THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL.

Southland Times, Issue 3332, 24 February 1879, Page 2

THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL.

When the Grammar,;' orl High School was first built, it was thought that the accommodation it' possessed would meet the ; : retirements of the district' for'soirie considerable .time, other things being equal ; although the building was not complete -acdording to. the. .architect's plan, jyKich ;made provision for another ,\ving .at 'the eastern side of (the school. If lias'j bjeen ■ found,- howevei^Yreccntly,- ■"•fcafei&e; Grammar School is inadequate to ;» the jdemarids made up6rii ; its : i -sources, notwithstariding an increase of "school 'accommodation in other parts- -of-the districtv Thisr •fact presente a strong _rgumerit 'in support' of the prpgress made t>y .Southland in at least brie direction;- nahiely; that of population. f Even now that the South School has- been : opened, r we . understand .that - the .Grammar School has felt no relief,./ put on the contrary applications from J.buld-be scholars in : that branch of lour, educational systemYliave) since had to be refused. .( As' -there hM been a gooddeal of comment about r the deficiency of sclibbl'accbMmp^ation in several directions, particularly in reference' .to the t o yercro wded .cpncHtibri ( of the( estabii^hrhbrif 'under.^ribtice, " (a reporter "firpm this paper "map^^dL^^'Mchopl^n^ep \ the, . guidance of 'Mr McGregor; tKe'Eectof, to whose. cpurtes£ He is indebted forthe£oilecftion pf thef ollpyving int eresjfcing particuiars. -First," In "vvhai .would" appear to be the ; naturaL; qrder,; of ■_-. the, (y^j^nterj the Keptor's: office, b^bw, -this room might; be very well adapted-to the purpose for whiblf Mt was (desigried,i ; but, f ; as^ matters-xstatid -at present, (we; find ;here the _rst; though; not perhaps the (most (important evidence, of • 'deficient' apc"pni_i'odatidh'.iriHhe( ; -ch-p].; It \ .that'.* the over croivdii-g of : spa^e in the ■''. y/aripus. coinpiar^ents; the .adi^issibri'iof schplars (inter '''^)^X?.A^^yAV^^^^.^A^^X.3^i: A., ybaf ' -sfoi_d7be, Ca. |Mgh^schbb^^proj^r,-, is jno ribprn : set -; ; japart X : f ov (7 msmictipn" in the J_dgheritJbr^anches^ su and. mathematics,- which is the deparfmerit 1 of-. I '-. the ; Eector : Yandf Mr McGreY gor has therefore -to take this head class in his a __ia_> rbpnif (tbtally inadequate to (th<£ _equire_ierit-3^ of >■ theip oase, ; (tp say nothing^-f'theiriconyenience : attending the ainalgami-tibn of office and .schoolroom ih one, y Such, (however,; ; is;;(thte^state bf • tinhgs .therei af (pre^brit;;; ;■'' ' A^d(- ; ; hpw: we : .#U,;.;^th.tlieC r t&BSZ theioffice Md^ ■descend in the scholastic scale, bemnjencingat the Ylowest "branch; and ascending again from class to class, till vye reach the: (summit; (; or more properly-:_peak-orig,y-theY hijghest elhss y beneath; .that * which deals with special subjects,:arid tp; Has elreaty: beSfc^apY

'*■■____. i^?Sv '^* J '"-^*'^ <iJ; '4 = 3<c'^_the infant class, lender the charge of -Miss Brown, assisted ftby two | pupil, teachers. In this room, which ia liSft; byipEt., there are 172 children, varying ,it-|^| of course, but all very small. TE^p&m is very crowded, and gives, perhaps,^ better idea than any other part of the building, of the in-sufficient-accommodation, because it has a greater number of occupants, without being larger, than some other rooms which will be"' spoken of :later.xon;" Itrmay^'be stated that a wing is to be erected at the western side of ther school, (which is intended to be used for the irif aht. class just referred to, and other classes will, by that ' means, be somewhat relieved. The second class, which consists. pf( 68 pupils, is under the care of Miss "Sangster. . Then we come to a more important branch, namely, the third elas.., presided oyer by Mrs Mclvor, with an assistant. In this room, which is 40ft. by 18ft., there are 107 pupils,' representing . £»7 boys and 50 girls. •■■ As ,; will -"be understood by those who have the slightest knowledge of teaching, the ladies who instruct this class have, to use, a vulgar but expressive phrase, "all their work cut but for them," not only'" by reason of the numerical strength : of the class, but because of the additional number of subjects taught in comparison with those beneath. The fourth class, -presided over by Mr Wyld, has 45 >boys and 28 girls^-73 7; the fifth, of which: _/If Bennett has charge, 30 boys and (19 girls-^49 ; the sixth represents • 20 boys ( and the same number of girls, making- a total of .40.. There are .altogether five assistants and four (pupil ; teachers in the school, and we-; understand iKuV^liefe is amplef teaching ipowei",, the warit r of accomihpdatibn'. being all; that is Complained of . To ''say a word fbrjthe school building -itself as designed, it should be observed that, it is well -adapted for. its purpose,, and the plans .must have been based upon a nice calculation of the requirements. Of course, we are How speaking of what the school is supposed to hold, not ofthe nnm- : ber pf children and/teachers that might ." on ; .apinchj" so to speak, -be^ crammed into it. The rooms are lofty; wel ventilated,; and the . drainage system throughout is of the most : coriiplete character known ; sp that every consideration lias been;. 'paid to tiie (health of the scholars. As to the general riianagemenfc of the school, it certainly appears to reflect the highest (credit upon Mr McGregor and those ladies and gentlemen who assist him iii the -work of instruction. Also, the children are a creffit .to ; the ; district, for a ':-. more, healthy, and clean, and orderly collection of youngsters, it would-be diffi- : cult to find -kriywhere. In thus of a representative school of "-Southland, the writer is unpileasantly (reminded of a representative school of another district, and this, no doubt, had something to do -'• -with-, the favorable impression made ppon Ms mind by the Grammar Scho A (children. Thus, it would appear that' so -far,. at least, .. as the most important of our schools is con cefned; it is only found wantingm one particular; they must have more room. As stated \ above, additional accommodation will ': shortly be provided, but , from the ex- \ perience' of the 'past,',! which (has shown a 1 steady increase in t_e number of applicants for educatipn under the Actj we(are'led tp the belief that greater eiferts Jstill will I have to be made by the derartinent .before '. the demand .is completelx§__ti__sed.