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Dear Parent and Citizen...

YOUR names do not appear in this
Magazine. Yet, next to the effort
your child makes for himself, your
work is most important in ensuring
his success. How much do you do to
help him ?
Since the War it was enough for you to support him, buy his books.
and send him to school. Employers were waiting almost on the school steps
to “grab” him as he finished Junior, pass or fail. Many of you, understand
ably, were happy to let it go at that.
Conditions are changing—fast. We see fewer employers waiting “at
the school steps”. They can now be more “choosey”. To have any real
chance, your lad needs, more and more each year, the very best education
that his effort, your support, our teaching, and someone’s money can provide.
What can you do about it ?
Firstly, if his abilities warrant the sacrifice, you can give 1dm the
opportunity that, possibly, you never had—the chance to do Senior. At this
level he will find the employers still eager to “grab” him.
In the second place you can take an active interest in Ids school-work.
lie can make little progress if his attendance is irregular or his homework
not done. Every night he is assigned homework. This is partly to cover work
and learning that can better lie done in the quiet of his own home, partly
to give him that little extra to compete on favourable terms with boys of
other schools, and partly to practise him in habits of study that will stand him
in good stead in the future when he has no teacher to direct him. Your
encouragement here will help.
Thirdly, he needs recreation to rest and to clear his mind. The school
attempts to organize physical activities for this purpose, in a healthy moral
atmosphere. Other school activities like the Cadet movement are aimed more
specifically at making him a good citizen, callable of accepting and discharging
responsibilities out of a sense of duty. Again your prudent encouragement
and co-operation are Important.
These are things you can do outside the school, out of school hours: but
there are other things you can do to help improve the quality of education
he receives inside the school. For example, you can help to provide more and
letter modern teaching learning and recreational aids, such things as the
Government does not supply but for which the school depends on your effort.
In a pleasant social atmosphere you can join the other Parents and Citizens
in their fine selfless work at their monthly meeting. To do just that, contact
the President. Mr. J. W. Simpson, the Secretary, Mrs. E. E. Nielsen or the
School Principal for further information.
Membership of the P. & C. Association strengthens your position as a
parent, since you then show your son or daughter, by example, that education
is something worth striving for. It is one thing to urge a boy to work hard
at school, quite another thing to show him that you yourself are also prepared
to work to help make his work more effective.
EDITOR.

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