DIOCESAN SCHOOL.

Waikato Times, Volume 102, Issue 17220, 1 October 1927, Page 11

DIOCESAN SCHOOL.

OPENING ARRANGEMENTS

PREMISES USED TEMPORARILY. MANAGING BOARD’S POLICY. After long negotiations, states the current issue of the Waikato Diocesan Magazine, the Board of Diocesan Schools has taken steps to ensure the opening of a school for girls after next Christmas vacation. The aim of the board from the first has been to secure a good piece of land within easy reach of Hamilton, and to erect there buildings for a large primary and secondary school for both day pupils and hoarders, in addition to having sufficient space for playing fields, tennis courts and other areas.

That is still the hope and intention of the hoard, but obviously it cannot materialise immediately,- and in the meantime there is the pressing demand for a girls’ school. Difficulties arose in deciding on the acquisition of temporary premises because there was no wish to conduct a school in an unsuitable building, and secondly a house or houses would be required to accommodate the staff and boarders, suitable premises not being easy to find and requiring extensive remodelling. Meanwhile Sonning School was parting with its headmistress at the end of the present year, and with the assurance of Miss Necker to open the school for them in 1928, the board decided to take a short lease of the premises at Sonning School. The buildings will undergo repairs, the paths will he thoroughly drained, electric light installed, and the diocese will be in possession next year with Miss Necker as headmistress. The tenancy at the old school will only be a makeshift, until the diocese has secured its own freehold property and built its own buildings on it, elsewhere. It will therefore now be possible for the board to open its own school in running order from the start, under a principal whose name inspires perfect confidence in its success. There will be opportunities later on for dealing with the financial side of the matter; for the present it is hoped the school in its temporary quarters will practically be able to pay its way. The board consists of the following gentlemen, under the chairmanship of the Bishop:—The Very Rev. the Dean, Yen. Archdeacon Cowic, Mr L. B. Gilfillan, Mr O. R. Farrcr, Mr A. B. Whyte, Mr 11. G. Sergei, Mr R. English, Mr J. I-I. Hammond, and the Rev. Canon Ilarvie (secretary). The Rev. Canon Strong is also a member, but distance prevents him from taking much active part in the deliberations of the hoard. The Board of Diocesan Schools, if is explained, is actually only a committee appointed by the Standing Committee; it will present a report to Synod and is acting as a board of management for schools until Synod chooses either to reappoint its members as a hoard or to make other arrangements.