PRIMARY SCHOOL MATTERS.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20099, 1 December 1930, Page 4

PRIMARY SCHOOL MATTERS.

HEADMASTERS MEET. EXAMINATIONS DISCUSSED. At the meeting of th<j Canterbury Headmasters' Association the opinion was unanimous that the spirit of culture and tho spirit of freedom to tlie teacher, about which so much was written in the new syllabus, were mere expressions of hopes that could never be realised as long as the proficiency examination was allowed to dominate tho educational field in the primary schools of New Zealand. 'I here was a. general agreement that Standard VI. work had called for too much of the headmaster's time, to the detriment of the other divisions of tho school. The sudden dropping of the Dominion survey of Standard VI. work had, it Was maintained, a detrimental effect on this year's examination, as inspectors had been called upon to do a lot of unexpected work with very little time in which to do it. This had resulted in somo of the papers being unevenly balanced. Drawing examinations in Canterbury this year contained six sections of a widely different nature, all of which had to be attempted, this entailing a big task for tho pupils, and one in which the element of faticue entered. fe Headmasters present were generally agreed that teachers in charge of Standard VI. still found that Cramming was the most potent means by which the obstacle of proficiency examinations was surmounted, and the nature of tho examination was blamed for this. Tho system of examination was a failure, maintained the headmasters. They also agreed in the opinion that the system of awarding marks in the various subjects was in urgent need of re-adjustment as somo carried too many marks in comparison with others. Arithmetic still dominated by virtue of the high marks which were obtained. Nominally composition carried as many marks as arithmetic, but in practice by far the larger number went to the latter, as inspectors and headmasters were sliy of awarding high marks . in composition.

Junior Higli Schools. Members of the Association, discussing aspects of the junior high school system. maintained that the work set down in the curriculum for the junior high schools could be carried out quite successfully in the top Standards of the primary schools if the necessary staffing were provided. It was pointed out that experiments carried out by several headmasters along the lines recommended in the new syllabus regarding exploratory courses in iorms I. and 11. (Standards V. and VI.) had been quite successful. The opinion was expressed that given the opportunity the bigger primary schools would . a "'e to extend that work. With a view to having this extension of the exploratory courses made possible a motion was passed that the Canterbury -kaucation Board be approached and asked that two post-graduato student teachers be appointed next year as specialists in teaching French in Forms Christchu'rch. SCh °° lS " ai '° Und » B °? rd agrees to the proposal a suitable time-table will bo arrangod services g /°^ PS ° f Schools 80 that «ic specialist teachers may >JC lully utilised.