INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL

Evening Star, Issue 23685, 19 September 1940, Page 5

INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL

OFFICIAL OPENING CEREMONY DEVELOPING CHILDREN FOR FUTURE LIFE IMPORTANCE STRESSED BY MINISTER The parents and residents of the district present last night at the official opening ceremony of the Macandrew Intermediate School were not left in any doubt as to the value of the new type of education offered, for it was stressed by several of the speakers who took part in the proceedings. The opening speech was delivered by the Minister of .Education (the Hon. H. G. R. Mason), ami on the -platform with him were the mayor and mayoress (Mr and Mrs A. H. Allen), the principal of the school (Mr A. M‘R. Davidson), Mr James Wallace (chairman of the Otago Education Hoard) and members of the board. Mr H. Chapman (registrar of the University of Otago), Mr T. Morland (senior inspector of schools), and the permanent teaching staff of the school. Mr W. G. Leathley (chairman of the school committee) presided. The speeches were preceded by attractive little ceremonies in which Master Malcolm ADGregor, president of the School Council, thanked Air Mason for his attendance, and in which bouquets were presented to Mrs Mason and to Airs Wallace by Alisses Elsie Graham and Betty Bradley, pupils of the school. FOUR IMPORTANT POINTS. “ To-night is a particular cause for happiness and for congratulations all round,’ 1 said Air Alason. “ There is nothing but happiness in developing the sphere of education, and if the Government has not been able to meet the demands as fast as they arise there is happiness in the thought that the number of schools has been advanced to some extent. There is a need for intermediate schools in this country, and 1 hope, despite the difficult times through which wc are passing, that the building of intermediate schools has not come to an end,” said Mr Mason, prefacing remarks on the purposes of intermediate schools. One of the firfet purposes was the exploring of the talent of individual children in a way that was not possible at other schools. Intermediate children had usually turned 11 years of age, and from then on fgr tho next year or two it was possible to determine the aptitude of children about to face the world. The specialised teachers and the equipment available provided every opportunity for the development of individual tendencies.

The first school of the kind in New Zealand had been opened at Kowhai, Auckland,' in 1922, and there were now 19 such schools or intermediate departments attached to other schools throughout the country. One factor, said tlie speaker, had impeded the progress of t.Jie introduction of the new typo of school, and that had been the impossibility of introducing it without causing some disorganisation of the existing system. The drawing of children from .other primary schools naturally caused an element of dislocation for a brief period. Mr Alason stressed that he had a clear opinion on the subject of intermediate schools, and had no hesitation or doubt in saying they were an improvement to the educational system. “it is my desire,” he said', “ to push on with the institution of intermediate schools to the utmost of my capacity.” Intermediate schools permitted the children studying' any subject to be grouped according to .individual attributes. The less progressive children were not taught along with those showing undue brilliance, a method which inevitably resulted in some detriment to one or the other section.

i t was possible to - enrich the school curriculum. Such schools as the Macandrew Intermediate enabled Sipcciai teaching in subjects impossible at any other type of school. Music, drama, and arts and crafts were encouraged where in the ordinary school such teaching could be only rudimentary or impossible.

A fourth point, continued Mr Mason, was one of social benefits derived from association with other pupils of the same age. A bigger world made for more contacts and a sense of social responsibility must, be inculcated by the nature of those contacts. There was developed a mutual understanding and a tolerance which were the essence of democracy. “I can assure all parents,’ 1 Air Alason went on, ” that they have been wise in deciding to have an intermediate school. There can never be any doubt at all in comparing this type of school with the old type. We could wish for move, and 1 say let us hope there will be more.” Addressing the buys ami girls directly, Air Mason told them they should be very thankful, for what they had been given, which was so much more than their parents had. He warned them not to think only of themselves, or to long for that which they did not have. They would find no happiness in life if they adopted that attitude, or were ungrateful for what they were given. “ In Mr Davidson,” Mr Mason concluded, 11 you have one of the most progressive teachers in New Zealand, and you are fortunate in having him as your head master. The teaching staff has been selected because of each one’s special talents, and you have a very fine staff indeed.” INTERMEDIATE SCHOOLS NOT NEW. , The first speaker was the mayor, who extended a cordial welcome to Air and

Mrs Mason on behalf of the citizens. The Macau drew Intermediate School, he said, was a very line building indeed, an acquisition to a city richly endowed by the pioneers in educational facilities. The standard of education in Otago had always been maintained at a very high level, and in particular the name of the Otago University was held in high respect throughout the world. “ We have to thank the Minister for this very modern building, I ’* said Mr Leathlcy. Intermediate schools were not new ; they were established in all countries which gave genuine thought to the standing of the future adult. The expenditure on such schools had been justified by the amount of waste which previously existed in industry through children taking up occupations for which they were not suited. The intermediate schools to a large extent eliminated that danger, and provided the type of education most fitting to the child, mentally and temperamentally. No longer were children given an education not fitted to them.

