Welsh Newspapers

Search 15 million Welsh newspaper articles

Hide Articles List

17 articles on this Page

THE BA Rlfif DISTRICT TEACHERS…

News
Cite
Share

THE BA Rlfif DISTRICT TEACHERS ASSOCIATION. r'. ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meeting of the Barry and District Teachers Association. N.U.T., was held on Saturday last at the Holton Schools. Mr. T. Hitman (the re- tiring president) occupied the chair, and there were present Mr. Ewbank (prospective president), Miss Fleming, Miss Woods, Miss Llewellyn, Miss Lewis, Miss Rewles, Miss Lowther, Misses Court, Miss Williams, Miss Davies, Mr. E. T. Williams, Mr. H. Whitehouse, Mr. J. A. Jonea, Mr. W. H. Taylor, Mr. Ernest Jones, Mr. Roch, Mr. James, Mr. S.) Russell, Mr. H. H. Russell, Mr. James, Mr. Mockford (Dinas Powia), Mr. Thorpe (sac.), &c. THB FINANCES OF THE ASSOCIATION IN A SATISFACTORY CONDITION. The Secretary presented a yearly 'financial state- ment which showed an expenditure of £10 7s., and an income of A 12 12s., leaving a balance in hand on the year's working of f,2 5%. On the proposition of Mr. W. H. Taylor, seconded by Mr. Edwards, the -secretary's statement was adopted. THE PROGRESS AND W^BK OF THE PAST YEAR. The Secretary next rave a brief resume of the year's working. The Association started on March 3rd, 1892. and at the first meeting there were 16 members, but during-the year, II) others had joined the Association, making a total of 32 members. Thera were 61 teachers eligible to become members of the Association, 12 of whom had been members of other Associations, and 49 who had never belonged to the Of that 49, 23 had joined the Association, at the rate of 50 per cent., a. fact which spoke very well for the Association. There had been nine ordinary and two special meetings. Some of the meetings had been fairly well attended, and, he was sorry to say, some very sparsely. At the meetings held during the past year they had had several very important educational topics under discussion, and much good had attended them. Speaking of the outside work of the Association, Mr. Thorpe said that all the candidates for Parliamentary honours in that district were -pledged to support the superannuation scheme for teachers and on the 24th of last month all the members of Parliament were asked to be in the House to support the superannuation scheme. The schema could only be carried by work like that of their own Association. Their Association had gone a long way in promoting a social feeling amongst the teachers, and in all ways their amongst the teachers, and in all ways their Association had been & success. WELL-DFISEKVED THANKS. The President paid he had & very pleasant duty to perform--to ask them to give a hearty vote of thanks to the secretary of the Association, for the very encrgetic and able manner in which he had conducted the work during the past year. Mr. Ewbank seconded. He could safely say Mr. Thorpe had done his work exceedingly well; in fact he did not think they eould iiaprove upon it in any shape or form. He had always found him willing and anxious to further the interests of the Association, and its success was in a greit measure due to his eaergy. The motion was carried unanimously, and Mr. Thorpe, in response, said ha was exceedingly obliged to them, and was pleased to have been in- strumental in doing any good as secretary. Mr. Higman had rendered great help to him. TJLI NEW PRESIDENT. Mr. Higman next formally quitted the chair in favour of the incoming president, Mr. Ewbank. Mr. Siidmarson proposed a hearty vote of thanks to Mr. Higman for the way in which he had carried out the duties of president. They had always found liim full of zeal for the work of the Association, and alwayr ready to meeting any difficulty and help them through. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Ewbank seconded. In Mr. Higman as their first president, they had the right man in the right place. He should hava been very glad if they had been able to show their appreciation in a more substantial manner than that, but he was sure Mr. Higman would take the will for the deed, and he hoped that they might see him amongst them for many years tocome to help them with his advice. Continuing, Mr. Ewebank thanked them for electing him as president, and he fully recognised the respon- sibility, especially after the very able manner in which their business during the last year had been conducted. He did act pretend to come up in any I way to the high standard of Mr. Higman, but he would do his utmost to further the interests of the Union, and that Assaeiation in particular, and if he failed he hoped they would deal as leniently with him as possible. (Hear, hear.) The proposition was carried unanimously. Mr. Higman tha'nked the Association for their