RNE SCHOOL COMMITTEE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2483, 23 April 1909, Page 6

RNE SCHOOL COMMITTEE.

ANNUAL REPORT. flowing is the annual report isborne School Committee to holders of the district, to be [ to the annual meeting on next ng their annual report before ing of householders, your comave first to report the change ; of.the school which has been pee the last -annual meeting, [the year the Board of Goverf.the Gisborne High School deli withdraw their subsidy and , hpport from the Gisborne Disjigh School from January Ist, L the purpose of establishing a chool. Consequently the Educajpartment formally disestablished Strict High School as from FebLst, and your school is now an jy District School. The High has so far been carried on in the gs formerly occupied by the ary classes, but thin is only/ a [ary arrangement, the Board of iors having assured your commitat they intend to build a school pnselves elsewhere as soon as posj In the meantime the headmasI the primary school, by arrangej has sole authority over the chil- - pf both schools in the playground. IrSONNEL OF COMMITTEE, ring the year Mr. A. Sawyer and 3cv. C. Griffin, having removed if the school district, ceased to be iers of the committee. As the icies were made just at the end of' rear, they have not been.filled. j STAFF, pie important changes have been 3 in the staff during the year. The [tablislimcnt of the District High Sol has caused the severance of Mr. tier and Miss Hunt’s connection i the school. The committee placed record its appreciation of the serS to the school performed by those lliers. jnder the Education Act of 190 S the i' of the school was increased by two [staut teachers. Miss Hogg, who j completed her course as pupilcher, has been appointed to fill one fancy,'and there are still two vacank on the staff, one of which is being hporarilv filled by -*.ss G. Black. Ss L. Morgan' and Mrs. L. Kidd, Sc., have acted on the staff temporjly during the year, t ‘ ATTENDANCE.

jTlie attendance during the year endg December 31st, 1908, bears out the ktement made in last year’s. report iat the attendance is steadily improvjg. The average for the past year its as follows: Primary department 36, secondary department 52, total fIS; and the average roll 853 and 55 -espeetively, total 908. 'Hie percentage attendance was thus: Primary delartment 89.7, secondary department >3.7, whole school 90 per cent. This -Constitutes a record for the school in Regularity; the next best years were 1.907, 86.9 per cent, and 1905, 86.8 per Cent. The average attendance for the first quarter of this year was 759, and the average roll 846, giving a percentage of 89.7; the percentage for the /corresponding quarter last year was 88.1. j. The medals given as rewards for reigularity of attendance are still increasing in popularity and effectiveness. {The total number distributed for last year was 167; 7 gold' medals were also : | given. The silver medal is given for ! absolutely full attendance for the year, [and the gold medal when five silver f medals have been won. The winners [of gold medals last yean were May | Moore, Edith Wildish. Myrtle Church, h “Elizabeth Frazer, Pearl Hatherall, :f| Charles Allan, and John Frazer. Ivy ?j Morrison has six medals to her credit. EXAMINATION. & In the examination for matriculation |f last year G. Rcdpath, W. Duuphy, 13. £; Hawkins, Mary Morice and May A 100 re 3 earned a pass. Rcdpath has been ■ ! granted a further extension of Tils j junior national scholarship. One j Education Hoard scholarship was won ! for this school, by Douglas Muir. | . E. Morgan, a pupil teacher on j Mis# --mceded in completing j the stab, has a*.

