HAMILTON WEST SCHOOL

Waikato Argus, Volume XXXV, Issue 5507, 13 January 1914, Page 4

HAMILTON WEST SCHOOL

THE INFANT DEPARTMENT. After many months of weary waiting and persistent agitation, the efforts of the Hamilton West School Committee to secure adequate accommodation for the ever-increasing number of pupils are about to be crowned with success, for with the resumption of duties after the summer vacation it is confidently anticipated that all the scholars will assemble, if not exactly under one root, at least upon one section, and to all intents and purposes the headmaster will be enabled to keep his little charges under his personal supervision without having to undertake considerable walking exercise at frequent intervals, and. at the same time, contend wiih the great disability of working a school with branches at either end of the town. How long this happy state of affairs will continue remains to be seen, for the interval that has elapsed since the committee first asked for the additions has been bo long, and the rate of increase in the number of pupils has been so rapid, that it is quite possible that ere many months have elapsed the Hamilton West school authorities will be forced to again agitate for "more room." It is not wise, however, to attempt to cross the bridge until one reaches it, and there is considerable satisfaction in the knowledge that if the committee have waited long they have at least got something worth waiting for, for the new infant department which is now rapidly approaching completion is a fine sub-stantial-looking edifice, and if, as is stated, it is to form the nucleus of an entirely new block to be erected as circumstances demand, the sooner the first is taken away that the second may be established, the better it will be, both from an architectural and hygienic standpoint. The building, which is erected on the north-east corner of the school grounds, in close proximity to the schoolmaster's house, is an imposing structure in brick, plastered with coloured cement, the gables being in rough east. It comprises three rooms, the smallest of which is 24ft by 2(ift, the others being 24ft by 30ft. The entrance doors face the south, being on either side of the smallest class room, and each door opens into a corridor 2-lft by 12ft, while a 6ft passage runs from east to west, completely separating the front class-room from the two larger ones. Every attention has been given to the important matters of lighting, ventilation and heating; the ceiling and walls are of asbestos, with a dado of varnished heart of rimu, of which timber all the inside fittings are to be made. A feature of the building which will be greatly appreciated by the youngsters is a couple of sheds, each 30ft by 24ft, underneath the structure, which are to be utilised as rainy-day play-sheds, while the grounds are all to be asphalted and the sanitary arrangements of the school are to be considerably improved In the course of a brief conversation, the contractor, Mr VV. M. Henderson, of Frankton, informed our representative that though much remained to be done he was confident that the building would be ready for occupation by the date fixed for the resumption of school duties—2nd February. ' 'The motto of the school, 'Always our best,' is evidently your motto also," remarked our representative as he withdrew—a sentiment in which Mr Henderson acquiesced after taking a rapid glance round and faking a mental note of what he and his men had to negotiate in the next three weeks.