FAIRBRIDGE FARM SCHOOL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23118, 18 February 1937, Page 10

FAIRBRIDGE FARM SCHOOL

NEW SOUTH WALES VENTURE TRAINING BRITISH BOYS FOR LAND (From Our Own Correspondent) 4 ' SYDNEY, Feb. 11. A Fairbridge Farm School will be established shortly at Molong, in the central-western district of New South Wales, and the initial draft of 50 English boys is expected to arrive in Sydney within six months. This will be the third school to be established under the Kingsley Fairbridge scheme, the others being at Pinjarra (Western Australia) and at Vancouver Island. The scheme in Western Australia provides for the training of boys until they are about 15 years of age, but the committee for the New South Wales movement feels that the training might be extended a few years, with a view to placing the boys on their own farms. The New South Wales property purchased is Narragoon. about four miles from Molong, and the price paid was £14,280. The property is described as ideal for the purpose,, being located in a fertile and healthy district in close proximity to many other farms which might absorb the boys as they completed ■ their period of education and training at the farm school. The property comprises 1428 acres, of which 1000 acres are cleared for the plough and suitable for cultivation. Originally it was intended to secure a farm nearer the city ,but it was realised that this might, to some extent, defeat one of the main purposes of the movement. It was intended that the boy migrants should be trained essentially as farmers, and it was considered that this could best be carried out by placing them in a district far removed from the city. An immediate start will be made to prepare the farm as a training school. For a start, live cottages will be built, each to house from 10 to 14 boys, under the care of a cottage mother. The farm will be in the charge of a competent manager, and there will also be instructors. The migrants to be brought out will be aged about nine or ten years. They will be selected by the executive of Fairbridge Farm Schools Incorporated, the parent body in England, and will then be carefully examined by the medical officer at Australia House, London. The early drafts will be restricted to boys, but when the scheme is well established in New South Wales a number of girls will be brought out for training. It is ex- ■ pected that the Molong Farm School will ultimately accommodate about 20(1 children. If the support accorded the movement warrants expansion, other farm schools will be established in New South Wales. The movement to found the school ‘ was sponsored by the Rhodes Fellowship of New South Wales. The British Government, the Commonwealth Government, and the State Government have all promised support.' Subsidies of 3s 6d a week for each child will be granted by the Commonwealth and State Governments, and the British Government will contribute 5s a week for each child, making a total subsidy for each child of 12s. This will leave about 5s a week for each child to be met by the movement by public support. At the outset it was estimated that at least £50,000 would be required to establish the Farm School. Already £14,000 has been subscribed by five Sydney-men, and the British Government has undertaken to subscribe ' £15,000 (£18,750 in Australian currency) towards the establishment costs. This leaves an amount of £17,250 to be raised in order to ensure the success of the movement, and an appeal for public support has been launched to raise the balance.