HOSTEL FOR NEW PLYMOUTH

Te Ao Hou, December 1958, Page 11

HOSTEL FOR NEW PLYMOUTH by EVELYN B. MARRIOTT Another link in the chain of hostels established by the Maori Mission department of the Methodist Church of New Zealand has been completed and will be ready for opening at the beginning of the new School year in 1959. This is the new Rangiatea Hostel, at South Road, Spotswood, New Plymouth. Situated on a beautifully undulating stretch of land, the hostel has a sunny aspect, and is surrounded by ample grounds for games, gardens and all the outdoor amenities of a girls' home. Its completion marks the coming to fruition of a vision that has been in the minds of the Church authorities for a number of years. For some 18 or more years a modest work of the kind has been carried on in the old building which was originally the residence of the Ministers who supervised the work among the Maoris of the district. The limited accommodation made it only a temporary home, and the project of the present hostel has been longer in coming to realisation than was originally expected. Here, now, however, is an up to date establishment designed to accommodate some 50 to 60 Maori girls. The majority will be girls of school age, but there is also accommodation for a limited number of business girls. Large and colourful dormitories provide sleeping quarters, and these are divided into cubicles each for two girls. Spacious, airy, well lit and heated lounge and dining hall make comfortable provision for “mealing” and relaxation, and the modern kitchen and laundry blocks will facilitate the working of the hostel and at the same time provide the means of assisting in the training of the residents in some aspects of home making. There will be a well equipped library, to be known as the Tahupotiki Haddon Memorial Library, which will be of great help to the girls in their studies as well as for their recreational reading. The over-riding purpose of the hostel is the spiritual, intellectual and physical development of the Maori girls of the adolescent age group. It offers a home for these girls with every facility for Christian home training under the direction of a Senior Deaconess of the Church. Places will be available for girls from Form I upwards. The intermediate girls will attend the newly opened Devon Intermediate School, and the secondary pupils will attend the excellent and splendidly equipped Girls' High School. At this school three courses are open to pupils, namely, Commercial, Home Science and General. All State school examinations may be taken for any career. Music is taught, but an additional charge is made for this subject. The Hostel is on a bus route and transport is thus available to take girls to both the Intermediate and the High Schools. Within the Hostel the girls are given a training in home craft, clothing, gardening, Maori Waiata, and Christian education. The new Rangiatea Maori Girls' Hostel at Spotswood (New Plymouth) which is to open early next year. (Taranaki Daily News photo)