ISLAND ROAD
GOVERNMENT
SCHOOL,
ABERDEEN
▼ 11
IL
11
This
new Government primary school was officially opened by the Hon. Sir Shouson Chow, Kt., LL. D., on the 11th September, 1953. It is the second Government school to be opened in Aberdeen since the end of the war; the first was opened in 1950. and is housed in buildings originally intended to be a fish curing station. The syllabus of the latter is specially designed for children who are un- likely to continue their education beyond the primary stage. Emphasis is placed on practical rather than ac- ademic studies, and special considera- tion is given to the children of fisher-
men.
Photograph of the exterior of the school.
the site towards the end of 1952 but, owing to damage from heavy rain, this was delayed until early in 1953.
Junior Technical School.
or
collected $30,000.00, which they offer- a woodwork room for boys will allow ed to Government as a donation to practical training to go hand in hand wards the site formation costs. Gov- with academic training in the class- ernment accepted this offer and un- rooms. The academic training will dertook to provide the balance of be sufficient to allow able pupils to With an enrolment of over 400 the money required for completing pass
on to the Anglo-Chinese pupils, the school did not, however, the whole project. Work started on Chinese secondary schools, or to the provide sufficient accommodation for children of primary school age in this thriving and growing fishing port on the south side of Hong Kong Island. It became increasingly evident that to cater for the expand- ing educational requirements of the local community, it would be neces- sary to enlarge the existing premises or to provide a new and modern building.
During the last few years, efforts have been directed at securing this additional accommodation. The local Kaifongs started a building fund for a new co-educational school and
"The building should serve а In his opening speech, Sir Shouson tion of the primary school This hall, wider purpose than the accommoda- Chow said: "This fine new school, for example, may well develop into a with accommodation for 480 pupils, centre of communal activity, whilst should be a great stimulus to educa- the classrooms and practical rooms tion in Aberdeen. The building is in may in future accommodate evening accordance with modern ideas and courses in carpentry, child care, the education to be provided will be home nursing, etc." on modern lines. A six-year primary course will be given which will be The new school has been built on complete in itself and which will a plot of ground at the back of Tin give very full consideration to local Hau Temple on Island Road, at the needs and to local living conditions. western end of the town of Aberdeen A domestic science room for girls and overlooking the dockyard. The site was formed out of a hill, the topo- graphy of which indicated that long and narrow strip would be the most economical shape. Unfortunate- ly, this does not allow for adequate playing field space, but, this could only have been obtained at a very high cost in site formation.
Another view of the new school's exterior.
a
In the course of forming the site, it was found that the soil in the hill at the west end contained а large quantity of silt which, when saturat- ed as in a heavy rain, liquified and caused landslides. It was imperative then that water should be drained off before saturation of the soil oc- curred. The effected cutting was sub- sequently formed into terraces and surface water channelled to a catch- pit by cross drains at the foot of each terrace; a rubble cross drain was constructed under each cross drain to take the underground seepage. The entire surface of the cuttings was turfed so as to stabilize the top soil.
The design follows fairly closely those of other Government schools, and a particular family resemblance
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