CHRISTMAS PRIZES.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2715, 21 December 1882, Page 3

CHRISTMAS PRIZES.

BOYS' HIGH SCHOOL

The annual distribution of prizes to the pupils of the above school took place last evening in the upper class room of the school, in the presence of a large number of the parents and friends of the pupils, the room being crowded. Mr W. Montgomery, M.H.R. (chairman of the Canterbury College Board of Governors),presided, being supported on the platform by the following gentlemen : —Mr J. Inglis (chairman of the Board of Education), Professor Von Haast, Professor Cook, and Professor Bickerton. Mr T. Miller, M.A., head master, and the other masters of the school also occupied seats on the platform. The Chairman, in opening the proceedings, said this was the second year that the school had been in existence. Last year there were only two terms. The first term of last year commenced with eighty-three pupils, and the second term with ninety. This year in the first term there were 114 pupils, in the second 121, and in the third 125. This increase in the number of pupils necessitated additions to the staff, and he was happy to say that the present staff was a most . efficient one. The head master, they all knew, was thoroughly efficient, and he himself had selected all his assistants. No appointment had been made by the Board except on his recommendation. Out of the eight masters employed in the school, seven were graduates of Universities. This showed that they had not only perseverance and ability so far as scholastic attainments

were concerned, but also had the necessary training-, and the headmaster, being himself a teacher of long standing, took care that the work of the school was conducted 1 in a most efficient manner, as the reports would show. Last year there was no examination of the school examiners appointed by the Board 4 because the school had not->goc into proper working order. This year the Board of Governois of Canterbury College, who were entrusted with the management of the school, had requested four professors to undertake the duty of those gentlemen being experts, in education and gentlemen of high character and great attainments. Those reports he would read. He wished particularly to read the report of the In-spector-General of Schools. Parents would know that the school being endowed by the Government was in reality a State school, andsthe Inspector-General, therefore^: examined the school annually, and serft-in a report to the Minister of Education. He then read the following reports : Education Department, Wellington, 16th November, 1882. The Hon. the Minister ofJSducation. Boys' High School, Christchurch. —I visited this school on the 3rd ultima. The number of pupils has increased from about 90 to about 130 since I was there last year. Twelve boys are preparing for'the matriculation examination of this year. The staff, consisting of the head master and five" others, besides visiting masters for French and music, is in every respect adequate to the requirements of the school. German is taught by the head master and the French master, and is an alternative subject with Greek. Physical science is taught by the mathematical master. The timetable is so arranged that the whole school is receiving instruction'in Latin at the same time, the mathematics of the whole school being taken together at another time, and the English at another. In this way the pupils can be classified in each subject, aocording to their attainments in it. All the boys learn Latin, but some less than others, according as it appears more necessary for the individual pupil to devote more or less attention to mathematics as a partially alternative subject. The organisation and the tone of the school are excellent, and good progress is being made. (Signed) Wb. Jas. Habens.

Canterbury College, December 19th, 1882.

I have the honor to report on the science work of the Boys' High School. The papers set were chemistry, first and second physics, physical geography, botany and animal physiology. Taken as a whole the work is exceedingly well done. The chemistry is especially good. The papers of the boys who have attended the whole year show the best elementary work I have examined in the colony. Those boys who have attended only one or two terms fall so much behind that it is evident they had best begin again. The first physics papers are very well done, but the advanced work not quite so well. It is evident, however, that the paper set interpreted the work too severely, but as it is the advanced work does no discredit to the school. I regret that I am not able to speak so highly of the botany papers as of the other work. In physical geography I did not examine in the general phenomena, the questions were confined to the first half of Dr. Page's •'Text Book." This work was very well done and even in its character. Some of the papers in physiology were remarkably good, and the general standard high, but the work was somewhat uneven. The whole of the papers have been set strictly from the text books used in the school. In future I think it would be a better test of the general acquaintance with the subject if about a third of the questions were of a general character, and the remainder upon the text book used. In conclusion I have much pleasure in stating that I consider the science work of the school to be on a very satisfactory footing. I append a table of per centages. (Signed) A.W. Bickekton.

To the Chairman of the Board of Governors.

