HAWERA NEWS.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 April 1924, Page 6

HAWERA NEWS.

ixlE MAIN SCHOOL. PROGRESS OF THE YEAR. (From Our Own Reporter.) Hawera, April 15. The progress of the Hawera Main School during' the past year was traced by the annual report presented to the annual meeting of householders last night. The report stated, inter alia; — One of the most difficult matters to deal with is the perpetual changes of the teaching staff, as will be noted by the fact that the present staff consists of the headmaster, 14 assistants, 2 pupil teachers, and 4 probationers, and out of this total only 10 were on last year’s staff. The principal changes effected were the appointment of Mr. Bates as headmaster, and Miss Robertson as infant mistress. In spite of the many changes, most excellent results were obtained in the last examinations. Out of 64 standard VI scholars who presented themselves for the examina-' tions 50 gained prouciency, 7 gained competency., and only 7 failed, whilst all the classes obtained equally good results.

The roll number as at March 31, 1924, stood at 675 (‘32'2 girls and 3'53 boys), as against 739 (366 girls and 378 boys) for the corresponding period of last year, being a loss* of 64 scholars, accounted for by the large number who have completed their primary course, most of them having entered the higher schools, whilst a few have commenced their life work. The reopening of Whareroa School also had an effect on our roll numbers, and a noticeable feature was the small number of nJw scholars admitted during the first term of 1924. Only 66 joined us, as against 90 for the corresponding period of 1923. Our average weekly roll number was 759, and the average attendance 675. The chief difficulty for the staff is the large number of scholars in each c.lass, necessitating two teachers having to work in one room at the same time, a condition un-f-'vrnrable to the best teaching conditions.

As a result of a visit from the Minister for Education in September last, and after a lot of patience and perseverance, we have secured an additional £lBO on account of the subsidy on the queen carnival funds, thus making a total of £5Ol paid by the Department in subsidy towards our claim of £1200: but we still think it may be possible to secure a further grant from the Department, provided the proposed expenditure is of a. necessitous nature.

The matter of establishing a dental clinic for the benefit of all the school children in this district has been brought before the board on several occasions, with the result that the board has favourably recommended its establishment at Hawera. It is still “being considered'’ by the Department. The committee have alao considered the advisability of endeavouring to establish a junior high school in Hawera, and discussed. the matter fully with the chairman of the Education Board. He considers it advisable to await the result of the Department’s experiment on these lines now being tried out at Auckland. Some doubt existed as to the exact date of the establishment of the present school buildings. The matter has Bern settled by Mr. George Syme, aenr., who built the school in April. 1875. This has now been finally confirmed by a reference to an old school log hook which has been brought to light, dated April 1. 1875, to December 19. 1889. It will thus he seen that the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the main portion of the present school buildings will fall on May 13, 1925. Tn conclusion the committee wishes to place on record its appreciation of the able manner in which .Mr. J. R- Nairn carried out the duties in a dual capacity of acting headmaster, filling his own position a«* first assistant, after Mr. Strack retired until Mr Bates took up the position as headmaster, whilst at the same time seriously handicapped with illhealth. The' thanks of the committee are also due to its energetic secretar v. Mr. Brough, who has carried out his work in a most conscientious manner.

