SCHOOL COMMITTEE.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIII, Issue 21, 22 May 1912, Page 5

SCHOOL COMMITTEE.

The monthly meeting of the School Committee was held last night. Present: Messrs. P. Skogluml (chairman), T. C. Fookes, E. W. Hancock, J. W. Boon, S. Clark, G. Smart. The Borough Council notified that the Minister for Public Works had been approached regarding a subway at (jrtfnton Street. Members generally were of opinion that the matter should be dropped, owing to the decided ne-| gative answer of the Minister for Rail-, ways, but Mr. Clark said the only way to get anything done was to keep) drumming it in. He had seen many! narrow escapes at the crossing. He) -suggested that the committee should | Again approach the Borough Council j regarding erecting a bridge at Orlando Street.—lt was finally decided to approach the Railway Department with a view to having automatic closing gates in Fenton Street.—The suggestion was put forward that an overhead bridge at the railway station would get over the difficulty. It was j also suggested that danger could he: avoided by opening the school at 9.30, a.rn. and closing it at 3.30 p.ra. I The Advisory Board to the Teehni-] cal School having resigned, the_ .Education Board notified that in future the School Committee would, dischargeits duties. The Education Board drew attention to the necessity for keeping) spouting clean, many schools depend- ' ing on tank water for drinking pur-, poses, and for not allowing grass to j grow around the bottoms of buildings,! thus canning the wood to decay. \ The secretary of the Education Board wrote: “I have the honour by, direction of the chairman to inform, you that the Government wishes_ Empire Day to he observed in conjunction with the King’s Birthday, Monday, June 3rd, and requests that the occasion -should he used to draw the attention of the school children to i their privileges and responsibilities asj citizens of the Emnire. It is suggested that this lesson should he'taken on the Friday, ns .Monday, being a holiday, the children will not be likely to j ( he'in attendance at the school. The! chairman also directs mo_ to inform) { you that you have permission to close! your school on Friday, June 7th, to j enable any of the children who wish to attend the New Plymouth Winter 1 Show. The schools will close for the j ( mid-winter holidays on Friday, Aug-, list 23rd, and re-open on Monday, | August 31st, and will close for the 1 midsummer holidays on Friday, December 20th, 1912, re-opening on 1 Monday, February 3rd, 1913.”—1t was decided that the portion of the circular regarding Empire Day be brought , under the Headmaster’s notice. The Chairman reported that the committee’s application to the Borough Council tor earth had been granted. , i Those schoolboys who form part of j the Boy, Scout troop proceeding to) Wellington, to welcome the Chief Scout | were given leave of absence,The Secretary of the Education Board wrote .that the Board saw no ,

reason to ire-open- the' question of the staffing of, the school.—. Received The Visiting Comiriittee rceonimend- ■ ed that some gravelling lie, done,! and that asphalting he, done jpst at the gate. Uravelling wah) ,also peeded h.V, the various dqo( - s—ll was decided that the AVork,hpi q'avv’ed out, apd that the 'Chairman, (and Messrs, Booh t and Clark at tend (to it. i/i'ho committee was also authorised to see-to the flooring of the shelter shed. Notification was received from the Education Board of, intention; to apply for a new headmaster’s residence. The Education Board offered to pay up to £3O for improvements {,O tlne horse paddock fences. Mr. Clark suggested that, a school savings bank he- instituted, the Headmaster to collect from , the children sums from, a -penny ,upwards,, to he placed in a Post Office Savings Bank, Ho moved that the Chairman and-

. Messrs. Fookes, 'Smart, Bonn, and 7 himself form a committee to no into the matter.—Mr. Boon seconded pro forma, but thought it would mean too much work for the Headmaster.—-The Chairman pointed out that the Government was doing a good deal in thei direction indicated. However, he sawno reason why the idea of thrift should not bo impressed on the children. The success of the scheme depended largely on the teachers.—Mr. Fookes thought the scheme was good, but that the work would l>e rather hard on the teachers.—Finally, the motion was withdrawn, and it was decided to approach the teachers on the question. It was decided to, approach the Education Department as to what they were prepared to do as regards subsidising a school library. The Chairman said there was a room at the school very suitable for a library. He said a Qgood library could be formed if each child donated one of its books to the school-. Messrs. Smart and Hancock were appointed the Visiting Committee for the ensuing month.. \ * The Headmaster reported as follows:—Owing to a mild epidemic of chicken-pox, the school attendance during tne past month fell off considerably. The malady is, however, now almost gone, and the attendance is becoming normal again. Mr. Morgan, who has been ill for some time, returned to school on Monday. Mrs. Geddis, who had been acting as Ids locum tenens, left for her home on the previous Friday evening. Miss Tooman, who succeeds Miss Butler, is to arrive on June Ist, after which we shall be once again working with a full staff. We may surely hope for feufurther interruptions during the rest of the year. The standard of matriculation is now definitely set at a four years’ course of secondary instruction. We shall, therefore, be able to present but few candidates for that examination this year. For the Civil Service junior examination dairy science is to he an optional subject this year. This is an important improvement to the regulations governing that examination, and our rural students will now be able to take as examination subjects both agri'cultnre and dairy science, the subjects to which they devote most time.