MEETINGS OF HOUSE HOLDERS

Hokitika Guardian, 24 April 1928, Page 1

MEETINGS OF HOUSE HOLDERS

AT HOKITIKA. The annual meeting of householders was held in the Town Hall last evening, Mr TV. J. Butler presiding over an attendance of about 7~> householders, the fair sex predominating. The minutes of last annual meeting were read and confirmed. AXXCAL REPORT.

In the absence of the Chairman, the Rev. TV. Hayward, who is unfortunately unable to attend on account of illness, f have to submit for your con sideratiun the following brief report oil the work of the committee for the past

Personnel.—The Committee elected at the annual meeting of householders held on 2nd May. 1927, was as follows: Rev. J. TV. Hayward. Messrs Conning, Cnuison. Clarke. Orr. Redder, Richards, Shannon, and .Sweney. At the inaugural meeting. Rev. ,f. TV. Hayward was elected chairman, Mr ■J. Conning honorary secretary, and Mr \V. F. Richards honorary treasurer. Meetings.—Twelve meetings were held during the year and the following attendances were recorded: Rev. Hayward. Messrs Conning, Richards. Redder, Coulson. Sweney, Clark, and Shannon R2. and Mr Orr 11. Fair.—'The annual fair held in Sep-

tember was a great success and provided the Committee with approximately CSO. which, with tlu- Government subsidy, lias enabled the committee to pur-

sue its progressive policy of ground improvement. In this connexion, the

Committee’s thanks are due to the teachers for organizing the fair, and to the parents and public for the very liberal response made to this annual appeal for funds. Ground Improvements.—The following important improvement have been effected during the year:— Several hundred loads of sand were carted on to the area in front of the school and a splendid playground made out of a veritable waste of swamp and rushes.

An area adjoining the monument pin was cleared, levelled, and sown in gras.which now gives the front of the sclion a very smart and pleasing appearance A rustic fence has been erected along Doth sides of the main entrance. This adds very considerably to the appearance of the entrance, and at the same time affords protection to the ornamental plots adjoining the pathway. The ground round the school buildings has been tar-sealed and has now a very tidy appearance.

The tenuis court was netted in and a quantity of cricket material has been purchased for the senior hoys’ club. A number of hooks have been added to the class libraries and more will lie added from time to time as funds permit.

Til addition to the above, a good deal of minor maintenance work has been done in the playing areas, which, wo venture to say, are now in better order than they ever have been before. Excursion.—The annual excursion was held on 29th February, the venue being Oreymnuth. The arrangements were made through the Oreymnuth Jubilee Committee and were not satisfactory from our point of view. The picnic was very well patronised and the outing on the whole was an enjoyable

Dental Clinic.- At the end n! 192,

Miss Cox resigned, and her place lias been filled by Mr L. G. Konhy. B.D.S. TVe regret that owing to the lack of support from other schools in the district the maintenance costs of the clinic fall entirely on this committee. As tliis tends to he a serious drain on car resources, financial assistance Irom the other schools enjoying the service if the clinic is urgently needed. Staff.—'There have been several linages in the staff which will he reerred to in the Rector’s report. TT e should like, however, to make special eferencc to the loss sustained by the icliool in Miss Wallace's resignation,

M(1 to express our appreciation of her

viiluuhle services both us n class teuelier. and ns a lender in the outside work of the senior girls. Finance.—lt will lie noted Irom the statement of accounts that wo close

the year with a debit balance ol £2 (Is ft<l. This, considering the large amount of work carried out by the Committee during the year is most satislactory. The Committee commenced the'year with a credit balance of £7 Is sd. Thanks.—The Committee desire to express their thanks to the Hector and staff for their faithful work done dur- , ing the year. The examination results were most satisfactory and compare verv favourably with larger centres. Progress.—lt is earnestly desired by this committee that their successors will carry out the progressive policy started by them at the school. The work is quite apparent to all who pass the school grounds, and tends to inculcate the virtue of tidiness with the pupils. . The report was received. rPI. _ in IIP

The Chairman moved that regret bo xpressed at the inability of the Rev. f. AY. Hayward to continue his seriees.—Seconded by Mr Shannon and nrried. RECTOR'S 'REPORT.

