DAY SCHOOLS AND HOSTELS

Taranaki Daily News, 8 November 1932, Page 14

DAY SCHOOLS AND HOSTELS

DIFFICULTIES OF FINANCE.

CHURCH ACTIVITIES OF PAST,

Church schools and hostels were among the activities of St. Mary’s that will be well remembered.

In 1917 a school was opened in the parish hall and schoolroom. Mrs. Campbell was the first headmistress,. with Miss Bates in charge of the kindergarten department. The school opened with a roll of between 90 and 100.

A property consisting of . a large house and three acres of land was purchased in July, 1919. A boarding school vras opened a few months later, with Miss Banwell as principal. During the boom Hawera ,experienced difficulty in housing the many young people who were working in the town away from their homes, and it was felt to be the business of the-church to help in a pressing need. A property in Princes Street was acquired for a young men’s hostel and club. Mr. G. A. Burgess was first secretary, and Mr. G. H. Buckeridge conducted a Bible class. The boarding school was closed the following year, the building being used for a young women’s hostel. Both hostels were closed in 1923. In the slump it was no easy matter to finance the undertakings entered into in good times, but the : day school was carried on until 1927.