Jier teacher’s D certijica*.' • -i | )V In the examination for S.C., hem .. the inspectors in December, the school again had creditable results. Fiityone gained proficiency certificates, entitling them, with an age limit, to a free place in a High School or a Technical School, and 14 gained the competency or pass certificate. The inspectors "spoke highly of the work done. t Inspectors Hill and Smith held their annual visit to the school in November last. Their report shows that the school continues to maintain a satisfactory state of efficiency. The .senool was also visited by Inspector Smith in March, Insriector Dill, whose special province is secondary work, and inspector Isaac, who supervises the nmnnal land technical instruction of Dar: Dominion. SWIMMING BATH. The swimming bath, which was course of construction at --.lie tune of tho last annual meeting, has been almost completed, the surrounding needing vet a final dressing of asphalt. It was formally opened by His M orsbip the Mayor on October 24th. The work of construction has been carried out by day labor under the- supervision ,of a works committee, consisting of Messrs J. Somervell, Jas. Brown, and J. Colley. Tho foremen in charge of all but the asphalting were Messrs James Ballantnyc and Clias. Taylor, and the thanks of the committee are due! to these gentlemen, and to the architect, Mr H J. Brownlee, for the excellent work. Mr. M. Morgan gratuitously undertook the supervision of the asphalting, and rendered much valuable assistance. The total cost of the work so far has been £752 11s 3d. io this has to bo added the cost of some necessary alterations and additions to- tho apparatus, and the cost of completing the asphalting, which will probably beclone in the early spring. the total amount of contributions to tlic bath fund, including interest accrued, was 17s 6d. This carries with it a subsidy for a like amount from the Education' Department, making a total of £833 15s. ... , A swimming club has been lormed to enable residents of Gisborne to use the baths, and the annual subset iptions have been fixe! as low as possible, {satisfactory arrangements have h<‘-oii with regard, to payment , r rue bath, and these payments aic by agreement with the club to bo used toi the purpose (1) of the upkeep M E bath, (2) of encouragment of swimming and life-saving among the c dren, (3) of the school library, (.4) o. other sports among S t The club has a section for. rainuii-u, , r .. u.-,:.. .-.-vt-.n .hours,, at ERSKINE’S SUlll -

Mr. E. Stuckey, caretaker of the school, has been appointed custodian of the bath, and has shown* very commendable zeal in .the work. The bath has. been regularly emptied and refilled'. every few days, and thoroughly scru’bbed N out once a week. The batli is a very popular institution with tlie' children, and already a large number, both boys and girls, have learned to swim. Classes for Instruction in swimming and’ life-saving have been formed under the directions of the staff, who are giving up about 9 hours a week of their own time to this work and to the supervision of the children while in the bath. His Worship the Mayor, Mr. W. D. Lysnnr, lias presented the school a valuable silver cup for competition in life-saving. Yuor committee minuted, and conveyed to His Worship, their thanks for his kindness. OTHER IMPROVEMENTS.

The new bell to take the place of the old one. which was cracked shortly after its first use, was supplied during the year by the Board of Education. Hyloplate wall blackboards have been fixed in one room in the infant school, experimentally. If the experiment justifies it, the other rooms in the infant school are to be similarly fitted. The obectj of this innovation is to introduce one of the most modern methods of instruction of infants into the school. Your committee have requested the Board of Education to divide the. two largest rooms in the school by partition walls. Inspector Smith is to report on the matter to the next meeting of tlie Board of Education, when the Board will probably make its decision. During the year the whole of tlie outer wooden walls and fences of tlie school have been repainted by tlie Board of Education. All necessary repairs and renovations have been attended to as far as the limited funds of the committee would allow. The whole of the grounds need immediate attention; the asphalt throughout needs top-dressmg, and the. other parts of the playground need a liberal supplv of shingle. Much of the fencing is in a poor state oi repair. This work will need to be undertaken immediately by the incoming committee, and will cost a very large sum of money. Your retiring committee have prepared the way for their successors by arranging for a monster/ two-night social gathering to be held in the Garrison Hall on Thursday and Friday, May 6th and 7th. A sub-committee, with power to add to their numbei, lias been appointed, and lias the matter well in hand. It is confidently expected that the householders and parents of tlie district will give the undertaking their generous support, as its aim is to safeguard the comfort, happiness, and health of the. children attending the school. , , . . Your committee, actuated by past experience, wish to recommend to the incoming committee to adopt- a system of permanent committees—in particular a works committee and a finance committee —in place of the present system of a monthly visiting committee, in which there is a lack of zealous watch over the needs of the school, and no continuity, of action. Arbor Day was celebrated by the school on July 27, under the guidance of Mr. Darton. A number of native trees and shrubs, the gift of Mr. Darton, were added to the plantations m the school grounds. On July 30, continuing the work of Arbor Bay, Mr. Darton gave an address on “Leaves to the senior pupils of the school. The manual training classes have been carried out this year as in previous years. Classes in woodwork, dressmaking, cookery, and practical physics and chemistry, he.ci in the Technical School, have been attended by children from the secondary department, and standards 5 and 6. CADETS.

