HOME AND SCHOOL

Chronicle (Levin), 8 July 1947, Page 2

HOME AND SCHOOL

— — OTAKI ASSOCIATION'S JULY MEETING " ' : At the monthly jneeting of the Home and Schooi Association, Mr.' W. A." Calwell presided in the, absence of Mr. Bills, and tb an | enthusiastic gathering Mr. L. Hunt, sernior child welfare officer of Palmerston North, spoke on his work in the interesis of education. The business of the evening was quickly disposed of, the hoscesses for the August meeting being Mesdames Ross, Cross, Bills,' Grant and Misses Cooper and Swabey. The next meeting will take the form of a "Questionnaire," it being suggested that parents rnd others hand questions dealing with schooi matters to the secretary, Mr. Tqwnrow, by the Tuesday prior to the meeting. The. secretary announced that the finances were in a healthy condition. . The headmaster (Mr. J. E. James) urged parents to label their childreh's garments, etc., stating that many unclaimed articles were still in the storeroom. ' Mr. Calwell. in iniroducing the speaker for the evening, remarked that Mr. Htmt was not altogether unknown in Otaki, where his official business, brought him occasionally. There was good co-opera--tion between his depar ment and that of the Welfare Department, due largely to Mr. Hunt's kindly and cour'eous manner of approach to some diflicult problems. Mr. Hunt, in rjsing to speak. was accorded an ovation, and said he was particularly interested in Home and Schooi Associations, he being secretary of the College S reet schooi body, which was a live and important association. There was no parent body in New Zealand as yet, but the time was coining when the united efforts of these gatherings would do rnuch to bring about a lieison between home and schooi to the benefit of the children. He i'nstanced the differences between children of an individual family, and showed how it was absolutely necessary for ':h.e teacher to have the child explained when he or she started schooi, He urged the parents to make it their du y to find out how and by whom their children were being taught, and then they would be satisfied to leave their children in the hands of the teachers, co-opera;ing with them wh&never possible. Regarding his own work, he described the types of children he was concerned with, and in an ^ddress las^ing -ovfer an hour kept the audience both interes ed and instructed. In tracing the welfare ;work in New Zealand from its ineeption, Mr. Hunt stafed that in [no other country was this wcrk as far advanced as here, and although some countries had rtifferent systems, it was no' noticeable that these were any better than that used in ihis countrv. The welfare of the child was studied at all times. and it ofi:e:n meant long hours of work under diffieult and >rying conditions to unravel a child's lapse, but to have an 80 to 90 per cent.' success in rehabili':ating these children was no ■ mean accomplishment. Mr. Hunt paid a tribute +o the police, the headmasters of the district schools and the honorary offlcers attached to his departm'nt and the clergy who assisted in his work. One particularly interesting item of the address was that of Ihe help given orphaned ch'ldren in their education, it being menqon^d that when a boy showed promise up to vuniversi' y education was provided by the State. Many sucoessful business and professional men owed their success to the assistance given by his department. A hearty vo:e of thanks was moved by Canon H. E. K. Fry, who said that he was voicing the opininp of the meeting when he said vhat Mr. Hunt's address' had been hr,J'h h-lnfnl and delio-htfullv giypn The associa ion appreciated the yisi'or'S interest in this work in 4ie schooi, rnd Ca nr n Fry cah^d tt: a vofe qf acclamatim, which vas P"th'isi'%sticary givr*--. A r'elightful supper was srrved by the hos'esses, Mesdames Herbert. Bartholomew, Walsh, Tliorpe ^nd Misses Cockerell and .Lochore during which prrents and teachers '■alked over schooi matters.