SCHOOL COMMITTEE ELECTION.

Shannon News, 4 May 1926, Page 3

SCHOOL COMMITTEE ELECTION.

HOUSEHOLDERS’ MEETING. Over sixty householders attended the annual meeting held in the schoolroom last -evening. The chairman (Mr R. L. Tippler presided. CHAIRMAN’S REPORT. The- chairman (Mr R. L. Tippler) in his annual report, stated as follows:—The past year has been a most successful one, from an educational point of view, also improvements o the school grounds,, besides' other equipment necessary to bring the school up-to-date, and which will also help the staff to bring out the best in the pupils. In .view of the short year and other setbacks the proficiency and other certificates gained were very creditable..to the staff and pupils,- and the committee appr-eci-aite the great effort made by Mr White and Mr Morgan to bring about such good results, which were as follows: Proficiency 15, competency endorsed 6, competency 3. In regard to the improvements, ail works set out by the previous committees re money raised by the- carnival (£326) have been executed and add greatly to the appearance of the school grounds. The money wa? spent judiciously and advantage taken of subsidies that could be obtained., The Committee. wish to convey their thanks toi the Educaion Board for the liberal way they have treated any request from them -on all occasions and also desires to place on record its appreciation of services ren dered by Messrs Atkin and Harkncss, mjembers of the Education Board, who visited the school on two occasions. Flom what can be gathered it is a very rare pleasure to ,have mem bens of the Board paying a visit to the school and the committee fully realise the good that- anises out of such visits, which shows that they are- alive to their work and have the interest- of the schools at heart.

A very pleasant day was spent or 15th July, Arbor Day, when the pupils planted trees in the morning, lunch being provided by the .committee. In the -afternoon spoils were indulged in, aboqt £8 being given in prizes to the various winners. There was a full muster of pupils, and -a good number of parents attended, helping the committee and staff toi make the day an enjoyable one. -The committee trust that Arbor Day will be recognised by future committees. A piano lias been purchased for the main school, at a cost of £BS. A committee of ladies undertook to raise money tor same and within a few weeks raised the -handsome sum of £4l 4s sd,'which carried a subsidy 0-f £4O. The committee thank those ladies and the public for their generous support. To show whai interest the pupils and staff are taking in the improvement of the grounds and garden, they had the good' fortune to- -be the winners of the Shield donated by Mr R. A. Nicotl, Wellington, for the best garden. We trust that the Shield will remain in the school for some years to come. At the breaking-up for the Christ-. mas holidays', certificates and prizes were given to pupils, a lair attendance of -parents being present. Mr A. E. Hyde, president -of the -Chamber of Commerce, presented the Chamber’s annual medals for the dux of ithe (school, Betty Blackwood,' 1935, and Mona Inglev, 1924, being the successful ones. A very pleasant incident took place at the end of the ceremony, when to show tlieir (a.ppieciatiom, the hoys carried their headmaster, Mr White, shoulder high to the tune of “For he’s a jolly good fellow,’’ a very pleasing ending for the year. The tot girl in Standard VI was Betty Blackwood, and the Ist boy i-n -Standard VI, Stuart -Spencer. The school library has benefited to thei -extent iol £3B and pictures for the school to the amount of £34. The school was renovated during •the vacation and painted and \ainished throughout, the cycle shed receiving a new roof. 'The picnic was held at Phmmeiton. The day was fine and the ouiihg proved successful, the staff took -charge of the pupils -and that greatly helped to make the responsibility of the Committee practically nil. Great credit is due to the staff for the wav they handled the children. The committee regretted having to send out lists to raise money, but time was short and there on y a few pounds .in hands and £55 h*u to be guaranteed to the Railway Department. The School has adopted colours and the Committee sincerely trust that everv parent will endeavour to bring about uniformity of dress arid colours. The committee are -not..asking to have it done all at once, bu to bear in mind, when they are providing a new outfit, for their chili - ren “to don the colours’ and help make the school one of the best on tile Line. , . The tone of the school has groat I improved during the Commit ee - ter in of office, owing to the concentrated efforts of the staff and a pulling together. Let us all hi P further raise -the tone of the scho-A to a vet higher standard. An "incinerator has been promised the school and lhe incoming committee must, keep in’ touch with the and secure same.

