ALEXANDRA SCHOOL.

Dunstan Times, Issue 758, 27 October 1876, Page 3

ALEXANDRA SCHOOL.

(TO THE EDITOR OP THE DUN3TAN TIMES.) Sir, —ln a letter which appeared in your issue of the 20th instant, signed “An Alexandra Boy,” the writer says very few of the parents are satisfied with the teacher ; if that is true it must he because the parents understood Mr Reid’s simple method of teaching, hut are quite bewildered with Mr Goulding’s—as an instance :he put the highest class into analysis, but as none of us ever heard of analysis before, and as some of the parents said the teacher was only' making a fool of us big boys and girls, fifteen years of age, writing about a subject and a predicate, as if that was any use to us, but as even those who were willing to learn, could not understand what he meant he was oblidged to give it up for the present The highest class is studying the capes and havs in geography, the nouns and adjectives in grammar, and the.most of us are put back ,k-into large hand in writing, and the rcmaindi r to strokes, and at the last examination only one passed even in those simple lessons, and as our answers are all given in writing, and the writings sout home to our parents, they have now found out we are all duneos ; but surely that cannot bo Mr Gouiding’s fault, as ho has only been here three months. For my part, I liked our late teacher s style bast; tho boys used to say he was a shingle short, but I think all teachers should be a shingle short, for we get such jolly fun with them. We did not require to breake down the fences for fun in those days, we had such fun with him. The writer, when writing about the fence, forgot to say we broke it down on three different occasions, and the last time we had tho best fun of all, it was at a tea meeting held in aid of the Church, and while the Hev. Mr Drake was thanking Heaven that the parents and children of Alexandra were so very good, and abusing the Cromwell Aurgus for sayin' anything against them, wo were busy fi iug down the standards, aud as the rev. gentleman finished his oration the fence fell w.th a loud clang. But we must not take too much credit to ourselves for the inven(ition, as we were strongly advised to break it down every time it was put up by Mr Rico and bis companions tbo night they gave him the supper before leaving Alexandra ; it is only our mothers who say it was wrong to dp it, and who cares for what they say. Mr Finlay, the Chairman of the School Committee, was appointed by tho rest of tho members to get tho fence errected once more, but suppose we have put the foir of death in him, as nothing has been done to it, and since that good advice by Mr Rico and bis companions we have had some fine larks ; we tried our hand on a Chino man, and nearly nocked his eye out, but the policeman interfered, so wo had to leave it off, and the cleverest boy in the school had to hide for a week or two,—not tho cleverest at his lessons, as ho has been ton years in tho school and only in tho third class. Some say we will get on famously now, as there are few teachers in New Zea land like our present one, if wo only pay attention.— 1 am, etc.. An Alexandra Dunce. [Tho above is verbatim as written, and stamps the writer as a veritable dunce.— Ed. D.T ]