Children Learn How it is Done

Manawatu Times, Volume 69, Issue 58, 11 March 1944, Page 3

Children Learn How it is Done

Putting into practice the modern idea of teaching children the workings of modern industry by practical experience, the Woodlands Road School children recently had two field days, both of which they thoroughly enjoyed, at the same time absorbing into their young and retentive minds a vivid impression of what machinery can do to help the farmer both produce and dispose of his milk. The first trjp was to the Woodvillo cheese factory where, the transformation of milk into cheese in the course of a few hours, was watched. They saw the whey run off from the curd. The cutting and turning of the curd until it was “milled,” and finally the process known as “hooping up” where the milled and salted curds are rapidly scooped into containers which are lined with cheese cloth and when full, are laid on their sides and “pressed” up to the proper size. The children took their own lunches and raspberry drink was supplied by a benevolent father. However, the pail of pasteurised milk that was made available received every attention. The next visit was to the Gorge lime works and every facility was made available to give the children an insight into how the rock was crushed into powder. They were then taken into the up-to-date" workshops where every piece of machinery was set in motion and made to perform its function for their edification, even to cutting and welding a piece of steel by aceytone. After being shown all there was to see, a workman produced a clothes brush and brushed the children ’s clothes, an act of courtesy that did not go unmarked. Both at the factory and the lime works the staffs and managers were most helpful and did everything possible to make the visit interesting, and for this they have the thanks of parents and the school committee.