THE SCHOOLS FROM WITHIN.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1144, 3 June 1911, Page 10

THE SCHOOLS FROM WITHIN.

NEWS AND NOTES. In no- fewer than sixty-five : districts in tho Auckland educational . district this year no school committees were elected. The school attendance at Martinborough is suffering severely at present on account of so many of tho children being absent with mumps, measles, and chicken-pox. At the monthly meeting of tho Uawke's Bay Education Board, - the Woodville School was reported as ' showing -tho highest rate'of attendance, 00 per cent., but one 'in' l the';' district for Hue :'.Marchquarter, wi Tv; ot :.i: :..".:-, :.,i, r. Reporting"3to.~t]i'o 'Napier-Slain-". School Committee at its last meeting, the visiting su'b-committeo stated that;thoir attcn-; tion had been drawn by the hcadmastoiv to a number of cases of petty pilfering in the school, small sums of money and other articles having been taken-from the teachers''desks and also from some of the children's. The chairman stated that pilfering went on in ) almqst,.every.,school. The Marlborough' -Education Board ..do-, cided the other day to'" supply the Picton School with a new.set of desks,'it being reported that tho. present desks have been carved about "in a terriblo manner." One of the. members said in regard to the carving on the desks that he had had a hand in it when a schoolboy, and lie would guarantee that they would lind the big letters "J.C." there somewhere. •i The new- school at Stratford will consist of seven classrooms,, accommodating sixty pupils in each, and tho heating will probably be by hot water radiators. Whether tho "building will be'of brick, concrete, or timber will depend upon the pepartmeiit's attitude re finance. ; The report of the, .Wellington Education Board's inspectors upon tho worki done at tho Featherstonf- School ■'■ during ' theyear is of ! a "highly nh'tufii. The reporValso. shows the-average attendance to have been-151, the number on the roll being 10b. Aft average'(ittendance of IGO will entitle the school to an extra teacher. ; " : A public meeting was held in tho local hall last week, to consider the proposal of thc'GlcirOroua School Committee with reference to a proposal to provido public baths in the'school grounds. The meeting unanimously decided to support the school committee's plan, as being the. best method of commemorating King George's Coronation. It was also agreed to back up the application of the school committee to tho Government for a subsidy towards tho cost of same. The Teachers' District Institute (Timaru) has adopted a remit for the annual conference, recommending that the annual meeting be held alternately in "Wellington and Christchurcli, on tho ground that the expense to delegates by meeting in the cities at tho ends .of tho country would be too. heavy. '.The', difference in fares works -out -as. follows £193; AVellington, ■£llG;..Dunedin ! .£173; Christchurcli,'• .£123. A back-blocks teacher in the Taranaki district applied to his hoard for a residence. In support of his application, he said he would get married at once if ho had a house, and he would be able to get on. a long nay better. Ho was unable to get in nearly the same amount of study as his fellow teachers. When he got homo at night, he had a verv rowdy house to study in. . . . "If 1 were married, 1 would have every comfort, and would have a far better chance to get on in every way." , The report of the inspector on the work of the Waipava School, read at the meeting of the committee this week, stated among other things that "the staff was well distributed and tho classes had made good progress; the registration was found to bo careful-and correct; the time-tables and schemes of work, were satisfactory; the order and discipline wero highly conlmcndable. A preliminary meeting of ladies is to bo held shortly to consider the matter of holding a fair for the raisin" of money to complete tho beautifying of tho school grounds. At tho meeting of the Itongotea School Committee, held on Monday, it was decided to make a special appeal to tho people locally to support the concert which takes place somewhere about the middle of .lime. The committee is determined to ma i "J ,ig c(Torl: to supplement the funds, the cause is a very good one, and it is hoped the countrysido will respond in a hearty manner. The headmaster's report was read, which showed the roll standing at 131, the averago attendance being 117. This is 90 per cent., which would be considered good under the old regime, but under the new Attendance Act it. should average at least !)-!■ r-cr cent. The truant inspector will, no doubt, nut tliii right on his fot'thramiiie: visit' Major M'Donald has authorised tho formation of a detachment of cadets under Lieutenant Hoslick. and application lias town made for uniforms, etc. Tho inspection report on the A'apicr Main School states that the maintenance of thp school in the highest slate of clliciency was the t'.osiro of the board, and the active co-operation of the committee was asked for in carrying out such recommendations contained in tho report as properly conio within' a committee's duties, such as the state of the grounds and buildings, the cleanliness of the rooms,. apparatus, and (iut-o([iccs. Tho report-stated that tho difficulty of. satisfactorily organising a school on such largo classes had been dealt with as well as circumstances would permit. The work Peemcd'to bo equitably distributed among tho members of tho stall'. Order and discipline and manners and behaviour of pupils in and out of the school wero highly satisfactory. The playground supervision was exercised by teachers in rotation, and was efficient in operation. Rooms and out-ofliees were clean and tidy, but tho interior of tho buildins badly needed paintinj,