PINE HILL SCHOOL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22834, 19 March 1936, Page 13

PINE HILL SCHOOL

NEW BUILDING OPENED PROGRESS OF DISTRICT The opening of the. new Pine Hill School yesterday afternoon' marked one Of the most important events in the history of the district. There was a good attendance at the function, among those present being a number of well-known identities who received their education at the old Pine Hill School. The ceremony of opening the new school was performed by the chairman of the Otago Education Board (Mr J. Wallace), and others present were Messrs D. C. Cameron, G. Livingstone, N. , Colquhoun, J. Sheppard, and E. Morgan (members of the board), G. W. Carrington (secretary), G. Overton (senior inspector), and A. Welch (architect). Mr J. Scott, chairman of the Pine Hill School Committee, welcomed the visitors. Yesterday, he said, was an important day for the district of Pine Hill. No doubt many of those present had some regrets at the closing of the old school, but if the new school could produce such good citizens as the old school, which could boast of an exceptionally fine record, there would be some compensation for the shifting of the site. Mr Scott then called on Mr Wallace to declare the building open. Mr Wallace thanked the committee for the invitation to open the school. He said the opening of a new school, or the establishment of a school, was an ,cpoch in the history of any district, for it was to the school that the district looked for its 'future men and women. The school was the centre of interest for the district, and if any of the residents wanted a row the best way to get it was to be elected to the School Committee. He .did not care how many rows there were so long as the members of the committees eoul<] patch up their differences among themselves and not go to the Education Board with them. He knew that many hard things had been said about the closing of the old school and the shifting of the site. The present site, he said, waa about a mile from the old one, and he would take leave to say that a mile walk was nothing to healthy children. There was, he added, no duty on the Education Board to drive children to school, but nevertheless, the board did its best to get every child to school and provide it with an education. THE OLD SCHOOL

-The old school just vacated, said Mr Wallace, was erected in 1870 at a cost of £l6O, and the second room was added in 1881 at a cost of £SO. Both school and residence were placed on an area of little over half an acre, with the result that the playground was probably one of the smallest and poorest in the board's district. Some of the head teachers at the old school from ita establishment to the war years were— William Waddell, William M'lntosh, Robert Fergus/Robert S.« Gardiner, John Kelly, James Smith, Cornelius Mahoney,. Robert Landreth, G. W. Carrington, E. J. Healey and J. P. Hawke. The last permanent teachers at the old school were Mr N. J. Crabbe and Miss E. J. M'Kinnon.

The present site was acquired in 1929. The board decided there should be no mistake this time about insufficient area, and .it decided that, looking to 'the future, three acres would be necessary. The only level area not too far down the hill was on the hospital site of 22 acres. /The Hospital Board would not Mil,less than the whole block, so the board .purchased the lot and, after setting aside the school site, turned the remainder into a model township. The board was asked during the worst days of the depression to find work for the unemployed, and the roading and sewering of the area were put in hand as a useful piece of work providing employment for. upwards of 100 men daily for 18 months. There were 66 building sites in the block, and in addition, threequarters of an acre had been set aside for a play and sports ground for children and young people. The contractors for the new school were Messrs O'Driscoll Brothers, and for the central heating Messrs G. W. Da vies and Co. The total expenditure on the buildings, paths and fences had been £IOOO. During the transition stage the school had been carried on by a "relieving head teacher and mistress, but. permanent appointments would be made to take effect as from the commencement of the second term. * Mr Wallace then declared the school open, and invited the children to march in and take their places in the classrooms. After the visitors had inspected the school the children were dismissed and af tern on tea was served. OF MODERN DESIGN The new school, which was designed by the board's architects, comprises two classrooms and is of the most up-to-date type, embodying several features which provide the pupils with the maximum amount of comfort. It is a wooden building of the fresh ,nir type, and the big windows, which are of a design known as the "easy fold," with hoppers below and fanlights above, all face to the : north-east, so that the children may get the full benefit of the sun. The interior of the rooms is finished in panelled wall board, with a dado of red pine, and heating is provided by hot water radiators worked from a single boiler. Windows worked on pivots are also fitted into the walls of the corridor and the rear wall of the building so that the classrooms are provided with the utmost ventilation. Two shelter sheds, one for boys and the other for girls, arc also provided in the school grounds, and a feature of the new school is that all the outhouses are under one roof. In front of the shelter sheds there is a concrete assembly square and a drinking fountain. A small office for the use of the teachers has been provided, and provision has been made for future additions to the building should they be necessary. There are 41 pupils at present attending the school, and Mr J. W. Rutherford is acting head teacher.