached that number when, according to the rules of the Education Board, the teacher is entitled to receive a main school teacher's salary, and the Committee would therefore earnestly urge upon the new Committee to make every ende -your to have the school classed as a Main District School. . According to the attendance, they can now claim it as a right." The report concludes with a panegyric upon the satisfactory manner in which Mr Sutherland, the schoolmaster, has performed his duties, and that he therefore deserved the utmost consideration at the hands of the new Committee. : The report wa3 received and adopted, and then the following gentlemen were elected a committee for the year:—Messrs Nelson, j orris, Ross, Cook, Honeybon, Groves, and Sutcliffe. A vote of thanks to the chair terminated the proceedings. We observe by the tabulated returns that 28 new scholars—l 7 boys and 11 girls—were received during the year; also that 13 scholars left the school during that term. The ages of the scholars are as fallows :— Under five years, 2 ; five and under ten years, 47 boys and 39 girls ; ten and under twelve, 1G boys and 15 girls ; twelve and under 15 years, 17 boys and 10 girls. During the year the school was opened 231 days for instruction. The total ar-onnt of fees was .£OO 3s 7d ■ fees paid, £53 13s 3d; balance, £6 &•* 9d., of which only 9s 2d was regarded as unrecoverable.