Sir, —I have the honor to submit my report on the English and French of the Boys' High School for 1882. In English the fifth or highest form has gained much the highest average percentage, and reaches a good matriculation standard —as high indeed as might be expected from the highest form of a school only two years old. The two lowest forms stand next in the percentage of marks they have gained, and if a little more attention had been paid to the meanings of the words in their reading book they would have attained as high a percentage as the fifth. The upper third, the lower third, and the fourth are the weakest parts [of the school, in this subjecfrr-the fourth being especially weak in the English literature they have done. But I have noticed that it is generally the middle divisions of a secondary school that are weakest, as the most advanced pupils of the lower forms are moved up during the session into them, whilst the least efficient pupils remain behind in them. I would suggest that, if it could be managed, more time should be given to English in the lower classes, as there are so many boys iii them who will go out into the world without reaching the upper forms or making any attempt at preparation for University work. I would also suggest that in all the classes practice in composition, especially in the subjects connected with the books the pupils are reading, should be above all things attended to, as it is by far the most useful part of the work they d<-. and _as constant practice, along with caroi'ul criticism and wide reading, is all that is needed to give most boys ease in writing their own language. In French the lower forms take the best place, the lower first receiving the highest percentage, and the junior French, or class for beginners, standing next. The first French and the upper second (G) French come next; the third French and the upper second (A) French have a lower percentage ; whilst the second (A) French is lowest of all, having as low a percentage as the English literature of the fourth form. The French is, on the whole, not quite so well done as the English, gaining over the whole school 2£ per cent. less. Its weakest point in the upper classes is translation, and in the lower pronunciation. In the middle classes more attention should be paid,_not only to translations from English into French but also to Grammar. As this is the first year the school has been examined, I have no standard within the school itself with which to compare this year's work. The only standard of comparison I can adopt is the Girls' High School examination, or the entrance examination of the University. This latter would be relevant only to the upper classes, and in English I have made the comparison. The Girls' High School examination is the only standard applicable to the whole school; but as the Girls' High School is five years old, it far surpasses the Boys' High School in both quantity and quality of work, and it would be obviously unfair to compare a school newly established, and made up of such heterogeneous elements as it is, with one that has been so long established, and has become one of the best secondary schools, if not the best in the colony. The only fair comparison would be with the Girls' High School at its first examination, and it will be found from the appended table of comparison that the quantity of work done by the Girls' School in 1878 is much the same as that done by the boys' school this year, whilst the slightly lower percentage of the latter is doubtless due to the continual iniiux of new boys into the school during the past year. I have no doubt that when the school has reached its final form, and has been as long established as the Girls' High School, it will take as high a high a place as that now does. (Signed) J. M. Brow*i.

Canterbury College, December. 1882. To the Chairman of the Board of Governors. Sir, —I have the honor to present you with my report of the examination of the Boys' High School, in so far as it was conducted by me. I examined in Latin, Roman History, English and European History, and Greek. Latin. —Form lower first —The work was well done, showing both grammatical accuracy and intelligence as well. Form upper first —The work was not nearly so well done relatively speaking as in the form below. There were fewer unseen words in the paper, but the form as a whole did not attack such difficulties so well as the lower first. Form lower second—The work was satisfactory. In this and the two lower forms there was a certain amount of unevenness about the work which seems to point to the desirability of greater subdivision of the forcns, but with the present small staff of masters this would be impossible. At the same time it is a very serious evil to have practically two classes or more in one form. The forward boys must be pushed with one hand, and the backward boys must be pulled with the other at one and the same time. The master's energy is thus divided, and his work almost doubled in the most distressing manner, because he feels all the time that the dead weight of the backward boys is sure to tell if he does his duty honestly by the whole form. Form upper second —The work in this form was quite satisfactory, and calls for no further remark. Form third—The work

