EDUCATION BOARD.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6231, 14 September 1898, Page 2

EDUCATION BOARD.

A meeting of the- Education Board of > North Canterbury -was held at the Normal • School offices this morning ; present — Messrs ? A. Saunders (chairman), T. S. Weston, C. A. 5 C. Hardy, J. Munnings, D. Buddo, J. 5 Rennie, M. Dalziel, H. W. Peryman and T. , W. Adams. f " ■■ interview. j Mr Coleman, from North Kowai, near Amber-ley, interviewed the Board on the subject of the old school, and asked that. the *■ Board should give the. ground to the. residents as a Sunday school site. The land in question had been set apart by the Superin- } " tenderit of the" Canterbury Province for edii— j cational purposes in 1858. The site in quest tionhad been occupied rent free for the last , two years. The Chairman pointed out tha£ by the I agreement the Board would have to give six • months' notice to the present occupier. 3 Mr Coleman thanked the Board and withr drew. I REPORT OP BUILDINGS* COMMITTEE. t The report. of the Buildings' Committee, i which dealt with several minor improvements ' affecting town and country schools, was i read, and, on the motion of Mi* Peryman* ' seconded by Mr Adams, the report was 1 adopted. REPORT OF APPOINTMENTS' COMMITTEE. The Appointment*' Committee recommended Miss M. Pratt as mistress of the i Doyleston school, and reported that the resig- ■ nations of Mrs Satchell, mistress at Lyndhurst (since appointed to Burnham), Mr E: H. Brown, master ab South Malyern, ancf Miss Maginness, first assistant mistress at Sydenham, had been received and accepted. The Flaxton School Committee forwarded? its resignation, as a protest against the Board's refusal 1 , to hold an enquiry into thecomplaints made by its Chairman against the master of the main school. It was resolved to recommend* the Board to call for a fresh election. Examination reports were received from Mr Wood on the schools at Oxford East and Oxford West ; from Dr Anderson on Killinchy, Irwell, Waikuku, Wnodend and Saltwater Creek ; and from Mr Ritchie on Brookside, Rakaia Little, Sedgemere and Lakeside ; and from Mr Wood and Dr Anderson jointly on the Lyttelton and Lyttelton West schools; from Mr Wood on' Southbridge ; and from MkRitchie on Belfast (main and side). Tar Tapu, Springston and Springston South. The report was adopted. Mr Buddo said that some little time ago" tjie question of School Committees' banking accounts had been relegated to the Buildings: Committee. A .recommendation had been made by that committee that the Savings' Banks should be utilised for- this purpose, but it had been found that this course-would-be illegal, and that School Committees must qpevate on their banking account by cheque, as was the' case with the Board's account. Considerable inconvenience had been caused by the fact that the cheques for school teachers' salaries, etc., were being paid through tlie School Committees. He would 1 move — " That the question of bank charges for keeuing School Committees' accounts be" referred to the Buildings Committee, to report to the Board as to whether the Board's' financial arrangements can be adjusted so if* to give School Committees the convenience of local banks free of book-keeping charges." Mr Hardy seconded the motion. . The Chairman said that 124 of the committees had the account of the Board at the Bank of Australasia at their convenience. The Bank of Australasia had done-this without extra charge, and he thought) the demands made by the Bank of New Zealand were unL reasonable. Mr Hardy pointed out that no bank had been mentioned. The motion was carried, and a letter from the Rangiora School Committee upon thesame subject was also referred to the Buildings Committee. CORRESPONDENCE. A letter was read from the Secretary of the Department of Education intimating: that in regard to the proposed technical sch<vol at Amberley the Department wasunable to make any pi-ant for technical schools, and asking for further particulars. A circular from the Taranaki Education; Board, defining a school attendance, was read. The letter said that as neither the Education Act of 18// and related Acts, nor regulations made under them defined "an« attendance," uniformity was desirable, and-. the present circular -was forwarded with a, view to the attainment of that object. The circular pointed out that the English Act of 1897 defined " attendance " as attendance at secular instruction (a) during one hour and a half in the case of infants, and (b) during two hours in the case of older children. The circular nirlS-ocnted the adoption," of a similar definition in New Zealand. The circular was received. The Board then went into committee ft\ consider the supplementary report of the Appointments Committee and other matters, and on resuming the proceedings terminated.