PUKEKOHE HIGH SCHOOL.

Franklin Times, Volume 9, Issue 613, 4 March 1921, Page 5

PUKEKOHE HIGH SCHOOL.

RELATION TO GRAMMAR SCHOOL. * ALL BOYS SHOULD ATTEND. GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOARD CONCURS. From time to time since the establishment of a high school at Pukekohe, the question of refusing permission to boys to attend the Gramma) School when they were living nearer to Pukekohe, has been seriously considered. Several times the School Committee has made a move in the matter, but it was recognised that they could do little without the support of the Grammar School Board and the headmaster himself. Mr. Tibbs has used his discretion wisely and has done all in his power to discourage boys from leaving the High School to come to Auckland. Parents enrolling their sons often explain that it is essential to the future welfare of the boy that he be given the opportunity of having the increased teaching offered at the Grammar School to prepare him for the legal and medical profession. Knowing that the Pukekohe staff were greatly handicapped by the inadequate accommodaton and insufficient facilities for teaching science he felt it his duty to give way. But that time has passed. Pukekohe now possesses a Grammar School v/ith a technical side called a Technical High School. It has accommodation for 150 pupils. Mr. Massey endorsed the words of the chairman and board members that they needed the sympathy and support of the Grammar School Board in bringing the school to .the highest state of efficiency. Regulations clearly stated that pupils should attend the school nearest their homev There was a difference of views on this question when it was brought up at a meeting of the Grammar School Board last Thursday. Dr. E. Roberton said that, at one time, the Grammar School was the only secondary school in this part of New Zealand., He regarded it as a provincial school that should set the standard of learning for the Auckland Province and that the standard should always be maintained as high as it was at present. If the talents were to he drawn from Auckland alone this would be much more difficult. Brilliant boys from all around should, he thought, he permitted to attend. There could never be comparisons between a school with a staff of over thirty, many of them teachers’ specialists, and one with a staff of five or six. In the one case the classification of the pupils must be rough—a medium has to be drawn whereby the apt student is kept back and the backward one pushed on beyond his capacity. Dr. Roberton thought that the Auckland Grammar School should not be reduced to the status of a high school, but the high school should look to it as a leading light in matters of secondary education. Ambitious parents could and have overcome difficulties which have arisen from an attempt to enrol their children by shifting residence. There are at present 109 names on the roll at Pukekohe, five being from Papakura. Seven Papakura boys were attending the Grammar School at present and there were fourteen more from stations more remote, including a number from Pukekohe. That made 21 in all. It was further pointed cut that Papakura was 11 miles from Fukekohe and 20 miles from Auckland. Mr. Massey had made an arrangement with the Railway Department to run a service that was quite in keeping with the reciuirements of the pupils. There was no cause for complaint at the girls’ schools as they provided ample accommodation.

The Board decided to concur with the wishes of the Education Board that Pupils from Papakura and stations beyond should, except in cases where they have been attending the Grammar School, for some time, be 1 efused admission either as free nupils or as paying pupils. It was also decided to point out that in exceptional cases boys might be granted admission.