During the year the committee went into the matter of a septic tank with thje Education Board, who. bio sympathy. The sooner one is installed, the health of the pupils be safeguarded and wfc trust- tjiat the incoming committee will push * s matter. In regard to purchase, of extra playing area the oppo.rtunitv of securing about ■ an acre of ground, and 'bought

• wise to procure same, as the playing I area is rather stinted on account, of about an acre being gully, which has all the drainage into! it and is unsuitable to be converted into| a play area. The money used was the balance of £2,1 from the Carnival Fund and £9 of other money that has been . raised for ground improvements. The girls’ play area has beeni enlarged by ) taking a portion of the residence s'iite. j The school residence has been renovated and made new and up-to- ! date. The efforts of the Committee I to obtain a new building were turned down by the Department. The | committee have been working hard 1 to have a portion of the main building (Standard HI room) deiholished and a new room built. This room which was built about. 40 years ago, has ‘been condemned by the Board. It has served its day andsssis a menace to the main building. A visit was made to the power houso by the Sixth Standard children for educational purposes, who were taken in charge by Mr Morgan and were received by Mr Blackwood and shown over the building. Tlte committee wish to thank Mr Blackwood and Ills staff for their kindness. The committee would like this visit made an annual one, so as every pupil that leaves the school can say they have been through - the Mangahao power tation. Special thanks has been recorded to the following donors of moneys and gifts to the School:—MiSs Neale £9 ss, for electric water heater which has been installed; the Shannon Choral Society, £5; Hv Foston, lecture and lantern slides, £4 8s 6d; football club £2 7s; Mr Ward, 'Palmerston North,. 1 picture; Mr Thwaites, first aid chart; Miss Sinclair, Exhibition box of chocolates which netted.£lo, the proceeds going towards the purchase of a gramophone. One large first aid outfit has been purchased, also a garden hose. The Education Board are, making arrangements for the conveyance of chiidren from Buckley. Tenders have been called and in all probability conveyances will be running on the 3rd of May, 1926. After some delay we were successful in getting the. water laid on from the Borough town supply. The play area that has been laid down and tarred is approximately 16,b«v square yards and gives ample dry ground for pupils in bad weather and adds greatly to the appearance oi the school surroundings. The average attendance for the yearwas 337. Mr White, headmaster, counplains that some of the pupils have the habit, of being absent the day before a holiday and the day after and lie would like to see this remedied. The committee feel with Mr White and would like to see as high an attendance as possible. A ceremony took place at the school on Anzac Day, Sunday, 25th Inst, The pupils lined up at 9 o’clock, when they were addressed by Mr Hamilton,' R.S.A., Levin, who presented a beautiful picture, “The Landing of the Aiizaes" to the School. .After the ceremony the pupils marched down to the Cenotaph and joined in with the Citizens’ ceremony. The Committee wish to convey their thanks to- the public, Mr White, and staff for the assistance given freely, also to the Press for true records of school business published. In conclusion the chairman thanked Mr White and the Committee for -the interest taken and time given by them for the betterment of the-school and the way they had assisted, him to carry out .his duties as chairman. CONVEYANCE OF CHILDREN.

Mr ('.uutes asked if dm committee had made any move in respect to overcoming the hardships incurred by children living a distance away, who were not. permitted to travel by the bus to> school without paving; also as lo> the distance limit. The chairman said the matter had been gone into, but the committee had no power. He suggested that a recommendation come from- the.■ meeting to the Education Board that the limit be two miles. The present committee had already passed a resolution to this effect, and lie thought such a recommendation would strengthen the committee’s resolution. Mr Goaites then moved that it be a recommendation to the Education Board that children living It miles and over be carried on the school bus along the route over which it travels. This was seconded by Mr Byrie. The headmaster (Mr White) pointed out that the distance a,t present is fixed ait three miles and over for children up to U, and two miles for children under 10 years of age. He said lie had been advised that a. crentleinau from the Board wonkl visit- Shannon fo-dav lor the purpose of going over the route. Tie lelt thev would be stretching a point if they asked for the distance to be cut down to 1J miles. He thought they would be wise to make the limit t\\> miles or even 2$ miles. Tt was decided to suggest that tin limit be two miles. , Mr Tippler then vacated the ulia.i in doing so he thanked’his -committee .for the support- accorded him dm mg the past! year. Mr DoAViiPiS ill en took tlie cha i. ELECTION OF COMMITTEE,

