NELSON TECHNICAL SCHOOL.

Colonist, Volume LXII, Issue 15311, 26 February 1920, Page 3

NELSON TECHNICAL SCHOOL.

BOARD OF MANAGERS' MEETING*.

. -A. meeting of the Nelson Technical' Stfoool Board of Manager? was-'held, at { . the Education Office last night. There were present Messrs F. W. O. Smith (chairman), F. Whitwell, E. E. Boyes, J. A. Stringer, William MeConchie, S. B. Canavan. Ovid W. C. Hafley. Mr F. C. J. Cockbnrn, director and secretary, was also in attendance. . The Director reported as follows: — After nearly three weeks' delay, due to the influenza epidemic and the com- - pulsory closing of the schools by the Health' Department, the school was re- '. opened for the 1920 session on Thurs-' ■day, the 19th inst. The "number of free pupils enrolled to date is satisfac T . toiy, and some who are still suffering . - from illness have yet to join. There are fewer senior free pupils. 1 presume ' they are going to work at an earlier age' than formerly. Some of the. girls, lam , informed, have taken temporary work ] during the fruit season. As stated in my former, reports, although the number of paying students . is not so large as in pre-war years the j fact, that almost' ail are up ; courses of work-instead oi: isolated sub-j ■ jects enables the school to attain to a' much higher rale of capitation. I desire to''draw'the "attention of the , board to the fact that according to the ! department's regulations we are unable; to clajm capitation on any'hours attend- ' e-rl by a,student in excess of 400. As a' result of this regulation we were unable to claim capitation on nearly 10,085 hours, 47 students having attended ex-; cess hours varying from 9to 494. Had wo been able to claim on these attend- j ances, the additional capitation.■'■ would { have amounted to £189 2s, and ".free ; place capitation t o£llß 8s 4^d, a total j of £307 10s 4id. In view of these facts I would suggest that the secretary of; the Education Board be requested' to"! write to the department applying for re-j

cognition of tho school as a technical high school. This would mean, an annual grant of £500 in addition to an in- [ creased capitation. We should further be placed in a position enabling the ! school to offer full time, courses to both boys and girls. An1 objection", often made by-parents would thus be met, viz. that tho pupils are often unfortunately compelled to waste some portion of theirj time in town. The work of renovating the school has been completed so far as tho interior is concerned, with very gratifying results. For some unexplained reason, however, nothing has been done to relieve the sordid appearance of the exterior. The number of students.attcndin'g the engineering classes show a decided increase over former years, and {imply justifies the faith evidenced by the Education Board in 3917. This department of tho school's worli -was started in 1913 and was held on one evening: .of the week. In the following session it was decided to hold the class on two i evenings a week. A day class was < added, and finally in 1917 the board appointed Mr Milne as full-time instructor. ; There arc now 25 boys attending the 1 day classes, .and an. average attendance ,of 20 at the evening classes. In view iof these facts it is at once evident that it is scarcely possible for. the 'instructor to properly oversee the work. I-desire, therefore, to ask the board to sanction ■■the.'appointment of a probationer, who v,-ould be able to supervise- the work of i the junior pupils. 1 have pleasure in recommending- Stanley . Silcoek for the. position. fa©, has been a stiv dent of the school for four years/and will, 1 believe prove;, his fitness for the work. liegai-ding the staff, Miss Kingsland has resigned her position, which will necessitate some rearrangements of classes which wiltprobably throw more work on Mrs Cross. Miss Blincoe is applying ■•for an increase of salary, and as I am proposing to increase her work I beg to

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recommend her application to the favourable consideration of the .board. On the board's instructions,'! commu* rucated'withf •'the* various,, technical schools c and .with the, Agricultural" Dej^rtmeritpasking" for advico .regarding wool classing'classes and the. possibility of securing an instructor. i have received a numlber of replies-giving valuable information, which I now submit.

1 Ifc wds decided to requost the secretary of the Education Board to write to the Department of .Education asking that the school be recognised as a technical high school. Increases ot" salary were granted to Miss Blincoe, domestic science instructress, and to Mr W. Cheel, caretaker. It was decided to oiler the position of probationer .in the engineering depart^ merit to Mr Stanley Siicock. bailing him, the appointment to be left with the director and chairman. Letters .were read from the Department of Agriculture, and from various technical scnools regarding the proposed wool sorting \class. As a. number of the Farmers' Union Executive Committees had^not had time to give their opinion on details of the scheme, it was decided to defer consideration till the next meeting. --■■

'lhe resignation of Miss ■ Kingsland, who has been appointed domestic1 science instructress to the, tieefton/ Motueka, an^r T^! ialfa districts was accepted. Mr Sievwright wrote" resigning his position as a member of the board/and "an intimation was received from the secretary of the Carpenters and' Joiners' bociety that Mr A. Cross had been no-minated-as representative in his stead. It was. decided to accept the resignation with regret, and to wish Mr Sievwright success in his new sphere of work It was decided to accept Mr Cross as a member of the board

Accounts amounting to £42 os 3d were,passed.for payment. The board then rose.