FIFTY YEARS A SCHOOL

Taranaki Daily News, 4 March 1935, Page 9

FIFTY YEARS A SCHOOL

WEST END CELEBRATIONS BEGIN GROWTH FROM SMALL BEGINNING War work and help for parks ()LD and present pupils of the West End School, New Plymouth,' assembled in hundreds yesterday to begin a week’s celebration of the school’s jubilee. Opened in a small, newlyerected building in St. Aubyn Street on June 9, 1884, the school, at first a subsidiary of Central, attained full stature as one of the main schools of the (town. The 50th anniversary occurred last year, but the celebrations were postponed to avoid clashing with those of Central. Few primary schools can claim to have been so closely identified with, progressive movements of the community around them.'• Western Park and Kawaroa Park both owe a great deal to past West End committees for funds raised as a result of co-operative ventures. During the war the school was the district centre for war work by children and their parents, work that earned high commendation from the soldiers themselves and from civilians in other parts of the Dominion. Scholastically and in swimming, football and cricket the school has long records of success, but . more important still is its reputation for character building. Miss Lydia Shaw, the first headmistress, set a high standard from which the five succeeding head teachers have never deviated. J • ’

Beginning with a procession in decades from the chief post office, yesterday’s, celebrations took the form of an open-air religious service in the grounds op the Bonithon estate, to which the school was moved some years ago. <

IN THE BEGINNING PROGRESS THROUGH YEARS SIDE SCHOOL TO THE CENTRAL. REMOVAL TO THE PRESENT SITE. ———— ' . . ;.-7 ■♦ ; The West school, the predecessor of the present West End school, was opened in a new building on the South Road on - June 9,' 1884. It was the outcome of the policy of the. Education. Board to make a main school at Central, with subsidiary » pchools in suitable parts of the town. At these children were to be

taught up to the second standard, after whibh they were to continue their education at tiie Central school. The jubilee of both', Central and' West End occurred last, year, but the latter school postponed its to avoid dash with. Ithose of Central. . For many years/before 1884 New Plymouth had been served by a number of small private schools, one of which, conducted by Mr. McKee and. after his death by Mr. Tobin, was situated on - the education reserve at the comer of Powderham and Mt. Edgecombe streets, a site more recently occupied by the Convent parish school. The West school on the South Road-: was the' successor to this school. ■ ■ . Mr. McKee’s school and others of the kind had lost their private status long before 1884, however. There had been a igradual increase in Government influence, first through the payment of a subsidy of £26 a year to the teacher and then periodical inspections of the classes. Finally, in 1878, the Education Act was passed and the Colonial Government took over the schools arid their teachers. Miss Lydia Shaw, tiie first headmistress at the West school, had had one of these schools, the Kawau pa school, later moved from the bottom of Currie Lane to the sandhills in Gill Street. A SITE SELECTED. It was on September 10, 1883, that the Taranaki Education Board asked the chairman of the No. 3 district school committee to suggest a site for an infant school in the western part of the town and on November 12, the board was recommended to purchase two sections in St. Aubyn Street. A committee comprising the Ven. Archdeacon H. Govett (chairman) and Mr. Elisha Veale was appointed to confer with the No. 3 committee on the subject and after some negotiation it was agreed on December 10 to pay Mr. H. R. Richmond £175 for the site. Tenders were invited for the erection' of a schoolroom to hold 100 children.

At the end of May the architect reported to the board that the building ■would be ready to hand over to the No. 3 committee within a week and on June 9, 1884, the school was opened with Miss Lydia Shaw in charge and the Misses Mary McLauchlan and Alice Ford as her assistants. Fifty-eight pupils were enrolled that day, but many other enrol- \ inents were made within a few weeks.

\ Th' following’year Miss Annie E. Cliff \ijok the place of Miss Lauchlan and in 11886 the Misses Ada M. Roby and Marion ’ Todd succeeded the Misses McLauchlan and Ford. Miss Fanny M. Smith' and Miss Rose Cowing joined in 1888, when the roll numbered 102. The next change in the staff of three was the appoint-

ment of Miss Emily Rennell in 1890. She was replaced in 1893 by- Miss Laura Mynott, who left the school the following year but rejoined in 1897 to begin her long career as infant mistress under Miss Shaw and Mrs. Dowling, and on till the end of 1926. FULL SCHOOL STATUS. In 1901 the roll had risen to 127 and there was a staff of four, while the following year there were 142 children. This was a time of agitation for the inauguration of a full school, a status to which West End was raised on December 16, 1902. The first year of the new arrangement found the school with a roll of 252 and the following staff:—Mrs. Mary Dowling (headmistress), Miss Laura Mynott,. Mr. Edward Barry, Miss M. M. Papps (afterwards headmistress of the Central Infants’ School), Miss Ada Powell and Miss Lily Berry. ' The roll continued to rise steadily under ' Mrs.’ Dowling’s administration and later that of Mr. D. P. Evans and Mr. J. W. Thomas until in 1924 the roll number was in the vicinity of 500. •

With ;■ increasing • attendances the -accommodation at the school was added to from time to time to meet conditions of overcrowding, but equally urgent with the need for. more classrooms appeared to be the need for extra playground accommodation. In 1914 there was an agitation for the provision of extra ground and correspondence between the education board and the department on the subject was quite frequent. An adjoining property was acquired from Mrs. Taylor. However, the area of 1 acre 1 rood 29 perches, of which only half an acre was playground, was completely inadequate , for a large school,’ and eventually, in 1918, the borough council offered to exchange five acres of Reserve T for the West End site, , plus part of the railway reserve from Bayly. Road to Kawaroa Park or the Rotokare Domain and. Ratapihipihi Reserve. The department approved of the proposal that 4| acres of Reserve T should be utilised for the school, ,but in 1919 the proposal fell through as the borough council insisted on being given a freehold title to the reserves..

A site was still being sought in 1925 when Greig’s estate and Morshead’s estate were considered. Finally the present site on the Bonithon estate was acquired, the old school was moved from the St. Aubyn Street sections and remodelled during re-erection. OPENING OF NEW SCHOOL. The re-erected school was opened on June 10, 1927, by the Hon. R. A. Wright, Minister of Education, and on June 29, the sale of the old site to Messrs. Jones and Sandford was finally settled. A great deal remained to be done to the grounds, which were in an undeveloped state. The committee had a big task ahead of it, but undeterred by the magnitude of the undertaking the residents of the district co-operated with the committee in the organisation of a queen carnival with the result that in September, ’ 1927, when Raeburn Jones was crowned queen, the sum of £753 13s lid had been raised. On this a Government subsidy of £1 for £1 was given and the total. amount, plus some hundreds of pounds more, was spent on the grounds. The other queen candidates were Elsie Royse, Pat Durdle and Leta Raynor.

The school, since its removal, has always been noted for its grounds. Thanks to the gratuitous attention of Mr. F. Parker, the beds of shrubs and flowers in the front of the building have become a feature of the surroundings that always earns favourable comment from visitors.