Messrs .1. V. Burns and 3. Aim were appointed scrutineers, and the e action proceeded, resulting as follows:Messrs *R L. Tippler, *A. R Blackwood, R Butt. b. Bowler R }Aab kins, *W. M. Brown. *J. H. C. Cronquest, *\V. Lankshear (all tbi above- being elected). 'The defeated candidates were W. Christian, .T. Bionas and L. Satherley. Those marked wristh an asterick were members ot the old committee. ' The candidates then returned thanks during which Mr Blackwood paid

tribute to Mr Tippler, saying he was pleased to see him at the top of the poll as he was a, worker and the peO L pie of Shannon could deem themselves lucky if the other members of the new committee can live up to one-eighth of tli-e work Mr Tippler had done during the past year. If so, they will have done well. -Mr Murray expressed his appreciation 'Of the improvements made to the grounds during the last term. Their nice appearance, lie said, showed that they had a live chairman and committee.

HEADMASTER’S REPORTMr White said that in regard to Arbor Day be would like those who had good' gardens to send along any choice plants they could spare. He said pictures, also books for the libraries had been procured. The pictures had 'brightened up the rooms and the environment was pleasing. He referred to. the generous support accorded by the public for anything required for the school, saying it had been surprising to him to. know how such amounts were so readily given.. He thanked them for their donations towards the. piano and gramophone fund;'also Mr Foston for his proceeds from his interesting lantern lecture and the people for coming along. He said the school progress had had many ups and downs, but they had always, come up smiling, and he trusted the' progress would be better in tire future. The school shield which they .had won, was not so much on account of the actual work done, but their intention. He hoped next year thev would see a greatei improvement. There had been a lot of adverse criticism # in respect to the •proposed school uniform. The feeling was against having so much red. HO would like, an opinion from some of the ladies. Tire red blouse for the girlS seemed to- be the trouble. They want to. do what, the community think best. Personally, he would recommient a grey, blouse for school use. Mr Tippler, in his report, had referred to the action of the boys at the breaking up ceremony in carrying him shoulder high. This, he said, had Some as a surprise to him and he was very pleased, as it showed the bovs were willing when they recognised their teacher Was doing his best for them. Referring to the attendance, he said they requred an average attendance of 320 if thy did not want the school to go back a grade, frequently they only had 305. He impressed on parents the necessity toi regular attendance of the children <d school '.also that it would be a great help if parents would occasionally look over the children’s homework and encourage them in neatness, e asked parents to take greater advantage’ of the dental scheme, which in contended was a. fine one. lin conclusion he thanked the teachers foi work done by ttyem. He said they had worked well and conscientiously. He also thanked the retiring committee for their help, who. he said were a g d committee and they had surprised him bv the energy they have shown. Mr B'ix’chall said Mr White had the interests of the school at heart and it was up to, the parents to assist bun. He hoped that the relations which existed in the past would continue in the future. ANNUAL PICNIC. Mr Sinclair moved that the annual picnic to Plimmerton be held early m Februarv and the hour for leaving be earlier and the return home later. Mr Jude moved as an amendment that the picnic be not 'held at Plunmerton, but at some place near at hand. . ~.o C After a deal of discussion i. ■ decided that it be a recomm(>-“-t-m from the meeting to the ecu/‘ • that the picnic be held early -n --

ruary. . ~.; v - A vote of thanks to 'the die t.,iminated the meeting.