SCHOOL COMMITTEES.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCVIII, 28 April 1925, Page 7

SCHOOL COMMITTEES.

Annual Meetings of Householders. . '. "V' ( ■ MODERATE ATTENDANCES' RULE. Ill© * statutory meetings of., householders for the election ,of, school committees in. tho Canterbury Education > District, were held last night. At the : majority of the'meetings the attendance was only moderate. •n Mr Ti.’lt. -Mackay," xffi'airibaii'‘of the retiring committee, was voted to tho chair. - ' The annual report stated that during l the year the attendance was on, account of epidemics of whooping cough and measles. Unfortunately, the Education Department refused to ' allow the exclusion of more than the two quarters allowed by regulation, ■with the result that the school', is' entitledto < oiie assistant less than is necessary, for effective, organisation. ■ The above unsatisfactory state of affairs • I .would be entirely eliminated ifstarting were based on the: average attendance,. ■ 671.6. :During the cqriung'year it will be necessary, to utilise' one ‘of the shelter, sheds as ©. classroom. "With' the approach of winter, some other ' , jnq&ns *of "relieving the congestion will ' to- be.: employed. There had i 5 been a number of changes on tho stalf of the school. Miss 1. G. Penlington •. and»Miss D. Pearson resigned early in th©- year, their place being filled by • Miss Harrow, ’and Mra: Anderson. - • Miss ' V. Leslie and 'Miss C. I. O’Callagan left at th© end of tho, year. 1 ■ Miss •Turner and Miss Gardner are the new appointees.. After a period on the , Inspectorate, Mr W. G. Colo, head-. . . resigned, on appointment to' tb©' headmastership of tho Normal School!/ In deference to his wishes, - no" presentation was 'made, but he carries , with him the good wishes of both the Comnlitteo-'and stafr of, the ,tobool.' "His place has been, filled by .' My G. A. Turner, of Oamaru, .-btandard VI. was again very successful in ; th© Prqficiency examinations,/ chil- ' dren proficiency certificates, 4 ’t‘«ndotsed‘ ’competency,' and one compet-y ©noy,‘ put 6f a class* of 64 children. At :! '±h© ' scholarship .examinations -three pupils, It." Steward, J. McClelland, and ! Rita A viSon’gtined 'Junior Free Places. •. Daring the'wuitet three euchre parties. each followed by a* dance, were held, ' iiTthe Caroline- Bay Pavilion, /’ These functions af© proving/ very, popular, as ' evidenced by the amounts raised, viz.r- ---• £B7 Os-3d. . The receipts, during-the ' f 2 ' 7 m?nfi ended FebruVy 28th amounted' to £407 2s lid, including £7B ;2i 6d brought forward, and/the. expendii tur© £397 10s Bd, which leaves .a.credit balance df £BB 4s 8d« i * . / Jn moving the. adoption,of the report ' and balance, sheet' tor the year, te® i tffiairanaii' expressed regret at the small U iXrieMco. He traversed the work of , th© year, and congratulated the teach-, , ' en on the results of their work, and " ' the interest they always the. V children/, both in and out of .school. Mb A. E. Lawrence seconded the motion; and congratulated the committee and on the splendid .work p s,. the year. He regretted that the meeti W was 'so' small, but 'stated, that this • wak due to’ the persistent tendency* to-. . - wards .centralisation by- the. Minister 'and"'the Department, thereby robbing -thd* committees of any v.estige of authority. 'He urged the people'to insist • that’they should Have some say tn tno 1 . management of. the education of their; own"children. Mr Lawrenge- further referred' to* the fact that m the-recent legislation which was .passed in last.seSr. 1 ■ sion, -a small clause was, inserted jy. , -which the Minister of Education has 'sole!,power to grant or, withhold a subsidy ori‘ voluntary contributions. - ;/•, Mr G; Bens to ad also spoke on .»the,. auestioiv of’ aAd 2m strewed'the linpbrtance of the peo~ pie waking up and takings steps to see that then rights m the matter of education of their own children were reannounced’ that .“the, . school would be open tor enrolment of ' 'new pupils to-day, but; the-official: re-r >-3 opening of the school would take p^ace. , on Wednesday morning. ~ Mr Benstead thanked the Canterbury Education Board ■ for their considera- - tion.' and help during the year.-- ' Mr Lawrence suggested that th© in-, coming committee should' consider 'the 1 question of forming a drum and .fife - band' in connection • with the 'school, 1 and also that'special, days should be set ( / • apart for tho , parents to visit tlio school. The 'adoption of a-“parents’ ' day” twice a year, would tend, to create a wider interest in the general working . of 'the school. - ' 'A hearty vote of thanks was accorded to the outgoing committee and the teachers. The chairman and”Mr Connor returned thanks. . The following iver,e elected as a committee for the ensuing year:—Mrs A. E. Lawrence, Mrs M. Minifio,. Mr 'T. R.i Mackay, Mr Geo. Benstead, Mr T. E., Hold'gate, Mr G. Andrews, Mr G; ( T.' Slade, MrT. S. Shrimpton, Mr 'E. A. Hamilton. * ' ' . Oil the motion of Mr Rliraeder, it w^3,decided to call'the attention of the , district Parliamentary representatives • ! td the unsatisfactory amendment of the ’ - Education Act of last year, which made it/more difficult- for committees to ob-: ! tpin subsidies on voluntary contributions, discretion ,now-being .left with the Minister as to their being granted or not. : , A .vote of sympathy was passed with . the Prime Minister in his Serious' ill- i 1 ness, and hope 3 that he will be soon restored to, health. The chairman considered that Mr Lawrence/s suggestion of a drum and fife'band for the school should receive the serious consideration of the incoming committee. • i - •A' vote of thanks to tho chairman concluded the meeting.

