TE AWAMUTU COLLEGE

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 77, Issue 6543, 23 July 1948, Page 3

TE AWAMUTU COLLEGE

■PRINCIPAL’S MONTHLY REPORT PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE Presenting his monthly report to members of the Committee of Management, Te Awamutu College, at their meeting on Wednesday night, the Principal, Mr H. Rochfort, stated: “The most important event during the past month has been the calling of tenders for the new home-life block, the new workshop block, the boys’ dressing and shower room,' and the remodelling of parts of the existing building. This marks a big step forward in the campaign which has been carried on for several years past to secure for the College urgentlyrequired additional accommodation. I look forward to the actual commencement of the buildings. The visit from official representatives of the Department and the Board and their conference with the committee on 15th July should ensure a sympathetic understanding of the local situation and comprehensive planning for the future.

Post Primary Inspection: The College was visited on July Bth and 9th by Miss Tyndall and Messrs Aitken and Perry, post primary inspectors. They will later make a detailed report.

Staff: We are fortunate in having the assistance of Mrs A. McKenzie to relieve in the intermediate department in place of Miss J. Pickering. Aid to Britain: The pupils will have a special Aid to Britain day on Friday, July 23rd, to raise funds for school pupils in Britain. Last year they raised £l6B 14s 4d for this purpose and expended it upon food parcels which they dispatched to the Red Maids’ School, Bristol. United Nations Appeal. The staff contributed £3l, and the pupils £44, a total of £75, for the appeal in aid of starving children. School Sports: On July 15th the intermediate' department took part in the district primary school basketball and Rugby seven-a-side competitions. The basketball was abandoned on account of the weather. The seven-a-side Rugby resulted as follows: Senior, Melrose House; Junior, Gorst House; Midget, Melrose House. Each House had a maximum of 25 boys to call upon fo its three teams. On the same day three secondary basketball teams met and were defeated by Cambridge teams at Cambridge; the 2nd XV lost to Cambridge 2nd XV, and the Ist XV drew with Cambridge Ist XV in the Teddy Shield elimination round. The play-off took place on our grounds and resulted in a win for Cambridge by 10 points to 6. Teddy Shield and Collison Cup: These games will be held. on our grounds early in August- Further details will be given later. Half Yearly Examination: This will commence on Monday, 26th July, and will last for one week. Detailed reports will be issued to parents of pupils. Projector: The Parent Teacher Association has undertaken to raise funds for the purchase of a sound film projector, and arrangements are in hand to secure an “Ampro.” Water Charges: I waited upon the Borough Council on 21st June to discuss water charges for the College. The Council has not yet communicated to me its decision upon the matter.

Cocoa: There has been such a small demand for cocoa among the pupils that this service has now been discontinued.” The Principal’s report outlined projected events at the College up to the end of the current school term (August 20th) including visits by celebrity artists under the auspices of the Te Awamutu Community Arts Service. Engagements include a concert by the Te Awamutu Ladies’ Choir, and other- local,' and visiting artists (C.A-S.); the visit of the New Zealand pianist, Richard Farrell, darly in August (C.A.S.); screening of erosion pictures in the School Hall by the Soil Conservation Branch of the Works Department; visit by the school’s Ist XV to Pukekohe; Pupils’ Dramatic and Choral evening; a visit by invitation to the Hamilton Civic Orchestra recital. Term holidays commence on August 21st. Evening Classes A resume of evening class activities at the College was presented to the Committee of Management in the following report furnished by Mr A. G. Baigent, superintendent:—■

“The effective rolls of evening classes continue to rise steadily, the total enrolment of classes at present being 162. The shorthand-typewriting class has been subdivided again owing to increased numbers. The Te Awamutu Esperanto Club, with an adult roll of 26, has become an evening class of the College, increasing the active classes to 15. As previously arranged the agriculture class has now closed the 1948 course owing to increased pressure ..of farm duties. The sub-division of the dressmaking class into two groups meeting on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, has been officially approved by the Department inspectors. This class has proved very popular and it now has a roll of 25. On Tuesday evening the instructors of the motor mechanics class, which now meets on Mondays and Wednesdays, paid a special visit to the motor workshops at the Hamilton Technical College.

Rare and Valuable Commodity The engineer of the Tauranga Borough Council (Mr C. W. Boak), pointed out to councillors at a recent meeting that an estimate he had made for 8 miles of cable in 1944 had risen now from the original £lBOO to a value of about £3OOO. At the time only one mile of cable was obtainable, and it was only recently that a long outstanding consignment of heavy aerial copper had arrived in New* Zealand ports.