EDUCATION BOARD’S ATTITUDE. “ It give me great pleasure, on behalf of the Education Board, to welcomes Mr Mason on his first visit to Dunedin as Minister of Education,” said Mr Wallace. Such visits were very welcome in that they provided a personal contact between the department and the local governing bodies. The Ministers had been good to Otago as a whole. There was a tendency to “ blow our own trumpets ” in regard to our educational merits, but, Mr Wallace contended, the province “ delivered the goods.” The first intermediate school in Otago (said Mr Wallace) was the Junior High School at Oamaru, opened in 1924, and linked with the Waitaki High School. The board had criticised the department’s methods in establishing the Oamaru school, but never at any time had it been opposed to intermediate schools. Mr Wallace then traced the history of the development of the Dunedin North Intermediate School, opened in February, 1934, and subsequently the course of activities as they applied to the Macandrow Intermediate School. The board considered the Macandrew area ideal, for an intermediate school to be successful must be situated in a wellpopulated district so that there could he no difficulty in drawing,from other schools. The site, too, was surrounded by excellent playing fields. The Government bad not been parsimonious in its grants for the new school building; it hud, in fact, been very generous. The school was as modern as the board’s architect could design, but it had also been designed economically, and there was no waste on ornamentation. 'There were 14 class rooms, a library, an assembly hull, a dental clinic, a home science block, and other quarters. The total cost hud been £38,000. In lire future, Mr Wallace said, it might bo possible to establish an intermediate school in the hill suburbs, but that would be the last in Dunedin. For an intermediate school to be successful a roll of at least 400 was necessary, and no other district could promise that. THE THEORIES OF ROUSSEAU. The,principle on which an intermediate school was founded was not novel, but was recognised by every educationist, said Mr Davidson. It had had its inception in the days of ancient Greece, when Socrates was propounding his doctrines and Plato setting a guide to child education. hi 1762 Jean Jacques Rousseau startled the world when he declared that the aim of education should be for life and that education should fit the child, and not the child fit the education system. That theory was long in being adopted, but since the Great War every book on education owed something to Rousseau’s genius. If democracy were to be perfect, Mr Davidson stated, children at school had to be taught along lines which would make them useful citizens. Every child should be proud of being a citizen of a democratic community. Where liberty of thought was permitted sure progress would be made. “If 1 can, with my staff, train children to become citizens of this fair Dominion, to be citizens of no mean Government, then 1 shall have carried out an ideal for which men in the past have been prepared to be martyred,” declared Mr Davidson. Up to the age of about 11 children were similar in most respects; it - was only after that age that there was any divergence. It was then that it became the duty of the teachers to develop latent abilities of aptitude in each child if he or she was to become a useful citizen. That was the substance of Rousseau’s teachings, who stressed that the varying stages through which a child passed on the road to becoming an adult should be recognised by educationists —recognised, respected, and catered for.

No intermediate school had done its dutv successfully, Mr Davidson continued. if it bad not assisted the parents in finding a vocation for tbe children on leaving school. Prior to the founding of intermediate schools in England and New Zealand large numbers of children on leaving school drifted into cul-de-sac employment. The prosperity of a country,' and to a certain extent the spiritual prosperity of citizens, depended materially on children finding their way into occupations for which they wore fitted. In discovering the aptitude of children intermediate schools, therefore, did a valuable service for the future good of society, and in particular for the good of the children. A brief dedication service was conducted by the Rev. G. M. Sullivan. Items were given by Mrs I. Harman, Mr L. Dunbar, and" Miss M. A. Bradstock The school choir and orchestra were also heard in two numbers. At the conclusion of the ceremony Mr Leathley presented Mr Wallace with a framed photograph of the school and its staff, following which a tour of inspection was made of the school rooms, class rooms, and other quarters.