The drill of the cadets continues to be a feature of the school work. No. s 1,2, and 3 companies, 151 cadets in all, are composed of the boys from Standards 6,5, and 4, respectively, under Captains Leslie, Cowan, and Olsen. The room adjoining the art room has been fitted up as an armory, and as a storeroom for uniforms, and this is proving a great convenience. This work was done by the boys o,f the woodwork classes, and the thanks of the committee are due to Air. Levov, the instructor, for his interest in the work. *in "Alee places on record its »p----Ihe com..*.. T ; rPis rendered to predation oi the . the cadet movement by Mr. J. - 'dni-incr hi* connection with Hie cciiool.

Bible reading. During the year the voluntary Bmle Reading Teachers’ Association have continued their' classes at cue oo!, out of school hours. The arrangunenl with the committee continues to t orK smoothly, and the voluntary ter elm is and the ordinary school staff v.ork together amicably. In September of last year your '-orn•mittee received from the Board of Education a notice that the Board line recommended the Dro i' tnu- it to bn: u a .side school at Millto vn. Hince Gieti no further eommunicaoion has been received bv the comnitteo. SPO T S.’S.

The Public Schools’ Amateur Athletic Association tinu-s to foster the lihysical side of the school walk. Its annual sports were held ah Wac enga-a-liika on March lltli. wnen the school was closed to enable the eh : tdr-:m to attend. In July, a team of boys from the Napier High School visited Gisborne to play their amiiiai fool ball ’match with the boys 0.l the District High School. The game resulted id a draw. A team of girls f-< n> this school visited Napier and Hastings, under the direction' of Miss J.* i.fl.v.t aiid the chaperon age of Mrs. Allen, to play matches in hockey with several schcnl teams. Seven matches wore played in a!i, of which, our girls won six and lost one. Two gatherings of children for swimming sports wereHheld during die year. In October and in April. Prizes were given for the second meeting only, 'when, through the generosity of a number of gentlemen, a sufficient number of suitable prizes wore allotted to the winners at no cost to the committee. LIBRARY.

The library still continues to be most popular. Practically every boy and girl in Standards 4,5, and 0, totalling over ‘2OO, is an active reader. These are 'the only classes that have tlie use of the library. Generally good care has been taken of the boobs by the scholars, several replacing boobs they hare injured. Twenty books wore lost during the year 1008. When this was announced to tho pupils they voluntarily contributed books to the number -of 137. Tho library began 1908 with 371 books, and the committee added 55 during the year; the total number now on the shelves in good order is 503. Books of travel and fiction are tho most pppnfrVMCil? 1 —£ fUl T Bn I)antyno arcMihjnost

sums were contributed to the school funds: — £3 2s Gd by the Salvation Army, for general purposes; £-12 by the staff., the proceeds of a concert organised by them for tlie purpose of supplying attendance medals, books for the school library, and badges for the. 'prefects; and £1 contributed by F. Harris, Esq., in connection with the concert. The thanks of the committee to the various donors have been minuted. STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS. Tlie abstract of accounts for the year are as follows: —Grants for incidental purposes, £l3 9s d; special purposes, '£lß. 19s Id; voluntary contributions, £46 5s 8d; school concert, £45; swimming club, £ll 14s; balance on hand, £55 18s sd; total, £341 Gs Sd. Expenditure: (Yeaning and firing, £92 Ss 8d; repairs, £54 0s 9d; general expenses, £66 12s 9d; advertising and stationery, £4-9 Is 9d; medals, £l9 7s; ‘bath committee, £lO 10s; balance in bank, £49 5s 9d; total, £341 6s Bd. In conclusion, your committee express their gratification in their confidence that they are handing over the school to their successors in as high a 'state of efficiency as they received it.