A NEW SCHOOL TRADITION. FULFILLING A NEED.

Waikato Times, Volume 119, Issue 9817, 22 February 1936, Page 11

A NEW SCHOOL TRADITION.

FULFILLING A NEED.

OPENING OF ST. PETERS. FINE WORK BY CONTRACTORS. BEAUTY OF CHAPEL :: POWER AND WATER FACILITIES.

We strive to improve the heart and the mind—from the Latin motto over a school at Marquise.

BSHET IN A VERDANT, WOODED COUNTRYSIDE which, although * 12,000 miles from Britain, typifies England’s rural beauty, the St. Ah Peter’s preparatory school for boys was opened by the Minister of sSI Education, the Hon. P. Fraser, at Cambridge this afternoon. With the buildings designed on the most modern lines, the furnishings and appointments on a lavish scale and the extensive grounds laid out in accordance with most modern opinions, the school is modelled on the best of English and overseas principles. Already 40 of the 75 boys who will be accommodated at the school are in residence and it is anticipated that the lists will be full within a few months. Carrying out the suggestions of Mr. A. F. B. Broadhurst, who has financed the school, the architect, Mr. R. A. Lippincott, of Auckland, has planned the buildings on most up-to-date lines. The three main blocks which contain the dining hall, class rooms, gymnasium, pavilion and dormitories, are constructed in reinforced ferro-concrete, while the handsome chapel and the assistant masters’ residence are built in wood. The main blocks, the chapel, the garages and the swimming baths were erected by Messrs N. Cole, Limited, of Auckland, the assistant masters’ residence by Messrs Hargreaves Stapleton and Rolfe, of Hamilton, while the removal of the original Gwynnelands homestead to a new. site and the construction of the lodge at the entrance gates were carried out by Mr. G. Jack, of Hamilton. The tenders for the construction of the buildings were let in May and work was commenced in. the following month with the removal of the homestead from its original site to a point further back in the grounds. Weather conditions handicapped the laying of foundations but the work proceeded steadily and only the final touches remain to be put in hand. Extensive Building Scheme. Modern building practice has been followed in the erection of the buildings. The ferro-concrete, with its strong steel reinforcements, is regarded as earthquake resisting and the constructional methods have been designed to suit New Zealand conditions. The main block consists of three floors while the class-room and dining-hall blocks are single storey buildings. Both the assistant masters’ residence, divided into flats, and the original Gwynnelands homestead, which is also used in the accommodation of the staff, are wooden buildings of two floors. The complete building scheme is one of the most extensive applied in New Zealand for some years. Fine work has been performed by the contractors in completing the buildings for the use of the pupils this term, particularly as they were faced by repeated delays which handicapped the preliminary work on the foundations when the scheme was started last year. However, some interior work yet remains and it will be several months before the beautification of the extensive grounds can be completed. No expense has been spared in the provision of school facilities and a high pressure water supply and a power transforming plant are but two of the major schemes included in the project. A special main has been run from the Cambridge Borough water supply to serve the school while, in order to maintain sufficient load for the electrical plant in the laundry and kitchen, the school receives power at the Public Works’ rating of 11,000 volts, reducing it through its own transformers to the required voltage. The Chapel Organ. An air conditioning plant has been installed in the chapel which contains one of the largest pipe organs in the Auckland province. Built in England by Messrs Lawton and Osborne, the instrument was assembled and installed by the New Zealand branch of the firm. Designed on the pneumatic action system the instrument possesses three manuals—Swell, Great and Choir organs—offering the organist a wide range of stops for composition. No question need be raised as to the need for the school in New Zealand education. Its aim is essentially cultural and preparatory to the more academic training of the secondary and public school. Boys between the ages of eight and fourteen years are accepted and the opinion has been expressed in several quarters that, in addition to serving New Zealand requirements, it may have entrusted to it the preparatory school education of the children of British residents in the East. It has been pointed out that in countries such as Malaya and India the climatic conditions are unsuitable for children and, in preference to sending their young boys to school in England, some civil servants, soldiers, and Government administrators will show preference for the healthy and equable climate of New Zealand. However this is merely a supposition and of more importance is the duty which the school is fulfilling to the New Zealand community None can doubt its practical nature, its high ideals and its qualifications to apply them.

