SCHOOL BUILDINGS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXX, Issue 82, 10 July 1916, Page 7

SCHOOL BUILDINGS.

"OPEN AIR" TYPE WANTED TEACHERS' ADVOCACY. The umi-; ml cntu.ni that. are being erected on too durable "lines was raised'by <Dr..,M'llraith, inspector, of. .schools J at. the conference of headmasters dlfd inspectors in Auckland. l)r. M'llraith.said,the schools, at Re raijera, and'EdendaJe >W st M ho,,believed. Mm rate; of £lo,per pupil. When such, buildjngs , lieeame . ptit T of-da. e,j Jiere was little,chance of having thou| altered. 'Auckland was admirably aciapted fof open-air schools. There was no need & solidly-built structure's.'. In America schools erected which consisted of little more than floor and roof. The sides were of glass, in the form of windows of a movable character. The schools, were so constructed . Uwfe .the, "walls" might be openedi online ,*ln win-df-weather, the "walls" on three sides could be'opelied, the fourth af-< lordiirfgl the..~ fireplaces were put in ihe schools, aiuf'the children on cold days wore their" street clothes. It has been foiuui' that pcholars who /; )}ad. ,heen weakly' became robust when .they .attended s'uch schools, an'ci 'teachers who hadbecorhe run down epjiekly regained their health afteivleavinj* the clos-ecl-in typ| of school. The'speaker referred §0 a movement in favour of building schools of two or three storeys. He said he hoped such a course would never be adopted. (Hear, hear.) - There was the possibility of fire occurring in a school, and children should never be placed at a height above the ground. Apart from the possibility of fire, there was the difficulty of assembling and dismissing the children. The speaker's remarks received considerable support, and Mr E. K. Mulgan, senior inspector, announced that the Board of Education was about to try the experiment of building a school with sliding "panels" m Tauranga'. The question of school building was certainly not settled for all time. . . The conference passed a resolution expressing extreme pleasure in learning that the Auckland Education Board had taken steps towards the provision of opeiiTair schools.