WEST SCHOOL. ; The 1 chairman of' the retiring committee : (Mr AV . Anderson), presided over a iarge attendance. THE ANNUAL HEP OUT. The annual report stated that the receipts tor -the year, amounted to £545 11s and the expenditure ot £479 18s 3d', leaving a credit,balance of £65 13s. 6d. The school continued to grow; ' the roll number on March 31, 1924, was 395, while on December 3i, 1924, it was 440. The average attendance for the year was 380. Owing to- the increased attendance the school,had been raised a grade, and ■ consequently was entitled to the services of-another assistant; to which position Miss O’Con- ; nor had been appointed. Several improvements had been carried out to the grounds and buildings. Nevertheless the school was still in need of more accommodation, and the matter had been taken up by Mr F. J. Rolleston, M.IV In moving the adoption of tho annual report and balance sheet, the chairman made eulogistic referenco to the work of the headmaster and Staff in. conducting classes, by correspondence during the epidemic. Now that the ’ epidemic had abated and the children were returning to school, ho hoped that a successful year should result; He made special reference to Mr .Stead, of the committee of the Main School, who was 1 retiring that year. Mr Stead' had been a committeeman for 22 years, -and when the West School had been under the jurisdiction of tho Main

School, had done much in furthering the interests of their school. He Loved ( that a letter of appreciation be sent to Mr Stead. . T w In seconding the motion, Mr J. A. Chiles spoke in eulogistic terms of the services rendered by Mr Stead. Mr C. J. Holdgato also spoke, and th© motion was carried unanimously. Votes of thanks were then passed to the Education Board, tho Press, Ministers’ Association, headmaster, and staff, Ladies’ Guild, and the janitress.

: ’ ELECTION OF COMMITTEE. For the nine seats on the committee there were fourteen nominations, eight of whom were members of last year’s committee. The ballot resulted in 110 votes being cost. /The following members wore elected:—Mrs Norrie, Messrs S. Anderson, W. Anderson, F. S. Cave,. F, Chapman, J. E. Chiles, T, Currie, J. Gliddon, and T. Balliser. ' GENERAL.

A recommendation, was submitted to the incoming committee that a sub* committee be appointed to wait oh the Minister of Education (Sir James Parr), . during his stay in -Timaru, to urge the necessity,, of increased accommodation at the school.. ' / ■ ■The’Rev. .Mr Knight, of St. Saviour's Orphanage, expressed thanks to the teaching.stalf for instructing the •boys during the period of the epidemic. A hearty ’vote of thanks was passed to Mrs Cave, who was retiring ffoimthe • committee. ’ . • A social comxnittee'was appointed as follows:—Mesdames Field, Bryant, Anderson, Currie/ Stewart, Messrs J. Norrie, "VV. Cummmg, T. Segar, W. Tutton, W. Thomson and MpMillan.