COLLECTION OF RATES. p A statement showing the progress of the collection of rates from the Hawera borough for the 'year ended March 31 was submitted to the Borough Council last night. At/the end of March 1923. the amount of rates outstanding was C 1719 Is 4d, and of this amount £1599 18s 3d was collected in the following year, leaving £ll9 3s Id outstanding. The total rate struck for the vear ending March 31. 1924. was £12.327 Os 7d. and of this amount £11.230 Ils lOd had been collected or written off. leaving £lOB7 8s 9d outstanding for the year. The total amount now outstanding was £1206 Us lOd. The total amount of rates owing by lessees on sub-division 37 was £6l Ils 7d, which included £36 15s 3d owing on sections handed back to the council. With the exception of sub-division 37 the position of the reserves rent was most satisfactory, only £8 10s being outstanding out of a total of £3021 8s 8d ( £2BOB Ils lOd and arrears from previous year £212 16s lOd). The present position of sub-division 37 was that the total rent payable for the year was £795 12s fid. and the arrears £483 7s 6d. making a total of £1279. During the year £>523 9s 2d wag paid off this amount, leaving a total of £75'5 10s lOd outstanding. THE DISBANDED BAND. The announcement of the disbanding of the Hawera Citizens’ Band some time I ago caused general disappointment amongst the townspeople. A movement is now reported to l>e afoot to re-es-tablish the band on a sound footing. Speaking at the Borough council meeting last night. Cr. J. G. Osborne said the band instruments and uniforms had been called in and stowed away and the town still had an asset of at least £6OO in these. He hoped the time was not far distant when the council would secure a first-class conductor and put the band in the position it should* occupy. The council might to increase its contribution to the band from £5O to £lOO per annum. The Mayor expressed regret that the band would not be available for the Anzac Dav parade, and Cr. Osborne said it would he impossible or inadvisable to let the instruments or uniforms out to be immediately called in again.

IN MEMORY OF ANZAC. Arrangements for the c&iduet of the Anzac Day parade and service have been made by a committee headed by the Mayor (Mr. L. .A. Bone). If the weather is fine the service will be held in King Edward Park, and if wet in the Opera House, commencing at 11 a.m. The co-operation of the schools, friendly societies, boy scouts, fire brigade, South African veterans, the Veterans’ Association and the various military units will be sought, and the parade will bp under the control of Lieutenant-Colonel E. P. Cox. The church choirs have been invited to assist at the service, and the address will be delivered by the Rev. C. J. BushKing. Air invitation to attend the Anzac Day parade was extended to the Hawe’ra borough councillors last night by the Mayor. SUNDAY PLAY IN PARK. A complaint about boys playing games m King Edward Park on Sundays was conveyed to the Borough Council last night by the Mayor (Mr. L. A. Bone). His Worship said he had had many complaints concerning the matter and one particularly strong one had compelled him to bring the matter forward.

Many boys made a habit of playing cricket, tennis and other games in the park on Sundays and the practice would have to be stopped. There was a bylaw regulating the use of the public park, but the council did not wish to be harsh. It was hoped that a warning would be sufficient and that the council would not find it necessary to take drastic action. / WINTER SHOW NOVELTY. The Hawera Winter Show Company intend to institute a novel exhibit at the next show in the shape of eight of the best Friesian cattle selected from a wide area* On behalf of the Winter Show Company, Mr. J. R. Corrigan, M.P., waited on the Borough Council last night, asking permission to erect a marquee in the right-of-way between the show buildings and the Refrigerating Company’s building to house this exhibit. The council unanimously gave its consent. GENERAL ITEMS The most prominent landmark in Hawera. the water tower, has evidently attracted the attention of some enterprising advertiser. Cr. H. B. Burdekin,

at last night’s meeting of the Borough Council said he had been asked to bring the question of the advertising rights on the yater tower before the council. The suggestion did not receive a very encouraging reception from any of the council, the Mayor remarking: “He had better make an application, and we shall see.” At the request of the Hawera School Committee, the Hawera Borough Counch last night decided to close the South Road as a stock route from Wadhi Road to Princes Street, providing the council has the legal power. The danger of stock droving on this road to the children attending the Main School was urged and accepted as a sufficient reason. f Some time ago complaint was made by the Hawera Borough Oouueil that some of the street gaslights were not giving the amount of light required of them. Cr. E. Morrissey reported last night that he had approached the Gas Company in the matter. The company had asked for about a fortnight’s time to make a thorough inspection of all the lights, and the council decided to await developments. Messrs E. Dixon, E. H. Harrop, S. Blake and Mrs. French were last night elected the ratepayers’ representatives on the Returned Soldiers’ Chib Commit'tee by the Hawera Borough Council.