SHANNON SCHOOL COMMITTEE.

Shannon News, 18 December 1923, Page 3

SHANNON SCHOOL COMMITTEE.

THE MONTHLY MEETING;

I The mjonthly meeting of the. Shannon School Committee, was held in the schoolroom .on. Thursday evening. Present: Messrs J as. Murray (chairman), G. iP. Anderson, T. Watterston, R. Tippler, H. V, Hudson, ( G. Watkins, E. Warrington, S. Anderson and W. uolyle (secretary). y Correspondence was received, from the Wellington Education Board iniorming the committee >that subsidies at the rate of £ for £ are. payable in aid' of ground improvements. As the clause restricting the. arnoutnt payable ( to ,one committee ■in any one financial yeai* has now been removed, there does not; appear %o be any reason why the whole amount available at Shannon should riot be subsidised. Forms of application were 'also enclosed.— Received ■ *' HEADMASTER'S REPORT.

The headmaster ,(Mr Voysey) reported as follows:—The .present roll number amounts to 383 and the average attendance for last quarter ending September 30, 1923, was 308. This low average was due to-the influenza epidemic" during the month of August. It is satisfactory to record that the attendance for the present quarter shows a marked improvement. ' Towards the end of September Miss Ellis, who occupied one of the- two lotweslt positions on the staff, was promoted to a school in .the Nelson district with an increase of salary, of £3O a year. At the beginning of last month . Miss King, who was on the staff for upwards of five years, was. also promoted to the position of infant mistress on the staff.of a large school in the Taranaki district. When it is bornd in mind that nearly 25 per cent of,the teachers of the Dominion are uncertificated the difficulty of filling'.the lowest grade positions will be 'readily understood. As- a piano tuner is staying in Shannon at the present time I would strongly reconim/end that his services be secured for tuning and repairing the school piano.

GENERAL. j The visiting committee for ,]asti month, Messrs Tippler and Hudson, in .their report recommended <new steps at the main entrance, also that, the footpath at the southern end of the main building be extended another three feet; that -the drain along the boundary of the 'schoolmaster's resi-dence-be cleaned out; also repairs be effected to, the wood work, of the r wash bowls, lavatories windows and a; nUui/ber of small items. They also recOmimeiid'thajt the office in, the. infants' school be iurnis'hed, 'which at present is without furniture of any kind, Messrs Tippler and Watkins were appointed to deal with 'all the repairs recommended. , The resignation of the caretaker was received and it was decided to call tenders, which are to close on December'2&. It was decided to write the Education Board asking that the: Board's architect, Mr Powell, visit Shannon at an early date to confer with the committee in respect to the asphalting of the piece of ground between the main school .and infants' school, and also to the., carrying out of certain work recommended by the visiting committee. • ' ".'•■• n • It was resolved that the annual school picnic be held on Saturday, February 17. i . An anonymous donof signing himself "Well Wisher" forwarded the sum of £2 5s to be awarded as prize money for : the : three (best suggestions from the school children as to improvements .in the school grounds.—The donation was gratefully received.