ROTORUA HIGH SCHOOL ACTIVITIES

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5278, 13 December 1946, Page 2

ROTORUA HIGH SCHOOL ACTIVITIES

HEA'DMAStlER'S REPORT ] AGCOMMODATIOiN AN INCREASING PROBLBM. ; • ,t ' ■ ; , ? ; At present, the sixth form totals 16 out of a roll of 390; 10 years ago, wjth a roll of 175; the sixth- ftirm totalled 20. This. year only 21 pupils who had completed three years' secondary education returned to school, or approximately five ,per cent. This is in sharp contrast with the Dominion average of approximately 16 per cent. of the roll made up of pupils in their 4th* or 5th year, states Mr. W'. G. Harwood, the hfeadmaster, in his ann:ual report of the Rotorua High Sehool. i , i As a result, the school is short in senior pupils from whom are drawn prefects and deputy prefects. At the: same time, too, must be stressed the fact that the education of many Rotorua boys and girls stops short of the p'oint reached by their contemporaries in other schools. Parents, I f eel, should consider this point. As th'e result of the increased secondary roll, the school became entitled to additional staff. The school, however, remained s!hort-staf?ed i^ntil Jone. The roll- of the intermediate department fell to 175 at the beginning of year,, necessitating a reduction of sta'ffing by one. Roll and Attendance. The roll on reopening was 390 secondary and 175 intermediate pupils. and at the end of the year, 320 and 173 respectively, a fall of 19 'per "cent. in the secondary „roll during the year. If those leaving, ftve had completed at least three years of secondary education, 22 less than three years, 32 less than two years, and 35 left in their first year. A disquieting feature is the number who left virtually on their 15th birthday, practically all of whom completed less than one year of postprimary education. I feel very strongly that pupils should: be compelled to continue attendance at school uriti! the end of the year in which they reach their 15th birthday. In some of the cases pupils spent less than orie term in the secondary department. . As siokness is the only adequate reason for ahsence, parents should realise that one day's absence means the loss of more than one day's work; and that the work so missed may be very important to the pupil's progress. While oreco^nisin'g the diflfcultiies of shopping, I would ask parents not to keep pupils away from school to mind the baby or run messages. In really urgent cases, arrangements can be made to allow the pupil to leave early. There have been one or. two cases of pupils under '15 failing to attend regularly. The Act provides for such offences, but the time lapse between* offence and prosecutibn is so gredt that the pupil can lose a very great period- of schoolmg. I should like to see authority to lodge infor mation placed in the hands of the principal, instead of the iboard, as at presenji;. |Nbw CurritCi^jumj. The new curriculum came into full operation this year, and on the whole has worked smoothly, although the transition was not easy for fourtftyear pupils. f)he njew curridulum has in no way lessened the variety oi courses available — rather the revergc — -permitting a greater variety oi grouping within a course. There cqn be 23 different groupings within the general course. The distribution of pupils over the industrial, home, commercial and general courses, in order, is shoWn below : — ■First year, 47, 28; 18, 76; second year, 40, 8, 12, 53; third year, 9, 8 8, 45; fourth year, 3, 3, 0; 27; totals. 99, 47, 38, 201. It is noticeable that comparatively few pupils remain in the vocational courses after the second year. Fi^ll teaching strength can be provided for ithe first two years of the vocational courses; after that th'e numbers decrease so rapidly during the third yebr that the position may exist as it did towards the end of 1-946, that the whole of the fifth form vocational pupils total 11, representing a loss df 20 pupils duri&g the year. These 11 pupils at times have four teacher s among them. Such an expenditure pf teaching strength is not justified aiid cahnot continue. On the subject side, the two chief developments have been in music to , all classes and the improvement in physical education. During barracks weelc, a party of physical education . instructors, both men and womep, from the -Education Department gave this work an excellent start and regular visits df instructors have been of great value. Some 40 Mao-ri pupils are receiving a sound training along classical lines in the acquisition of thejr own language. ■ Accomodation still remains a problem. Four prefabricated classrooms are promised for 1947, but even with these, the total number of classrooms will only be 18, and the number df ciasses 22. The -specialist rooms, such as library, science laboratories, art ro om and techhical rooms,* h'elp to meet the position, but there seems little do-uibt that cloakyooms will again have. to be used as classrooms. Staff accohimodation also is totally inadfequate.- My own oificfe accommodatipn is just as inadequate. The Only satisf actofy solution would be to cofivert three classrooibs into office and staffrooms; but there are lione to spare. Grounds Commented On. » The grounds rbflect -the greate'st credit on ihe two grdtihdsniefi, and visitors iiever fail to remark on the beauty and order of the school's envixtons, but no fertiliiser has been available for six years, and weed ihfiltration -is increasing. During the year, 130 pupils wete regularly conveyed to school by N.Z.R. Road Services buses. Some pupils travelled 50 miles a day. In generdl, the- services were very satisfactory. In the case of services from Horo-

