Waiotaki School District.

Thames Star, Volume XI, Issue 3460, 27 January 1880, Page 2

Waiotaki School District.

The following is the Committee's report read at the meeting yesterday; the names of the Committee we gave in yesterday's issue:—

" The Waiotahi District School Committee beg to submit the following report for your information and approval, and in cEoing so have much pleasure in congratu lating the householders on the satisfactory condition of the various schools under their control. .

" The Committee on entering upon its duties found the number of children attending its schools to be 478.

" On the 15th of May last the new school being completed was formally opened by Mr William McCullough, then Mayor of the Thames, in the presence of a very large assemblage of residents, and was named the Waio Karaka School—from a creek in the vicinity. 218 boys'names were entered on the register on the opening day, being a total of 494, an increase of upwards of 200. Since then its numbers have steadily increased, there havbg -Wn duriuff last qanrtor~TOr-in«ny--*a'slfi-on the roll.

"The number of teachers atttached to the various schools is 19.

"It is very satisfactory, in view of the considerable exodus from the Thames during the past year, that the attendance should be so large, especially as with the exception of a slight numerical decrease in the Waiotahi Creek School. The other public schools in the Borough have not been affected by the opening of the WaioKaraka School, a large portion of its scholars being children who had not previously attended any Government school. " The hearty thanks of the district are due to the Board of Education for the erection of so commodious, well-situated, and comfortable a building, and the Committee embrace this opportunity of thanking the Board for the very courteous and generous manner in which it has been treated on all occasions.

"In conclusion, your Committee cannot help observing that, although the new school has not been so favorably circumstanced as some of the other schools as to the number of experienced and certificated teachers on its staff, yet it has held its own, and we look forward to increased efficiency in the future, especially as the want of more certificated assistants will be shortly met. " The sincere thanks of the Committee are due to the head masters and teachers of the Various schools for the highly satisfactory manner in which they have discharged their onerous duties, and we strongly urge on parents the imperative duty of sending their children regularly and punctually so as to do both teachers and scholars every justice. " Finally, your Committee wish to draw the attention of the public to the desirability of taking steps for the amalgam*, tion of the various School Committees for ,the following reasons:—lst. The machineiy for carrying out the compulsory clause can only be effectively organised by a Central School Board representing the householders of the Thames. 2nd. Gentlemen occupying leading positions would be more readily induced to take an active part in educational matters than under the present system. 3rd. More influence might be exercised on the Education Board by a Committee acting for the whole of the public schools on the Thames than is now practicable by committees representing separate districts. " H. Chas. I4WXOB, Chairman. " Grahamstown, Thames, " 26th January, 1880."