ST. WINIFRED'S SCHOOL.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 15746, 10 February 1922, Page 6

ST. WINIFRED'S SCHOOL.

THE OPENING CEREMONY

The opening ceremony of (St. Winifred’s Diocesan School took place this afternoon in the presence of a large and interested attendance. The function, which took place in the reception hall, was presided over by the Bishop of Waiapu. The attendance included the Rev. Collier (To Karaka), the liev. Morse (Waerenga-a-hika), and the Rev. Hunt.

In his opening address, the Bishop, explained that the establishment of the school was an historical event in the district. The school -was to be under the control of the Diocesan Chapter, and that was why it was a diocesan school. It did not come under the control of the Synod, which was reported to by the Chapter each year. The teachings of the school would be based upon the creed, the catechism, and the prayer book. It was not claimed in any way that the school would be superior to the secular secondary schools, but it was claimed that St. Winifred’s would be second to none in the Dominion, and that special attention would be paid to the development of character. Ever since he had been Bishop it had been liis hope to establish a diocesan school lu-re. The site of such a school for this diocese was Gisborne, ns it had to be ns far as possible self-contained. Moreover, the population of Gisborne •justified the establishment of such a school. Success, ho hold, depended upon the teachers and the principal. So many qualifications were required in a teacher, and the head must have a strong personality. In Miss Webb he felt that the school had a principal with those qualifications. The Misses Webb had conic to New Zealand, putting their faith in him, knowing merely that they.were coming to his diocese. To decide the question os to where the school should bo in Gisborne, and to go into the question c-f adapting the church buildings, a committee wa-fc formed. This was eventually considered inadvisable on account. of the expenses which would be involved. Then came the opportunity of acquiring Mr. A. L. Muir’s house, which could not have been more suitably built for the purposes of the school. He wished to express his gratitude to tlio Mr. I. Mirfield, for assisting that committee, to Canon Packe, who was to be chaplain, and to Dr. Williams, who was to act as medical attendant. In conclusion, the Bishop stated that the school would train the daughters of those present to bo useful daughters of the Church.

Canon Butterfield pointed out- that the liist duty of the,church was education. The conversion of men was the mission part of church work, while building them up was the educational part of church work. Since the State had taken over so much of the educational work formerly carried on by the church, people had become too satisfied. Religion was necessary in teaching, and it was the duty of the church to provide its children with not only a thorough secular education, but also with a sound training of charactei*, not merely as a theory, but as a matter of practice. He hoped that St. Winifred’s would be he forerunner of other such schools throughout the diocese. The house which had been secured was symbolical of their ideals, for it was just a beautiful home. The ladies in charge were willing to make it a happy, religious home for all the pupils. The diocese hoped that the school would set a high standard, and he sucli a success that- it would be spoken of throughout the Dominion as the pattern school. He impressed upon the first pupils the great responsibility which rested upon them, for they were taking part in the founding of a school which, it v'as to be Jioped, would go on for hundreds of years. They had to set a tone and give it a character, as had been the case with the great public schools in England. The first pupils would have to give the school a name by the way in which they put its teachings into practice.