horo; Ohere, Mourea,' where pupils are set dowii in towii, too much time is lost, and occasionally pupils fail to find their %vay to school. The, annual barracks were held in February. A most suceessful training year followed, in which the battalion reached a high standard: of efficiency, and of which the development of N.C.O. potential was a feature. The battalion supplied the Royal Guard on the occasio-n of the .visit of the-Governor-tGeneral, Sir Bernard Freytidrg, V.C., ahd Lady FfeyBerg to Rotorua. His Excellency was graciously -pleased to comment oh the stdn-* dard df the guatd. All pupils, unless medically debarred, take part in organised games 3uch as criclcet, tennis, softball, foptball, basketball, and this year we were able to resume the full range of interschool fixtures. The basketball teams had a very suceessful season, arid the , tennis team was beaten by a more eapable and experi'enced sijde from Takapuna Grammar. The first XV improved rapidly dur- . ihg the season to win the end-of-season fixtures against- Hamilton' Technical, Au-qldairtd . Grammar- and Takapuna Grammar Schools. The ;ricket XI, in its fixture with Takapuna Grammar, held its opponents-to 1 draw with good cricket. • Swimming iiistruction early in the first terni paved tKe way for a very suceessful swimming .sports, «in which , four records were brokeh. -The same might have happehed in the athleti-c sports but for the weather. , Lack of Iiiterest in, iSport. In spite of the facilities provided,4 both in equipment-and coaches, far too few pupils. take a really actiye interest in the sports of the school. I realise. that bus travel debars quite a number, but there are still far too cew who seek, special coaching in ?amjes. Nor is the attendance at interschool games all it should be. ■ For too many pupils school life is mtirely in the classroom and d-uring school hours. Activities carried on ifter school are reluctantly supported sxcept by an enthusiastic few, and ittendance at inter-school fixtures 1 on 1 -Saturday is poor. • If this attitude persists into adult ife, tbe outlook for community acti- - rity is not encouraging. This tendeney las been noted in almost every secmdary sehool, and is in sharp contrast 0 the loyal and. sometim-es partial mpport of pre-war years. Parents *an do much in this matter; indeed, vithout their co-operation aTnd eximple, little can be done. Duriilg the year approximately 500 rnoks were added to the librai-y, vhich now houses 7000 volumes. Unortunately the space available is -now 00 small and extensions are urgently "equired. A central library with two ■.ttached reading rooms is necessary. Evening classes have been carried n in dressmaking, applied art, plumb"ng, electrie wiring, motor mechanics, arpentry and .engineering, representng a total of 40 hours a week. The •lasses were attended by a number f ex-servicemen holding rehabilitaion bursaries, During the year the school raised ' pproximately £250 towards the War Memorial A^sem-bly Hall,. making the otal in hand approximately £2900. The annua.1 fair, held «on November 10, raised about £170. With increasng numbers, the need for an assembly lall becomes even more urgent. Old Pupils' Association. With the return of old pupils from iverseas, the association has been .reatly strengthened. Unfortunately, he membership, - of pupils who have . 'ecently left school is not as large as t should be, and the association has )een carried largely on the shoulders >f pupils of pre-war days. I would apleal to the younger old pupils and to hose now leaving school to give ac>ive and personal .support to the association an-d . Rs - associated clubs. Much is expected of the association ';owards the assembly hall, and every )ld pupil has a contributiop to make. The school will complete 21 years ff existence at the end of. 1947. Spe'ial' efforts should be made to celeu'ate fittingly the school's "coming of ige." For my own part,. I should like 0 point out the very urgent needs of . he school, namely, the assembly 'iall, a gymnasium and swimming '>ath,^and to suggest that possibly vroups of old pupils or parents may -are to interest themselves in one 01* sther of these projects. In 1947 it is ihoped to publish a special edition of the school magaine devoted parti'cqlarly to pld pupils ind Tecording the services of old pupils during the war. From parents md old pupils, therefore, is requested all available information concerning ihe thousand old pupils who have Tassed through the school. The y®ar, though not easy, has been more satisfactory than its predecessors. The return of soldier teachers, has contributed greatly towards the smooth running of the school. Coniitions have been crowded, and the accommodation problem will persist. There has been an improvement in Ihe personal neatness of the pupils and in their self-discipline, and the majority have worked, willingly and well. I would like to extend thanks to all who have assisted the s'chool during the year. Particularly would I recognise the services rendered by parents and friends who contributed so gencrously and freely to the barracks and ^school fair, -and who made transport available -for -school teams. I am particularly grateful to those who made possible visits of • teams. from other schoois. I would thank, too, the Rugby Union and Cricket Association for donations to the ftinds. The prefects, both boys .and girls, deserve* ptaise for a loyal and faithful -year of service, and I would reeognise particularly the Work of the staff, tvho have given of their hest to the furtherance of the interests of the pupils both in the classroom and: outside.