MEETING OF. COMMITTEE. At a committee meeting the follow-. ing N were appointed to office: —Chairman, Mr "\v. Anderson;; deputyrchairman, Mr , T. Currie; secretary,: Mr T. Palliaer; 1 treasurer, Mi\F.'Cave. TIMARU MAIN. There, was only a fair attendance at the Main School. Mr A. F; Boys yraa voted to the chair. The annual report and balance- sheet which have already been, published, uero read and adopted 1 . ( /The' chairman said/that the school would re-open,to-day.' Although seven days' notice had,been promised, it was pleasing to see that a start was being made right* away. The. slow combustion neuters were being installed,; they' were • going to cost > £lod, the = . committee’s subsidy being .£7O. ;It was hoped to have them: m : operation" before. the opening of. the school,* and it was not. ‘ tiie, committed/s fault that /this had not been done. / The /headmaster stated that he would •like ’it added •to the report that th© Main School had ganied 96 .swimming pertificaties during .the* year, and headed the. list for South', Canterbury. ' . Speaking in regard to the balance, sheet, Mi- Stead stated •'that 'the com-: mittee would have to be very. careful with the expenditure, or, to adopt some scheme to ’-benefit the funds/this year: v/The chairman said' that the roll nUm* bef. was going down/ The jubilee,;oel©-. Brations had proved a ’ great success, and he spoke at length -on this subject. • Mr A. Stead ,moved: “That this meeting of householders - place on re'cord its very best thanks' to the mean-, :bers\of the Education Board for their prompt arid courteous attention to any, business transacted,' by 'th© committee during, tlio year for the benefit of tho school.” Mr Stead stated that justice was always received, froln • the Board. gootl deal of interest/ and they had met ♦with* a- 1 favourable.reply from the Board in granting' a liberal subsidy towards the expenditure of installing the Beaters.

The chairman/ in seconding the motion, .said: that -the- -Board had- done -everything/possible tol’help / the school; a'nd- their relations had' always been ■ of the l best. -

‘ Votes, of thanks were accorded to the staff, to'the: jahitor, and to the Ministers’ Association.

Mr H. Patchctt, in moving a vpte of thanks to the outgoing committee, said that special,mention should-bo made of Mr'A. Stead’s 21 years” service on th© coimriittco. ‘

Mr' Keay seconded the motion, and eulogised Mr Stead'/s work. The chairman said that_ during, his time on the Main- School,", committee, Mr, Stead was~ always .willing .to assist in, any way. -. The headmaster ’ and Messrs • Malcblinsori and Butclier - also praised Mr Stead’s services to the •school. ' .

; Mr _ Stead*/ acknowledged th© many coinpliments-, which had been paid him. ’ As .tiler© was .just the required numt.betr, of 'nominations .for, seats on ..the new committee, a ballot was-unne--cessary ancj the following were elected: —Mrs L. M. Butcher, A. F. Boys, J. ,G. Butcher, J. Carnegie, A. E. Izzard, F«. E. Malcolmson, J. AV. Preen,- H. Patchett and Thomson. , " ' The "chairman expressed- the hope that .now the school :was re-opening, children would he sont regularly to make up for lost time, and he was sure the teachers would do their best to bring the'work up to date. Mr Stead moved a lioarty vote oi • thanks to Itlie ladies for the gift of attendance banners. ' -

At a subsequent’meeting of the new committee the following officials for the year, were l elected :—Chairman, Mr F. E. Malcolmson; deputy-chair man, Mr J. C. Butcher; secretary, Mr A'. F. Boys: treasurer, Mr A. E. Izzard: delegates to School Committees’ Association, tho chairman, doputy-chair-man, and 'secretary. ■ It was decided to meet on the second Wednesday in every month, at 7.30 p.m.

TIMAIiU SOUTH. About 100 householders of both sexes attended this meeting, and Mr \AV. Gibb retiring chairman, was voted to the chair. ' - The chairman, with a few introductory remarks, suggested that all should stand for one minute in silence in respect to,' the memory of the ex-pupils of the school who had lost their lives in the Great- War. The suggestion was acted upon. - ■ The minutes of the previous annual meeting were read., - Those were , of some length, and h. few passages reminded the hearers /'that the ’ election that year did' not pass off as pleasantly as usual. The minutes were adopted and confirmed. . < The committee’s report, having been circulated in print, was taken as read. The balance sheet showed that thereceipts on incidental account totalled £260 11s 3d. The expenditure included a Bank debit . at the beginning of the year of £4 5e Id, and' left a credit of £3l 16s IOcT. The balance sheet was adopted. A special school account showed that seven socials had produced a profit of £59 18s 3d. Tins had been expended; £2l Is 3d for crockery, etc., Jor socials, £2O. for gramophone, £2o’Bs 4d for school prises, £4 os for electric light, £7 13s for .cricket material. The sports account is also m c redit £3 8s lid. On tho chairman opening tho election, Mr Roller suggested that it would bo only fair to the new candidates themselves and to tho electors, that the former should state their views, and in what way they would seek to improve on the work, of the old committee. The' suggestion was approved and adopted, and six of the seven new candidates made n 'few remarks on their favourable attitude towards tho school, the seventh being absent on duty. Mr Ruston, in the course of his remarks complimented the retiring committee on obtaining for the school a bnlopticon. He' Said' it was the- finest educational instrument yet produced.

