THE HIGH SCHOOLS.

Taranaki Daily News, 21 February 1922, Page 5

THE HIGH SCHOOLS.

BOARD OF GOVERNORS MEET. GIRLS’ PREPARATORY SCHOOL. 1 The monthly meeting of the New Ply- • mouth High Schools Board of Govern- • ors was held last night. Present: , Messrs. J. S. Fox (chairman), I. A No- , lan, E. P. Webster, F. W. Atkinson, B. Trimble, and S. G. Smith, M.P. Leave » of absence was granted to Dr. ,E. F. r Fookes and Messrs. A. E. Washer, L. J C. Sladden and A. Morton. The committee which was appointed f to report on the erection of a new - girls’ preparatory school, instead of • conducting this section under the one i roof, recommended that steps be taken - to erect a building on portion of what 1 is known as Skeete’s property. It was f suggested that inquiry be made from i the bank in the matter of finance. An I estimate of £825 had been-made for a • wooden building, asbestos lined, or £B9O • for a concrete building. The committee was requested to J make arrangements for finance with a ‘ view of commencing the work, when a > special meeting of the board will be - called to consider the question. I GILRS’ SCHOOL. The principal of the girls’ echoot j (Miss E. M. Mclntosh) reported that , the school re-opened for the new term , on February 7. Sixty-one new pupils were enrolled in the secondary depart- . ment and 14 in the primary, the roll \ numbers being 157 and 42 respectively. ’ The boarders’ roll number was 47. Tha . school had advanced a grade, and should shortly be entitled to another teacher. The school library is beiqg utilised as a class room. More forme were required, for the assembly hall, as at present there was seating accommodation (exclusive of desks) for only 76 people, which necessitates a great deal of borrowing and hiring on occasions. The recently appointed teachers— Miasm Maclean, Tizard, Broad and Dey-bad entered upon their duties. Mr. Duff and £is assistant were teaching commercial work for three hours a week. . BOYS’ SCHOOL. The principal ofi the boys’ school (Mr. W. H. Moyes) reported that the scaoot re-opened on February 14. Contrary to general expectations the roll had shown no decrease, with the result that the accommodation was taxed to its utmost. The* upper school roll was now 297, an increase on last year’s number of 30. The increase in numbers had raised the school one grade, thereby making it necessary under the terms of • the Act to engage an extra master, and it was recommended that applications be called at once. It was also recommended that an application for a grant to complete the east wing be forwarded to the department without delay. Through lock of class rooms it was necessary to divide the boys into nine forms instead of 11. The school buildings contained nine large rooms and two small ones. It would be seen, therefore, that in order to meet the requirements two more rooms were urgently needed. The organisation was rendered still more difficult owing to the increased size of the commercial classes. Up to the present the efforts to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Mr. Ryder had proved unsuccessful. Meantime Mr. K. C. Roberts, an old boy taking his science degree at Dunedin, was helping with ths science work, and very little hope was .held out of being able to fill the position when Mr. Roberts left at the end of the month. In this event, it suggested that the board cable Sir James Allen asking him to find a suitable man in England. Thirty new decks were urgently needed for the upper school. The boarding houees ware again quite full, and it had been found necesaary to make use of Mr. Papps' house on the Avenue Road. The question of cabling Sir James Allen was referred to the chairman to confer with the headmaster. The matter of procuring tha dedm required was left in the hands of Mr. Trimble. Applications for an extra master will be called for. THE GRADING SYSTEM.

The principal’s report continued: “In my opinion tne grading scheme is a failure. It has penalised all schools outside the university towns, and it has made it impossible for any young man to rise rapidly in the profession. , I sincerely hope that the board Will join with other boards in charge of schools similar to this in an endeavor to have the scheme modified, or, better still, abolished.” Mr. Smith commented on the grading system mentioned by Mr. Moyes in his report. The system had not proved satisfactory outside the four centres and he thought the board should com l/ne w<th other high school boards similarly situated in asking for the abolition or modification of the present grading system. It was resolved to ask Mr. Moyes to set out Che fully with u 1 view to circularising bther boards and asking for their support.