PAEROA HIGH SCHOOL.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4505, 18 December 1922, Page 2

PAEROA HIGH SCHOOL.

SECONDARY DEPARTMENT. The annual report from Inspector 3 M.* McLeod, 8.A., and 'N. T. Lambourne, M.A., has been received, and it is gratifying to know that they express satisfaction at the way the work is being carried put in the secondary department of th© local District High School: >. The subjects taught are those, of the ordinary rural course. The girls take home science, cookery, and ; dressmaking, and the boys agriculture and woodwork. Candidates .are prepared for the Matriculation and Intermediate examinations’, and one has' just passed the Class D Teachers’ examination, group L - In connection with the teaching of science, Mr Hudson, instructure in agriculture, visits the school fortnightly and gives very valuable assistance and advice. Practical out-,, door .work is carried 'on in the school/ garden, while indoor experimental work is provided for in the science laboratory. The accommodation, however, is somewhat inadequate for the increased roll number, and the equipment is insufficient to enable the ' pupils tp work in pairs. The general improvement noted in last report has been continued this year. The roll number has increased, the attendance is' regular, the children are diligent .and well bejiaved, and the general level of attainment is higher. . The headmaster takes an active interest in all the school activities* < keeps in close touch with all the work, and does a fair share of , the teaching. His two assistants are most' zealous in their work, and their enthusiasm and example have been instrumental in producing a verjj, fine tone in their, classes. Thie inspectors state that s'ound progress is being made and that the school is serving a valuable purpose in the district. z In connection with the above the committee of the Paeroa Dis-, trict High Schoo 1 ) desires to secure \ the support not only of - parents bu< also of. all those interested in the. education of the ypunger generation, and to this end would point out that: (1) The ’qualifications necessary for a pupil to be admitted to a free place in the District High School; (2.) the. .. advantages to be gained by a secondary education. QUALIFICATIONS. A pupil is qualified to be a Junior Fr.ee. Pupil if: (1.) -He is the holder of a Junior National Scholarship, or of any other scholarship that the Minister may approve for the purpose, or if (2.) he has qualified tor a .free place, Jn the Junior, National. Scholarship tion by receiving a sufficient number of marks, or if (3.) being n-'t over fifteen years of ago on December 1 preceding the date of his admission to a free place, he has- obtained a Certificate of Proflciency. in Standard VI.; with the proviso that any pupil who by reason of age is no.t qualified for a firee place under., this paragraph (3) may be admitted to a free place in. a district high school within six months after obtaining a certificate of proficiency.

Such a Junior Free Place is tenable •, until, the pupil’s seventeenth birth.- . day, or for two years. At the corripletion of this period, on passing the Matriculation, Public Service Entrance, or Intermediate Examination, or on obtaining a.n Intermediate Certificate on the recommendation of the headmaster, ihe becomes entitled to a free education until his nineteenth birthday. Standard VI. pupils who are not quallifled fpr free places may be ad- 1 mitted on payment of a fee of ten shillings a quarter. ADVANTAGES. In strongly recommending in the interest of the children to take the fullest advantage of the privileges af- - forded by tihe country in the matter of education the committee draws attention to the following corisidera-’ tions: r 1. The day is how happily past ■when a Standard VI. education is considered a sufficient preparation for life-work. Secondary education is'. the key to the best positions in life foir both boys and girls. 2. The war has faugh*: us the much- - needed lesson that if a nation is to succeed in the, competition with others it must be thoroughly prepared, and the higher the standard of education the more possibility, there is for a state of thorough preparedness. ' „

3. All over the iworld the necessity of securing a higher standard of education than was formerly considered ; sufficient is recognised by all classes of society. The ideal is now no longer '• ''education for all and secondary education for, a few,” but “primary education for all and secondary education for all." We in New Zealand cannot afford to lag behind the rest of the world. j 4. The District High School’ aims at fitting boys and girls for life, nbt merely the narrow aim of “how tb earn a living,” but "how to live.” Mere industrial efficiency is not enough. Something fuller and richer is required in order to render oui; boys’, and girls industrially and socially efficient 5. There are also the utilitarian, advantages to be considered. Pupils are prepared for various public examinations, the Public Service Entrance at the end of two years, and the Matriculation and Clafes U* Teachers’ Examination at the end of three . or four years. A scholar who matriculates gets preferehce over others when entering the teaching profession. He is .also entitled to enter the : Training College or the University. Moreover, the passing ,bf examinations is not the sole aim. Boys are. taught agriculture, woodwork, and dairy, science, and girls home science, cookery, dressmaking, ahd laundry work. The committee looks with confidence for sympathy, co operation, arid support in this matter, and would re-. spectfully urge parents’ to send their sons or daughters to the high school when it ireopens in February next. Early application is advisable, , as .a. ' large number of pupils intend, to erirblin 1923.- t