I have pleasure in submitting the allowing report on the work of the chod for the past year, which has teen a very .successful one from all mints of view.

health. Cene rally speaking, the health of tin* scholars has been good, and wo b i- ■ nnrtely escaped the epidemics of measles, nut nips and influenza that nc-'T•.•sitated closing the mhon's In some -thcr districts. As sound physique and good health are esential to the suec v s of school work., parents are urged to give due rare to the physical requirements of their children. o-,pec-ia.'lv in regard to diet, sleep and dress. In many cases children are allowed to remain up late at night attending pictures and other forms of entertainment. This is a most injurious pi notice which is not only bad for the children’s health, but also, as a natural corollary, causes marked retardation in school work. To be fit for a day’s school work every child must have plenty of sleep. In connection with the pupils’ health l would again urge parents to give effect to my previous recommendation with regard to dre-s. The school uniform has been highly commended by both medical officers and physical drill instructors in being correct from the points of view of freedom ot movement, warmth and comfort. 11l ■'ddition to possessing these undoubted merits from a health point of vie"', ‘lie school uniform is serviceable, inexpensive and .smart, and its adoption does a great deal towards breaking down the tendency among some parents to overdress their children to the disadvantage of others—a tendency that is altogether to be deprecated. There has beep a slight decrease ip

the primary school attendance, due apparently to economic conditions; and we have had difficulty in retaining our present staffing. Parents are again reminded that staffing depends oji average attendance, and are therefore urged to send their children to school regularly. It would seem hardly necessary to point out that regular attendance is absolutely essential to the pupils’ steady progress and yet it i.s a fact that a few parents still fulfill their obligations only at the behest, of tlie Truancy Officer. Fortunately these are in a very small minoritv.

The attendance in the Secondary Department has increased considerably and last year a third assistant war

reappointed, A further increase this year has brought our roll up to 97 •be highest in the history of the - herd—and has temporarily increased our staff to four assistants. Whether we retain our Ith. assistant will depend on the average attendance, and 1 would ask parents to help in this direction by a'.llowing their children to attend regularly right to the end oil the' year unless of course they have some desirable permanent, omploymeid in go to. ATTENDANCES. Primary roll 1927 : 291-810, average -T9; 11)28. 287. prose,, I 299. Secondary- roll, 1927: 81-81, average 88: 1928, 93. present 97. Miss Reid’s temporary appointment lias been made permanent. Mr Reid has been appointed temporarily as 4th. assistant. Mi'.s Hell left ill April of last year on promotion to Ku.nm.ru, and returned Cl Miss Wallace’s position at the beginning of the year. Tli-s M. Goad succeeded Miss Bell till the end of the year. Al.iss Kennedy -succeeded Miss Goad as probationary assistant for this year. Miss Bruce was transferred on account of reduced attendance, but was later transferred hack temporarily. She has (since accepted an appointment I elsewhere and leaves at the end of this month. Miss R. E. Anderson, probationer, was transferred from Colidon in .July

and resigned at the end of the young Miss Thompson and Mbs Vcale. probationers. Telt at the beginning of this year for the training college and were succeeded bv Miss M. 0. Cox and Miss AT. TV. Irwin. At the beginning of this year Miss Wallace resigned, and her withdrawal Irom the staff was a distinct loss to the school. Miss 1 Wallace was a conscientious and capable teacher who did fine work, not only jn the class-room, hot also in the playground as girls’ sports mistress. LXAMIXATIOXS AND SCHOOL WORK The Commercial course instituted last year lias proved popular and successful, and the school now provides full courses in lioth professional and (ommercial branches. While it is jk>ssihle to over-estimate the value of examination results as an index to n school’s work, it may fairly he claim- I ’d that the following successes are an I indication that a high sta.ndard of effi- I

rienev is being maintained: *’D”: 2 F. 1,. Thompson and I. G. Vcale. Partial ”D ’ : I—-R. K. Anderson. Two groups. “D” : 1- M. O. Cox. Matriculation : I Rack. Thiele, Blank. M. Wild. Accountancy. Preliminary: 1 partial pass—R. King. Public Service: •! J. Vcale. C. Newman. F. Thomson. C. Wilson. L. Leslie. Junior National Scholarship—A lull Shannon. Proficiency. 20; Competency, fi. OEEfCTAL VISITS. During the year the usual inspection visits were made by the Inspector cl Schools, Mr S. J. Irwin; secondary inspector. Mr TV. Caradus; hv the school medical officer and nurse, and the physical drill instructors. The ro--1 torts of all of these officials were onlirely satisfactory, that of Air Irwin on the school's efficiency being highly commendatory. SCHOLARSHIPS.