hearty vote of thanks. It had been a pleasure to do the little he could for the Association. He claimed to be one of the earlier masters who saw the need of a Union of teachers, and was interested ia a Union amongst teachers as long I ago as 1875, before many of those present thought of teaching. They thought with their thousand members throughout the country, themselves a strong forco. Now they had 24 thousand teachers belonging to their Union. In conclusion, Mr. Higman touched upon the necessity for an increased subscription. If mem- bers would enly deny themselves if necessary of a few of the superfluities of life, the improve- ment in position would be greater. THE PRESIDENT'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. The year's workings of the N.U.T. Mr. Ewbank aa.id :—It was my intention in the first place to ask you to kindly excuse me from giving the usual inaugural address on the ground that I have nothing very interesting to bring before your notice, and, further, that if the mem- bers of this Association are of the same opinion as the members of an Association in our immediate vicinity, presidential addresses are only considered when all other topics are exhausted. However, my friend, Mr. Higman, put his veto on any auch da- sign, and, consequently, if the remarks which I submit to you this afternoon are in any way stale and unprofitable, I must ask you to lay the blame on his ample shoulders, and not on mine. As there is a considerable amount of busiaess to be done after, I will occupy your attention but a short time. It has been asked whethor our Association has been a success or a failure. Well, after the very able letter of our secretary which appeared in the Barry Dock -,Ve,-zfim a fortnight ago, I leave the public to judge for themselves. As members of the Association I am sure weare unanimous that it IT HAS BEEN A DECIDED SUCCESS. Rome was not built in a day, neither was Barry and we must not, therefore, expect much from an infant Association of only twelve months' exist- ence. It is true there are still a goodly number of teachers in the district who have not as yet joined, but I feel sure that when our schools get fairly established we shall have nothing to complain of in this respect. What I mean to imply, by." fairly established ia that the several staffs have not got fairly settled down. As far as the certificated teachers are concerned, I think I am correct in stating that they are all members of the Association, with the exception of one or two who have lately come into the district. The great cry amongst non-members is, What good should I get in becoming a member?" Well. the benefits may not be apparent as far as our local Associations are concerned. Nevertheless, there are -a great many benefits which I might enumerate. Still. I would remind those persons that we are but an off-shoot of that mighty tree, the N.U.T., whose branches have spread over the whole surface of this islands, and whose roots have became firmly embedded in the heart of the great Constitution of this country. It is to the N.U.T. we have to look for any material benefits, and a cursory review of its work during the last twelve months will satisfy, I think the most fastidious, that THE WORK HAS BEEN" GREAT, and the results exceedingly beneficial, not only to the members, but to every individual teacher in the country. We have to thank the N.U.T. for 41 liberty of classiifcation," which is the first tinge of the golden dawn of the coming sun of emanci- pation from the old tramm Is that have bound us down for so many years. The attention of the Executive was drawn to the very unsatisfactory state of the Factories' and Workshops' Act, and they succeeded in raising the age from ten to eleven. 1 There is still, however. much to be (fJi.(!:ne in this matter and I have not doubt it will occupy the attention of the Conference at Liverps-el the week after next to a considerable extent. Under the existing method of examination, it is absolutely necessary that something should be done in this matter, and I trust the Conference will support the present intentions of the Executive in making "age" and "attendance" the only qualifications for labour. The Summary Jurisdiction Act Amendment Bill was brought forward at the instigation of the Union for the purpose of placing every teacher on the same footing as the teachers in the Metropolis in regard to appeals against con- victions for assault; but, unfortunately, it had to be withdrawn in consequence of a technical error in the drafting but it will, no doubt, be brought forward again this session. The Executive next petitioned the Education Department for the elimination of certain obnoxious enquiries in relation to the applications for pensions, but were unable to move the