The ceremony of formally opening the Sir John Maxwell School, Pollokshaws, which has just been re-built by the Eastwood School Board was fixed for Saturday afternoon and it has passed off very successfully in presence of a large and representative gathering of ladies and gentlemen in one of the central halls. Mr William G Crum, the Chairman of the Board presided, and among others present were the following:-
Rev. Dr. Smith, Chairman of Govan School Board, Mr D. Munro Fraser, HM Inspector of Schools, Mr John Boyd Late, HMIS, Mr D Johnston, HMIS, Provost MacDougall, ex-Baillie McLay, Mr J Moodie, President Educational Institute of Scotland, Rev .Robert and Mrs Pryde, Rev. R and Mrs Harvie Smith, Rev. Mr & Miss Frazer, Mr J G Sewell, Rev. Mr F. S. and Misses Colledge, Mr John Lyons, Ex-Provost Cameron and Miss A.G.W. Cameron, Ex-Provost Robert and Mrs Wilson, Mr George J Cameron, Mr John Hamilton, architect, Mr George B Walker, Measurer, Mr McDonald, Bridge Turbine Works, Dr William Walker, Dr. White, Dr and Mrs Lambie, Rev F J and Mrs Hadfield, Mr William and the Misses Stark, Thornliebank, Mr L M Salter, Mrs Ritchie, Dr Hugh Walker, D James Strang, Rev Alex Walker, Rev. J.F.Morrison, Rev. S. D. McConnell, Rev. Walter Kelly, Mr William Gemmell, Member of the Board, M.C.R.Gibson, Member of the Board, Mr. J.W. Cameron, Treasurer of the Board, Mr Robert McNab, Mr David Horn, Mr Robert Hutton, Miss J. Johnston, Giffnock.
Several apologies for absence were also recorded.
The first eight lines of the 100th Psalm having been sung, prayer was offered by the the Rev. S.D. McConnell, one of the members of the Board
Dr. Hugh Walker, the Convenor of the School Building Committee, gave a short history of the Sir John Maxwell School. He did not need to go back to a very remote period. Many of them remembered the time when the present site was occupied by the old industrial school, an institution which was managed by a local committee, prominent members of which were the Laird of Pollok and Mr William Hector, solicitor in this burgh. The school provided not only an elementary education but a practical training in certain handicrafts. There was an agricultural course, the practical part of which was conducted on the ground now occupied by the Burgh Hall. There was also instruction given in tailoring, which might be said to be the the counterpart of their present needlework classes. Cookery and laundry work must have been taught, because pupils were boarded at the school. he had special reason to remember the woodwork class because he was nearly killed by a load of wood which was overturned while being conveyed to the house of Father Tracy.
When the Education Act was passed in 1872, the school was taken ver by the School Board. The building was enlarged by the Board and called for the first time the Sir John Maxwell School.
For 30 years the school served the purposes of the Board, but six or seven years ago the Board found that it would be necessary to provide further accommodation and plans of a new school, to be built on the old site were prepared.