SCHOOL’S LIBERAL EDUCATION. DISTINGUISHED EXECUTIVE. [OTH THE POSSESSORS of high academic qualifications, proud achievements in sport and distinguished war service records, Mr A. F. B. Broadhurst and the Rev. J. M. Beaufort are peculiarly fitted to apply the ideals which inspired Mr Broadhurst to institute the school. Its establishment, he stated today, was inspired by its need and he considers that it fills a defined place in the New Zealand community. Set in a classical mould—but regarded as liberal in its scope by the founders—the curriculum is essentially cultural, and art and music are regarded as vitally important subjects. A. F. B. Broadhurst, Esq., M.A. (Oxon). Born at Ayr, in -Scotland, in 1890, Mr Broadhurst was educated at Winchester College and Christ Church, Oxford. Here he distinguished himself as a member of the college rowing crew. Graduating 8.A., he entered the family firm of Tootal, Broadhurst, -Lee, spinners, manufacturers and merchants, at Manchester, but when war was declared he enlisted with the Public School Corps, later serving with the Highland Light Infantry. He transferred to the Royal Air Force and, rising to the rank of captain, possessed a distinguished war record before demobilisation. He graduated M.A. and returned to his business interests in Manchester, where he was appointed a director of the firm. However, in 1924 his mind turned to education and, resigning his position, he entered the teaching profession. Mr Broadhurst spent eight years as an assistant master in some of the leading preparatory schools in England before embarking on a world tour which impressed him with the need for a school, modelled on English lines, in New Zealand. He developed the idea and last year after securing the services of Mr. Beaufort as joint headmaster, set the scheme in motion. Rev. J. M. Beaufort, M.A. (Dublin). Born in New Zealand but educated in Ireland at the St. Andrew’s College, Dublin, Mr Beaufort graduated M.A. of Trinity College, Dublin. The Great War interrupted his career, but after service from 1914-18 as a captain in the Royal Flying Corps he returned to England to study at Wells Theological College in Somerset. He was ordained deacon and priest by Bishop H. L. Paget in Chester Cathedral shortly after and worked in the Northenden parish, Manchester, between 1920 and 1922. He came to New Zealand as the first vicar of Hauraki Plains, his chargtf extending over a wide roadless area. In Auckland he served as chaplain to the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy and for three years fulfilled the offices of Chaplain at King’s College, Auckland. He succeeded to the headmastership of King’s School and for four years retained this position before leaving the Dominion on an extended tour of England an,d Australia, where he studied latest educational methods. He returned to assume his present position at St. Peter’s. Mr. H. C. Lusconjbe. The first assistant, Mr H. C. Luscombe, is well-known for the part he has played in musical circles in Auckland. Born in Dunedin he received his secondary school education at the Otago High School, the Christchurch Boys’ High (School and St. John’s Cojlege, Auckland, before proceeding to the Otago University College and the Auckland University College where he graduated B.A. in 1923. Mr Luscombe joined the staff of King’s College as an assistant master and nine years later he was appointed first assistant at King’s School. For three years in this position he played an important part in developing school music and was actively associated with the Auckland Municipal Choir and the Royal Auckland Choir. He also organised the Auckland secondary schools’ musical festival. At St. Peter’s he will be associated with Miss Leatham in the school’s musical training.

Mrs S. 0. Harris, of Patetonga, has been visiting her mother, Mrs S. A. Ferguson, of Motumaoho. Mrs W. Willis, of Devonport, Auckland, after visiting New Plymouth, has been the guest of Mrs Theo. Allen, of Ngahinapouri, and is now visiting Te Aroha. * * * * The Hamilton High School Old Girls’ Association will hold a Garden Party in the High School grounds next Saturday afternoon, the proceeds to be devoted to the Old Girls’ Scholarship Fund.