Department. There is no doubt, however, but that the Department will eventually issue an entirely different form at an early date. I have previously made you acquainted with what the Union has done with regard to compulsory extraneous duties and capricious dismissals, &c. The salaries of teachers, and especially of assistants, have been materially in- creased during the last two or three years, chiefly through the action of the Union, in bringing its POWERFUL INFLUENCE TO BEAR UPON THE EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYED, and I believe the day is not far distant when assistants will be much better paid that they are at present. When we think of the thousands of teachers who are receiving wages less than is paid to an ordinary labourer, it makes us feel that there is something radically wrong somewhere, and that it is high time that such a state of things should cease to exist. It also creates in the minds of parents an antipathy against the profes. sion, and they naturally seek more remunerative branches of labour for their children. The Executive has also succeeded in obtaining several modifica- tions in tha New Evening School Code. It has not yet been before the House, consequently I am unable to give you more definite information at present; but you may rest assnred that it will be a decided improvement on the present Code. I am sure yeu will all agree with me that these improvements have not come before they were wanted, for it is an undeniable fact that the present Evening School Coda is detrimental to the success of evening schools, and, I have no hesitation in stating that they will never be a success until these restrictions are removed. The non-success of our evening schools during this last winter was due in a very great measure to the same cause. I trust, however, that ere long we shall see these evening school examinations done away with, and the grant paid on the average attendance indepen- dent of age above the half-time limit. One of the greatest things undertaken by the N.U.T. during the year was that of Parliamentary representation. I It is to be regretted that Mr. Yoxall did not succeed at Bassetlaw, still we must not be cast down, because we have failed in eur first en- deavour but rather let us labour more energeti- cally for the next occasion. One thing, however, we did accomplish, and that was that in nearly every constituency throughout England and Walea the candidates were compelled to acknow- ledge that our Associations, in conjunction with our Union, possessed a power which it would have been very unwise on their part to ignore, and consequently wo succeeded in obtaining a pledge of support from more than one half of the present members of Parliament. This is one proof that our Association has not been formed in vail*. THE SUPERANNUATION SCKBKS would not have met with the gratifying reception it did had it not been for the strenuous {>xeraon,s of the Executive, who sought by every means in their power to enlist the sympathy and support, of several well-known M.P.'s, principally among whom I may mention the names of Sir Richard Temple and Sir William Hart Dyke. Our thanks are certainly due to the former gentleman for the very able manner in which he introduced the measure, a.nd I feel sure he will carefully watch its progress through committee, and do all he can for the' benefit of the teacher. J might go on and enumerate many more important matters which have occupied the attention of the N.U.T., but I think I have said quite sufficient to convince you that the Union to which we have the honour and the privilege to belong has done good work in the past, and I feel sure that it will con- tinue to do good work in thn future. Last year upwards of 5,000 teachers were enrolled, and I do not see any reason why this number should not be largely increased this year. Anyhow. I hope the teachers in this district will see the necessity of joining at once, not only for their own benefit but for the whole community at large. As an Associa- tion wa may possibly have left undone the things which we ought to have done, and done those things which we ought not to have done; still there is some life in us, and I think if we could only break through this bashfulness on the part of the gentlemen and the solemn reserve on the part of the ladies, we may yet be able to infuse a little more animation into our meetings. In con- clusion. I would strongly impress on our young members the desirability of attending more regu- larly to the meetings, and taking an active share in the work, for in this way they will become better acquainted with all the leading educational topics, and consequently better fitted to take their share in after life in the great progessive scheme of educa- tion. (Loud applause.) Mr. Higman