(At a later stage the chairman explained the nature of, and the uses of the instrument for school purposes.) The chairman a vote or congratulation to the winners of', the National Scholarships, one of whom gained the highest place for the South island. This Was earned by acclamation. Mr Gibb also mentioned that the South School had been very successful in the swimming competitions., 1 The chairman spoke of tile great ’ advantage an assembly hall would be to the school for school and public gatherings, and expressed a hope that the new committee would keep steadily in view the, acquisition of a hall., An announcement that the school would 1 re-open this morning was received with applause. A vote of thanks to the retiring committee, with. compliments on their wprk, was proposed by Mr Hayman, and carried by applause. 1 Mr Holler proposed a motion: “That this meeting disapproves of th© establishment of a,primary department in the Girls’. High School, and the .continuation. of a similar department in the. Boys’ High School.”, Mr Holler spoke at some lengtli in support of tho motion. . It was a reflection, he said, upon tfte primary, schools and 'their staffs; it reduced the attendance atftlie primary schools on which their staffing depended; and it tended to produce class distinctions arid snobbishness, while he emphatically denied that this implied that the teachers encouraged '’snobbishness. He, knew that the: Department did not approve of the system,' and discouraged it by refusing financial assistance, Mr. F. Earl seconded tho' motion.

The chairman stated that the' School ©ommittees’ Association’, had' made 1 representations on the subject to the Department. The difficulty was that the primary department did.'nbt cost -.any public money, being supported by fries, and the buildings also were not provided by public money. He was strongly against!, it, because thej distinction' between paying and non-paying pupils must develop snobbery, however the staffs strove to prevent- it. After discussion/ a vote on the;motion resulted : For 33, against 18, and it. was declared carried. (Only half of those present voted'.) ' ■ \ The chairman --moved a vote l Of thanks to Mr T. Irwin, for his seven. years of, exoellent service on the'committe©.—Carried by applause. Mr Henderson brought up th© ques tion) of cheaper school books - and requisites, and the chairman stated thwfc tins' was in the haVds of a Dunedin Committee of the Federated Committees,-, and they had a series of i recommendations ready, to be presented to the Minister on his next visit to Otago. Mr Henderson moved a ; vote of thanks’ to the ministers who attend, every Friday ■ morning to give Bible reading lessons! / Mr Brown seconded, “•jd urged' parents to influence their children to • attend thee© lessons. The chainnan’ agreed with /this, ( and said. the ministers had received but little encouragement in the attendance. 1 During th© evening gaps in the discussions were filled by putting records 0,1 the school’s now gramophone. ! i There ,wero fifteen . candidates for election, -all the old , committee being -nominated except Mr T.v Irwin. The election i resulted in the return of the eight old., members and Mr W. J; Rusten... to replace Mr Irwih. The ,riow committee are, in the order of voting: —Messrs W". Gibb, D. McNab, W. G. Hawkey, J \V. Coupland, W. Taylor, H. J. , Brewer, P. • Downward, "VV. J. Ruston and J. Shannon. The defeated candidates were Messrs R. Cairns, ‘A: Hyndman, ■ S.- Little, J. Phillips, A. F btruthers and'R. 8./IValker. /At the subsequent meeting, Mr Gibb was re-appoirited chairman, and Messrs ■Brewer, and Hawkey secretary and treasurer respectively: ' ■ ; • A littlei routine business was done, X?® 1^u « ln R the reading of a letter from i thA teat tho vacancy in the staff_ will he re-advertised; !conseit cannot bo filled uritil the Board meets again.’ P adS+A? M ° n x- ay in each month was adopted as meeting riight; the first meeting to be in June.

temuka.