A beginning was made with three classrooms, which were to form part of the completed structure , and only two or three years had elapsed when they were compelled to proceed with the whole scheme. The finished school in which they were now met
Sir John Stirling Maxwell, on rising to speak, was cordially greeted. He said that he had been invited to a very pleasant duty, which he thought it a very high honour to perform, the more so because it showed that they had not forgotten the honest effort which was made by one of his forebears be of use in the education of the children in the district. The building was a very splendid and substantial one, and it represented a great effort made by the School Board of the Parish, and by the architect who designed it, and by the contractors who had built it, and it also represented an effort - he hoped it would be a willing effort - on the part of the ratepayers who had to pay for it. It was now some 36 years since School Boards had come into force, and they had therefore come to the time when they might judge to some extent the results of this work of so many years. He thought that sometimes in judging of these results that they were harassed by the amount of attention the actual machinery of education demanded of them. He had the pleasure two days ago of taking a friend to see one of the great mills in Paisley. They washed the cotton being turned out of the bales and spread out and combed until it passed in a beautiful fine stream to the spinning machine, which in a minute turned it into thread. They watched all that wonderful machinery and the various processes through which the cotton passed, with intense interest; but when they got home in the evening it struck them that the only thing they had not examined at all was the finished article, and when they cam to discuss the matter with each other they found that neither of them was quite sure what sort of thread it was that had been made. He could not help thinking that sometimes, in judging the results of the educational system, they were apt to think too much of the great machine and of the great processes performed by it, and too little of the actual consequences of it on the people of the country. Taking a rapid survey of the old parochial system of education, Sir John described the work which had been accomplished under it as very great. He was not going to consider whether any estimate of the same kind could be given of the results of School Board work, but he would like to indicate the direction in which we ought to look for those results. We ought not to look at scholarship or to the careers of the boys and girls who had passed through our schools. We ought to look at the results on the lives of the generation who received the instruction which we had to give. He thought that so far as book learning went perhaps the best thing that could be done for any child during the period the School Board had to do with it was to put it in the way of learning for itself and he was sure that any child who left the school able to learn and wishing to learn would have no difficulty in picking up any kind of information. In some departments of their teaching they were possibly hampered by the amount of information placed at the disposal of the students, though when he said that he was thinking more of our schools of old. He thought therefore that the best way to judge the matter would be to find on [ ] our system of education was succeeding in improving our pupils in places where improvement was required. He was not going to say anything about Scotland but suppose there was a country where the men were spending more money upon drink than they ought to spend on that particular object and suppose that in the same country the women were rather remarkable for their ignorance of cookery and domestic economy. Supposing that in both case he would judge of the education system of the country by how far these faults were being corrected as time went on. He had a strong feeling that the real triumph of Eastwood School Board would come when people said that such and such a man was sure to be a thrifty, hard working and sober man because he came from Eastwood and such and such a woman was sure to be a good wife and wise mother because she came from Eastwood. That was the sort of information from which the School Board of Eastwood should look (applause).
Sir John concluded by formally declaring the school open.
Mr John Hamilton, architect afterwards in name of the tradesmen and himself presented Sir John with a gold key ornamented with the Maxwell shield and crest and suitably inscribed as a souvenir of the occasion. Sir John acknowledge the gift in a sentence or two.
The vote of thanks to Sir John for his services that afternoon was proposed by the Rev Alexander Walker. The building committee, architect and contractors were thanked on the call of the Rev S D McConnell and Mr Hamilton responded on their behalf.
Mr D Munro Fraser in proposing a vote of thanks to Mr Crum for presiding, observed that he was glad to hear Sir John speaking of a School Board turning out better men and women. Teachers were criticised for doing so little good but he was inclined to wonder if these critics had studied the sort of education the children receive after they leave school and return to their own homes.
The singing of the National Anthem and the benediction brought this part of the proceedings to a close. The company afterwards made a tour of the rooms and before leaving they were served with afternoon tea.
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION
The site of the school contains about 4400 square yards, and it has the advantage of being surrounded on all sides by streets. The school is three storeys high , covers about 1188 square yards, and its principal facade extends along Bengal Street from which it is set back about 60 feet. By this arrangement the greater part of the playgrounds are on the sunny side. The boys and girls and infants have each separate entrances from their own playgrounds with the teachers’ rooms placed convenient. The ground floor is occupied chiefly by the infant department, and the upper floors by the more advanced classes. Two of the classrooms were erected about three years ago, at a cost with their furnishings of about £2000 as a nucleus to the present school, and including these there are 22 in all, of which 19 have a southern aspect. The classrooms will seat 1260 pupils, for whom excellent spacious and airy lavatory, cloakroom and staircase accommodation has been provided. In the meantime three of the classrooms are to be used for the tuition of cookery, art and manual instruction. There are two amply lit central halls, each 62 feet long by 25 feet broad. These form a fine feature of the design and provide ample room for marshalling and drill purposes. The walls of the school are timbered lined for 4 feet up, ands those of the halls and passages are tiled for 5 feet high. For sanitary reasons the usual dust protecting mouldings and right-angled corners at the junctions of the floor and ceilings with the walls are avoided. Their place is taken by simple and easily cleaned coves.
