[December 15, 1932 – Auckland Star] “The progress of events during the year has done nothing to help post-primary schools in their work of vocational guidance,” said the headmaster of the Mount Albert Grammar School, Mr. G. W. Gamble, in his report presented at the prize-giving ceremony of the school last evening. Professor A. P. W. Thomas presided over a large attendance of parents, friends and old boys.
“The one direction in which it is possible to give a lead to boys in the question of occupation is the land. By suitable training at schools it ought to be possible to produce a large number of boys who will have not only the desire, but also the ability, to make successful farmers. Auckland is singularly destitute of adequate instruction in agricultural work, with the result that calls for boy labour on the land necessarily meet with a poor response. Inquiries I have made in the school go to show that the trouble lies not in the lack of desire to undertake farmwork, but in a reluctance to make the experiment blindly.
“As this school is ideally situated for agricultural studies, we should be shirking a responsibility if we did not attempt to meet the want that exists. Throughout the year arrangements have been made in anticipation of the introduction of the course next year, and happily we are now in the position to advise parents that next term an agricultural course will be a definite “part of the school programme.”
School Activities.
The headmaster referred to the various activities of the boys, and said that indoor clubs had made great progress. The model aeroplane club, the newest of all, provided a splendid outlet for the enthusiasm of the mechanically-minded boys.
“Perhaps the most outstanding event in the history of the school,” he said, “was the success of the 1931 shooting team in bringing to New Zealand for the first time the most coveted of all school shooting trophies, the Earl Roberts Memorial Trophy. The members of the team, R. F. Wakefield, W. H. Jenkin, A. M. Jenkinson, C. J. Robieson and R. J. Parry, consistently proved themselves marksmen of unusual ability.” Military training had reached a high standard; in particular, the Lewis section, which had won the McCosh Clark Cup for the most efficient Lewis Gun section in the Northern Command. The prizes were presented by Professor Thomas.
SCHOOL AGRICULTURE.
MT. ALBERT GRAMMAR PLANS.
[February 15, 1933 – Auckland Star] The Auckland Grammar School Board has decided to proceed with the scheme of establishing an agricultural course at the Mount Albert Grammar School. This has been made possible by a donation of £2000 by the trustees of the Auckland Savings Bank, whose gift has been gratefully accepted. Messrs. E. D. McLennan, P. W. Smallfield, and W. H. Rice have been invited to serve on an advisory committee, and a report is to be made to the board by Professor A. P. W. Thomas and the headmaster on the accommodation required. At a meeting yesterday votes of thanks were passed to Sir James Parr, and Mr. N. R. W. Thomas. The latter was responsible for launching the scheme.