proposed a hearty vote of thanks to *the President for giving them a resume of the year's work. Mr. Higman-also gave a brief outline of the work of the forthcoming Conferenee. Mr. Evans seconded, alluding to the necessity for all the members taking a more active part in the discussions, in order to give them new life in the future. If they could not get more interesting discussions they must be content with smaller attendances. THE ELECTION OF VICE-PRESIDENT. Mr. W. H. Taylor had very great pleasure in proposing that Mr. E. T. Williams be vice-presi- dent for the ensuing year. He proposed him, in the first place, because during the past year he had shown a great deal of interest in the associa- tion, and attended a good many meetings. Mr. j Williams was also an assistant. That association consisted mainly of assistants they had an head- master as president for last year, and one for the present, and he thought they might have a change. In the Cardiff Association an assistant master held the position. Mr. Whitehouse seconded. The resolution was not put with the idea of putting the assistants against the headmasters. The proposition was carried, and Mr. Williams thanked the association for the honour they had done him. THE SECRETARYSHIP. Mr. Hitman moved that the secretary be. asked to take office for another year. Mr. Thorpe had had a year's experience, and without any help at all he would be perfectly capable of carrying OJl. the work of the Association. Mr. Ewbank seconded. Mr. Thorpe said he would be very pleased to take the office during the coming year. He had some thought of retiring from the office a month ago then it struck him that the Association was not really established as it ought to be before they could have a flourishing Association, and he afbar- wards decided to continue the office for a time. ELECTION OF COMMITTEE. The committee was elected as follows:—Mr. H. Whitehouse. Mr. Rudmerson, Miss Lowther, Miss Fleming. Mi«3 Woods. Mr. R. S. Evans, Mr. J. A. Jones, with the President, ex-President, and vice- President as standing members. ADOPTING OF RULES. The standing rules were adopted with the amendments, that the Association be called the Barry District Teachers Association, instead of Barry and District Teachers Association; that the subscription be 8s. 6d. instead of 7s. that the meetings be held the fir t Saturday in the month in rotation at the different schools, but that during the summer months the meetings should be held bi-monthly. ELECTION OF RESPRESENTATIVES. The President, ex-President, and; Vice-President were elected as representatives to confer with the Cardiff representative*. — .f MMMMTwmr-Tix-tiTiTvrT ■■ 11111 111111111111 min'r"" AN APPLICATION WITH THE DISTRICT UNION. On the proposition of Mr. Higman, seconded by Mr. Evans, it was decided that the Association should be affiliated with tM Glamorgan, Carmar- then. and Pembroke District Unions, and that the President, and ex-President were elected delegates to the Union. NEW MEMBERS. The following were elected members of the, Association :—Miss Evans (Barry Girls' School), Miss Court (Cadoxton Girls' School), and Mr, Earnest Jones (Barry Boys' School). At the conclusion of the meeting tea was par- taken of in an adjoining schoolroom, to which a large number of teachers sat down. Afterwards a. social evening was held. Amongst those present were Misses Wilcox, Fleming, Jones, Llewellyn, Lewis, Woods, Lowther, Morgan, Merriman, Jeffreys, Rawles, Lester. Morgan, Court (2), Evans, Williams. Davies, and Messrs. T. Higman, Ewbank, E. T. Williams, Whitehouse, Thorpe, Jones, Taylor, James, Hughes, Roch, Janes (Barry). Evans, Siidmerson, &c. The enjoy- ment of the evening was much enhanced by songs eungs by Mr. W. II. Taylor. Mr. James, Mr. Evans, &c. Messrs Ernest Jones and Thorpe ably accom- panying. THII BARRY TEACHERS' TENNIS CLUB. The annual meeting of the Barry Teachers' Tennis Club was held on Saturday afternoon after the teachers' tea. Mr. T. Higman. occupied the chair, and presided over a well-attended meeting. The account sheet, which showed a slight deficit, of the club was read and adopted. The rules of last year, after a few alterations were accepted. Mr. Higman was re-elected president Mr. Ewbank and Mr. E. T. Williams vice-presidents secretary, Mr. Whitehouse; committee, Messrs. Thorpe, Jones, Taylor, Evans, Miss Lowther, Miss Flemming, Mies Lester, and Mr. Whitahouse succaeded in obtaining- a goodly number of mem- bers for the coming year.

BRIDG END NOTES.

PRIMROSE LEAGUE MEETING AT…

LICENSING APPLICATION FROM…

BARRY BILL.

AT WENVOE.

ST. LYTIIAFS.

OUR LADY FRIENDSi

AROUND PEIARTH.

[No title]

[No title]

-.-.-.--.---.",.u'-EXPORTS…

Family Notices

[No title]

(CONGL Y CYMRY.

Y BWRDD YSGOL A " CHYMRO CYWIR."

[No title]