Source: Pollokshaws News and East Renfrew Advertiser
Friday January 15, 1909
Rev. Dr. Smith, Chairman of Govan School Board, Mr D. Munro Fraser, HM Inspector of Schools, Mr John Boyd Late, HMIS, Mr D Johnston, HMIS, Provost MacDougall, ex-Baillie McLay, Mr J Moodie, President Educational Institute of Scotland, Rev .Robert and Mrs Pryde, Rev. R and Mrs Harvie Smith, Rev. Mr & Miss Frazer, Mr J G Sewell, Rev. Mr F. S. and Misses Colledge, Mr John Lyons, Ex-Provost Cameron and Miss A.G.W. Cameron, Ex-Provost Robert and Mrs Wilson, Mr George J Cameron, Mr John Hamilton, architect, Mr George B Walker, Measurer, Mr McDonald, Bridge Turbine Works, Dr William Walker, Dr. White, Dr and Mrs Lambie, Rev F J and Mrs Hadfield, Mr William and the Misses Stark, Thornliebank, Mr L M Salter, Mrs Ritchie, Dr Hugh Walker, D James Strang, Rev Alex Walker, Rev. J.F.Morrison, Rev. S. D. McConnell, Rev. Walter Kelly, Mr William Gemmell, Member of the Board, M.C.R.Gibson, Member of the Board, Mr. J.W. Cameron, Treasurer of the Board, Mr Robert McNab, Mr David Horn, Mr Robert Hutton, Miss J. Johnston, Giffnock.
Several apologies for absence were also recorded.
The first eight lines of the 100th Psalm having been sung, prayer was offered by the the Rev. S.D. McConnell, one of the members of the Board
Dr. Hugh Walker, the Convenor of the School Building Committee, gave a short history of the Sir John Maxwell School. He did not need to go back to a very remote period. Many of them remembered the time when the present site was occupied by the old industrial school, an institution which was managed by a local committee, prominent members of which were the Laird of Pollok and Mr William Hector, solicitor in this burgh. The school provided not only an elementary education but a practical training in certain handicrafts. There was an agricultural course, the practical part of which was conducted on the ground now occupied by the Burgh Hall. There was also instruction given in tailoring, which might be said to be the the counterpart of their present needlework classes. Cookery and laundry work must have been taught, because pupils were boarded at the school. he had special reason to remember the woodwork class because he was nearly killed by a load of wood which was overturned while being conveyed to the house of Father Tracy.
When the Education Act was passed in 1872, the school was taken ver by the School Board. The building was enlarged by the Board and called for the first time the Sir John Maxwell School.
For 30 years the school served the purposes of the Board, but six or seven years ago the Board found that it would be necessary to provide further accommodation and plans of a new school, to be built on the old site were prepared.
A beginning was made with three classrooms, which were to form part of the completed structure , and only two or three years had elapsed when they were compelled to proceed with the whole scheme. The finished school in which they were now met
Sir John Stirling Maxwell, on rising to speak, was cordially greeted. He said that he had been invited to a very pleasant duty, which he thought it a very high honour to perform, the more so because it showed that they had not forgotten the honest effort which was made by one of his forebears be of use in the education of the children in the district. The building was a very splendid and substantial one, and it represented a great effort made by the School Board of the Parish, and by the architect who designed it, and by the contractors who had built it, and it also represented an effort - he hoped it would be a willing effort - on the part of the ratepayers who had to pay for it. It was now some 36 years since School Boards had come into force, and they had therefore come to the time when they might judge to some extent the results of this work of so many years. He thought that sometimes in judging of these results that they were harassed by the amount of attention the actual machinery of education demanded of them. He had the pleasure two days ago of taking a friend to see one of the great mills in Paisley. They washed the cotton being turned out of the bales and spread out and combed until it passed in a beautiful fine stream to the spinning machine, which in a minute turned it into thread. They watched all that wonderful machinery and the various processes through which the cotton passed, with intense interest; but when they got home in the evening it struck them that the only thing they had not examined at all was the finished article, and when they cam to discuss the matter with each other they found that neither of them was quite sure what sort of thread it was that had been made. He could not help thinking that sometimes, in judging the results of the educational system, they were apt to think too much of the great machine and of the great processes performed by it, and too little of the actual consequences of it on the people of the country. Taking a rapid survey of the old parochial