- The annual meeting of householders Hi^ n 9eh t,O , n Wit] l TemukT District High School was .held evening, the chaii-man (Mr C.L. Fraser) pressing ©d E -+£ n<JldateS had ■ been noiriinat-, J? r . teo nine seats,* but 1 two inS dl +l. ateS their names/ leavwith an olecriom 11 and ldis^ in g The following are the names of the new committee!—C. L, Fraser, A. W. Buzan, J. R. Longston, A. E. Smith, L. G. Scrimshaw, .M. Swap, J. L. Butcher, J. Henry and Z. Kay. / Ihe_ annua! report seated , that the h a d i eld twelve meetings during the whole year, and the attendsmcGS had, been as follows;—Messrs. Fraser, - Buzan, Higginbotto’m . and, Lawry, 12; Smith, 11; Longston,; Clements ; and Scrimshaw, 10; Keys 9 ITie of Mr F. Saunders, the previous chairman, who retired, after 25 years’ work; on the Committee, were' recognjsed at a, social and presentation, ihe school sports, inaugurated by Mr.' Malcolm, _ were a great Success, and resulted in an increase of £6B to the school funds. As the result of a deputation, grejtt intprovemonts have been : made/in the public baths. During the ' ■winter • months hot cocoa was served to all the smaller children who desired it, and the thanks of the Committee were due to 3\lr W. F. Evans for his donation to .this .fund. Owing to the prevailing epidemic, the annual school picnic was abandoned. During October the lower department of the primary school was closed for a fortnight, owing .to an outbreak of measles. The question of an open-air classroom , for infants will be brought up for discussion at .the -householders’ meeting.. Under instructions from the Health Department, the school has been closed since the beginning of the year, but it jis hoped to re-open soon. The Coinrhittee’s best thanks are due to Mr Malcolm and his staff for the excellent manner in which the school work has been carried on.

The headmaster reported that 'the attendance for the year 1924 was:— Primary Department: Ayerage roll number, 395; average attendance, 362. High School: Ayer,age roll number," 34; average attendance, 33. Successes of examinations and in sports competitions were enumerated, and changes in the staff were noted. Class libraries had been established in the secondary department and in Standard VI. At a subsequent meeting of tho newlv-elecfied committee, on the motion >of Messrs Fraser and Kay, Mr A. R. Smith was appointed chairman, Mr Butcher secretary, and Mr C. L. Fraser treasurer. It was decided that the monthly meetings he held on the second Tuesday of oneh month. It was agreed that the visitors inspect and report as to the cost of building a bicycle shed for the use of High School pupils.

WAIMATE D.H.S. Tho annual liouseholdni's’ meeting of the AVaimate District High School was largely attended. Twelve nominations having been received fox* the nine seats on the Committee, a ballot was taken, and resulted in the election of tho following:—Mrs A. G. Pitt, and Messrs. AV. F. George, W. Reid, A., MacLnughlan, AV. AVilson. R. B. Hurst, Rev. J. D. AVilson, 1-1. Joliffe, and J. AV. Campbell. At a meeting of the new committee Mr R. B. Hurst was elected chairman. The financial year commenced with a credit balance of £74 16s fid, and closed with a credit of £66 15s fid. £25 was obtained by subsidy, and £ll7 nett was obtained by a^ very successful garden party, and tho* total funds lmndod by the Committee was £637 2s Id. The

tennis , court had been completed, and considerable seating accommodation provided in the school grounds; a* suitable entrance hpd been erected at a cost of £27, and two additional basket ball posts. A room had been renovated for the use of the teachers. During the past year, Mr J. Menzies, secretary ot the committee, passed away, and the committee have placed on record the appreciation of his long land faithful services to the school. At the beginning of April the newly appointed headmaster, Mr L. F. Pelger, U.A., took up his duties, filling the vacancy of the late Mr J. McLeod, B.A. Other changes on the staff were detailed. The primary roll of 591 at the beginning of the year, steadily increased to 607, while the ayerage attendance (omitting the fourth quarter on account of the measles epidemic) was 535. In the High School," the roll number gradually declined from 108, though not sufficiently to qause the year’s average to fall below 91, the minimum required for the present staff. Hie iiiSw roll number for 1925 is approximately 110. . Examination successes.—The full list of a very creditable year’s successes makes a record of which the staff and the pupils are ,rightly proud. Fortyseven certificates for long • distance swimming were won at the end of the 1923-24 season, and throughout the winter, the hoys in their football matches, arid the girls in their basket ball -matches, did especially well. 'Tennis has also received its share of support, in which connection the new school court will prove u boon. The senior football team, one of the strongest that has represented the school, won tho AVaimato Rugby Sub-Union’s competition, and tho seven-a-side junior tournament.' The team also annexed the medals by winning 'the third grade seven-a.-side tournament at limaru. A tour of North Canterbury w.as arranged for this team, which acquitted itself well, both on and off the field. GLEN-ITT. The /following committee was elected : Messrs G- Red'way (chairman), A. Jackson (secretary), G. i?urbon, O. Morse, and D. Pearce.^^^^^