At my request the High Kcliooj Hoard has agreed to award two scholarships of £2O a year, tenable for two years, to country pupils attending the High School. The holders for 1028-9 are: C. Linklater (Waitaha) and C. Jamieson (Koitornngi), while a special scholarship of £lO a. year for two years has loon awarded to Rita Thiele (Rossi. LIBRARY. Additions have been made to the class libraries during the year, and more hooks will lie added as donations

The second annual athletic sports meeting was held on the Square last in: >nth and was entirely (successful, competition being keen throughout the whole of a long and comprehensive programme. Y.H. LEAdI'E AND CHRISTIAN UNION. Under the able direction of Miss Lynn and Miss Reid, Afiss ’Wallace and M iss llell. tbo sHiool branches of the Christian Union and the Young Helpers’ League have done good work in an unobtrusive way throughout the

thanks. f wish to convey to the members of the staff my sincere thanks for their loyal and conscientious assistance (luring the past year, to the committee for their valuable - help in all matters pertaining to the school’s wcllnre. Any suggestions made to them frf- the benefit of the school, either outside r.y in me ehis--rooms, have received favourable consideration, and the relations between the staff and ; ommittee have horn most cordial : and finally

to the parents for the co-operation they have given the teaching staff in their efforts on behalf of tlie children. In conclusion 1 would appeal to the oarents tor a continuance of their cordial support and co-operation without which it is impossible to reach and maintain that high sta'udard of efficiency that we set before ms as our goal. The report was .received with applause. ELECTION OF COMMITTEE. There were ten nominations received md a ballot resulted as follows, the irst nine being declared elected : J. Conning do A. C. Armstrong ... do \Y. H. Shannon b! \Y. E. Richards ... C>3 J. Coulson (it H. W. R. Sweney ... oS Airs J. 11. Wilson ... oG Mrs Carnet Perry ... oJ R. J. Pedder 4fl

F. Orr 37 A vote of thanks to the scrutineers Airs Linklater. Miss Wilson, and .Messrs Ballinger and Benjamin) and a similar vote to the Chairman terminated the meeting. NEW COMMITTEE. The new Committee then met, there being present—Mr? Wilson, Messrs

I Shannon, Richards, Coulson. Sweney, I Redder, and Conning. J Alt At unstrung was elected Chairman, Air Conning secretary, and Air Richards I treasurer. I Mr Richards, acting-Chairman, extended a welcome to Mrs Wilson and I also to Airs Perry. T otes of thanks for past services were pasesd to Rev. Hayward. Messrs [ Clarke and Orr. The first .Mondays in each month at i p.m. was fixed for meeting night. The Rector reported verbally on several matters, stating the term holidays would commence on .May 41li and there would lie a presentation of swiinmine certificates and honours cards at tin school at 1 .-10 p.m. on the Friday pro vious. Mrs T\ ilson and Air Shannon were appointed visitors lor the month, next meeting to lie in June. A number of small matters were authorised, including some necessaries for the clinic and the caretaker's rcsi deuce. The meeting then terminated at 9.8 p.m.

AT AIATA IX LI. , I The following were elected a S; boo Committee—Messrs T. Mcßride (Chair . I man), TV. Smith (Secretary). T. Xolnn, [ J. O'Connor, and G. Xisson. AT UPPER KOKATAHI. At Upper Kokatahi, the old CommitI tee were re-elected as follow :—R. Jones I (Chairman), D. Smith <, Secretary... T. I Ecclesfield. J. Fleming, and D. Weir. AT LOWER KOKATAHI. The following Committee were rcI elected :—Messrs J. Think (Chairman I and Secretary), X. Harris, F. AmbcrI ger, TV. Diedrieh and C. Marshall. AT KAXIERI. The following were elected for the year:—Messrs F. TV. Selby ('Chairman j and Sercetary’i, T. R. Chesterman. E. I Hownt, A. Elcock, and R. Drummond. AT GREYAIOUTH. I Tlie following officers were elected for the ensuing year:—Chairman. Air I Walter Scott; Secretary and Treasurer. I Air H. Herring; Committee: .Messrs R. Barrowmnn, J. Tennent, R. ,J. TT'ilI liatns, A. J. Fail-maid, and G. Herring. AT WOODSTOCK. The following Committee were elected:—Alessrs F. T. Stoop (Chairman). R. C. Wells (Secretary), E. J. Wells, I J. Corsatt and A. (lodgers. AT AE AH UR A. There wore six nominated and a ballot resulted as follows:—H. Finch 14, A. Richards It, A. Bradley 12, E. Dove 12, J. Finch 12, Airs Douglas 12. The Chairman (Air A. Richards) gave his casting vote in favour of the old Committee and declared the first five elected.