system of education, Sir John described the work which had been accomplished under it as very great. He was not going to consider whether any estimate of the same kind could be given of the results of School Board work, but he would like to indicate the direction in which we ought to look for those results. We ought not to look at scholarship or to the careers of the boys and girls who had passed through our schools. We ought to look at the results on the lives of the generation who received the instruction which we had to give. He thought that so far as book learning went perhaps the best thing that could be done for any child during the period the School Board had to do with it was to put it in the way of learning for itself and he was sure that any child who left the school able to learn and wishing to learn would have no difficulty in picking up any kind of information. In some departments of their teaching they were possibly hampered by the amount of information placed at the disposal of the students, though when he said that he was thinking more of our schools of old. He thought therefore that the best way to judge the matter would be to find on [ ] our system of education was succeeding in improving our pupils in places where improvement was required. He was not going to say anything about Scotland but suppose there was a country where the men were spending more money upon drink than they ought to spend on that particular object and suppose that in the same country the women were rather remarkable for their ignorance of cookery and domestic economy. Supposing that in both case he would judge of the education system of the country by how far these faults were being corrected as time went on. He had a strong feeling that the real triumph of Eastwood School Board would come when people said that such and such a man was sure to be a thrifty, hard working and sober man because he came from Eastwood and such and such a woman was sure to be a good wife and wise mother because she came from Eastwood. That was the sort of information from which the School Board of Eastwood should look (applause).
Sir John concluded by formally declaring the school open.
Mr John Hamilton, architect afterwards in name of the tradesmen and himself presented Sir John with a gold key ornamented with the Maxwell shield and crest and suitably inscribed as a souvenir of the occasion. Sir John acknowledge the gift in a sentence or two.
The vote of thanks to Sir John for his services that afternoon was proposed by the Rev Alexander Walker. The building committee, architect and contractors were thanked on the call of the Rev S D McConnell and Mr Hamilton responded on their behalf.
Mr D Munro Fraser in proposing a vote of thanks to Mr Crum for presiding, observed that he was glad to hear Sir John speaking of a School Board turning out better men and women. Teachers were criticised for doing so little good but he was inclined to wonder if these critics had studied the sort of education the children receive after they leave school and return to their own homes.
The singing of the National Anthem and the benediction brought this part of the proceedings to a close. The company afterwards made a tour of the rooms and before leaving they were served with afternoon tea.
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION
The site of the school contains about 4400 square yards, and it has the advantage of being surrounded on all sides by streets. The school is three storeys high , covers about 1188 square yards, and its principal facade extends along Bengal Street from which it is set back about 60 feet. By this arrangement the greater part of the playgrounds are on the sunny side. The boys and girls and infants have each separate entrances from their own playgrounds with the teachers’ rooms placed convenient. The ground floor is occupied chiefly by the infant department, and the upper floors by the more advanced classes. Two of the classrooms were erected about three years ago, at a cost with their furnishings of about £2000 as a nucleus to the present school, and including these there are 22 in all, of which 19 have a southern aspect. The classrooms will seat 1260 pupils, for whom excellent spacious and airy lavatory, cloakroom and staircase accommodation has been provided. In the meantime three of the classrooms are to be used for the tuition of cookery, art and manual instruction. There are two amply lit central halls, each 62 feet long by 25 feet broad. These form a fine feature of the design and provide ample room for marshalling and drill purposes. The walls of the school are timbered lined for 4 feet up, ands those of the halls and passages are tiled for 5 feet high. For sanitary reasons the usual dust protecting mouldings and right-angled corners at the junctions of the floor and ceilings with the walls are avoided. Their place is taken by simple and easily cleaned coves.
Source: Pollokshaws News and East Renfrew Advertiser
Friday January 15, 1909
