INFANT SCHOOL OPENED

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 307, 19 March 1928, Page 14

INFANT SCHOOL OPENED

PT. CHEVALIER FUNCTION ALREADY OVERCROWDED In a long grey bulding erected and fitted with good light and ventilation to accommodate three classes of 50 children, 200 infant pupils of the Point Chevalier School have been studying since August of last year. building was overcrowded on the day it was opened, but the official opening was not performed till Saturday, when the Minister of Education, the Hon. R. A. Wright, was welcomed to the district to officiate at the function. Mr. H. J. Wooller, headmaster, quoted figures showing the extension of the school roll since the inception of the institution. Since December, 1925, when there were 387 pupils, the roll had grown at the rate of 100 pupils annually, 480 attending in 192 G, and a roll of 580 being reached by the end of 1927. There were three rooms in the new building, but these already were overcrowded, oi>e of the rooms calculated to accommodate 45, now housing 89 children. Mr. F. J. Rose, chairman of the school committee, said that the Minister soon would be asked for further extensions.. Mr. T. U. Wells, a member of the Auckland Education Board, reminded the gathering that a very few years ago the sites of houses, school and shops were grazing paddocks, and cited the increase in population as an illustration of the educational importance of the district. Mr. M. J. Coyle assured the Minis- i ter that, with the right hand the school : committee would extend the key, while in the left would be held a request for further additions to the school. He recognised, and wished to have the authorities’ recognition also, the necessity for careful dental treatment of the children, and he looked forward to the establishment of the clinic. The Minister acknowledged that additions to the three classrooms shortly would be required. The department had to be careful in the erection of new schools, as it was always nervous of having empty buildings on its hands. This structure had cost £2,269, of which £2,148 was for the erection and £l2O for the fittings. The Minister assured the people that the educational trend of the department was toward character building, training for trades, and scientific application to industry of human energy. “Do not look on your teacher as your natural enemy—as I used to when I was a boy,” he added, when addressing the children, “because next to your father and mother, your school teacher is your best friend.” Little Mona Stone, one of the firstyear pupils, presented Mrs. Cole, daughter of the Minister, with a bouquet which had been arranged with the pennies subscribed by the tiny tots. The guests were entertained to tea and the children cheered the Minister and the school authorities.