EDUCATION REFORM

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 461, 17 September 1928, Page 16

EDUCATION REFORM

JUNIOR-SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLS EARLY ESTABLISHMENT URGED The suggested establishment of Associated Junior-Senior High Schools as advocated in the report of the Primary Schools Syllabus Revision Committee, has met with the approval of the New Zealand Secondary Schools Principals’ Association. The principals urge that the schools be established throughout the Dominion at an early date. Mr. F. Milner, rector of the Waitaki Boys' High School, reports that the Junior High School, which is associated with the Senior High School at Waitaki, was opened In May, 1925, and has therefore been in operation for three complete years. The pupils from Standards V and VI of the three local primary schools were all transferred to the new Jnior High Schools .Girls’ and Boys’. The advantages of the new system had been that an increased number of primary schools pupils proceeded to full secondary education; a scientifically graduated approach to the Senior High School was provided, and a better knowledge of pupils’ capacities was gained. Apart from the actual educational aspect, better facilities were provided for games and school social life generally, and school time was economised. The system had proved thoroughly successful. The principal of the Waitaki Girls’ High School, Miss J. B. Wilson, reported that the graduated passage from primary to secondary education as gained under the new system gave pupils confidence in themselves, and avoided the gap which was such a stumbling block under the old method. Messrs. A. B. Charters, principal of the Whangarei High School, and .T. Stewart, principal of the Marlborough High School, reported along similar lines, stating that their experience under the junior-senior scheme led them to believe the system was a marked forward step.