was satisfactory with tiie exception of a tendency on the part of rather too many of the boys to translate the Latin without making- sense of it. But this is a fault which takes a long time to eradicate from hoys when they have once been allowed to fall into it, and one from which the school is strikingly free, Fourth —The work was such as to make an examiner's duty most pleasant. The composition was accurate, and there was an unusual amount of knowledge and interest in-the subject matter of the authors »ead. The boys of this form translated some of *the finest passages of Virgil, not only withaccuracy, buttalso with a refinement of expression that was in no small degree worthy of the beautiful words before them. The practice of accurate and cultivated translations is one of the distinctive features of English scholarship. It doubles the value of linguistic study as a means of culture, and goes far to prevent such study from degenerating into the curious pedantry of verbal criticism, it is therefore most welcome to anyone who is interested in education to fmdjthat this habit has been acquired not only, by one or two boys of exceptional ability, but by a whole form. At the same time the grammar paper which was set through the whole school shows that the work is founded on a substantial basis of accurate knowledge. The Board of Governors will, no douht, remember that these results have been attained in spite of the fact that the school has not yet existed long enough to train its own highest scholars. To anybody who has been behind the scenes of school work, this argues an amount of exertion by the small staff of masters, which is very inadequately represented by th<i hours of work on the time-table. I feel perfectly certain that there is a good deal of work done by the staff «f this school which is not in the bond, so to speak, and I feel equally sure that somewhere on the staff work is being done at very high pressure. It is simply impossible to attain such results otherwise. The danger is that this high pressure may become excessive, especially if the school increases. The consequences will be that the staff will be overtaxed or their energies too much divided, and the next year's results may fall below this year's. This is by no means an uncommon occurrence in the history of newly founded schools, and I know nothing more disheartening to all those who are interested in then* progress. Roman History—This subject was taken up by forms IV., 111., and upper 11. The work done was satisfactory, and seemed to show that the boys had been led to think for themselves on the historical importance of recorded facts, not merely to store their memories with a list of occurrences more or less connected. English and European history—The remarks in Roman history apply to this subject as far as Forms IV. and 111. Between Forms 111. and Upper 11. there was a considerable difference in the quality of the work done, and from Upper 11. downwards the results were [rather meagre. Greek — The study of Greek labors under great difficulties at the Boys' High School. There are only eight boys learning it, and their attainments are so varied that they have to be divided into at least four different classes. In spite of this the elementary knowledge is sound, and the work of the only form which has yet advanced as far as Greek play is scholarly. I think it is to be regretted that even boys who are not intended for a career at the University do not take up Greek. The early difficulties of the language are enormously over-rated. It possesses what Latin has not, namely, abundance of easy reading of a kind which is interesting to boys, and stores of deeper literature which are without parallel in valueto men, whatever may be their occupation in life. I have, &C.j (Signed) F. W. Haslam.

: The reports spoke for themselves, and comment from, him would he out of the question. Although the school had only been in existence a year and a half, the reports showed not only that the teaching had been good, but that great attention had been paid by the pupils to the subjects taught, and it gratified him very much, as one of the Board, to be able to regard the reports as highly satisfactory. Parents must recognise that a new school like this required time. As yet it had neither a fifth form in Latin nor a sixth in English, and when it had reached that stage he ventured to say that it would show that it had been creditably conducted, and that the masters had deserved well of the country, the province, and the Board who had engaged them. [Cheers.] It was at the instance of the Professors of Canterbury College that the Governors moved in the matter of establishing the school. The Professors saw that it was necessary that there should be a State school—the same as the College was a State institution—where boys might receive an education fitting them to enter upon a University career, and the Governors also considered that it was necessary to have a school where a sound and liberal education could be procured by boys who wished to leave at sixteen or seventeen years of age for the purpose of going into business, or following the ordinary pursuits of life, with every prospect of success so far as an educational training would allow them. The Board of Governors, in their desire to make the school a success, placed the fees as low as they possibly could consistent with providing sufficient funds to pay an efficient staff and the ordinary expenses of the school. He might remark that there were no extras charged in the school. He himself would like to see the secondary education of the colony absolutely and completely free, the same as it was in America. But until that was the case the Board had to use the endowment which the State had given it, make it go as far as possible, and then eke it out with the fees that were obliged to be charged for tuition. Drawing was taught in the School of Art, and there was no charge for it. At the instance of the head-master an instructor had been engaged to teach swimming, a bath being attached to the scheol of suitable dimensions. The governors were about to erect a drillshed, so that the boys could be drilled in wet weather.

Mr Miller (head-master), who was received with loud and continued cheering, addressed a few remarks to the parents and pupils, concluding by saying that if the High School was to be a school at all, it must be the school of the town, and he hoped it would be welcomed as such. It was not merely those who had boys in the school who would regard it with favor, but as time went by the town would take the school to itself, and the school and the boys would prove themselves worthy of the town. [Cheers.]

Mr Montgomery then presented the prizes to the boys according to the following list : Latin—Lower 1 E. Morris, Upper IS. K. Slocombe, 2 P. J. Wilkinson, Upper 2 M. W. Butterfield, 3 W. Tait, 4 J. C. Miller. Mathematics—Lower 1 F. G. Cuddon, Upper 1 C. Turrell, Lower 2 G. Arnutage, Upper 2 P. E. Willis, 3 C. W. Garrard, 4 R. Speight. English—l L. Appleby, 2W. Moir, Lower 3 E. Norris, Upper 3 W. J. Doherty, 4 M. W. Butterfield and G. ven Haast equal, 5 R. Speight. French —Junior A. Maclaren, Lower 1 b. K. Slocombe, 1 F. E. Willis, 2 ff. Joynt, Upper 2a R. Speight, Upper 2a T. Bailey, 3 W. Montgomery. Science—l physics W. Boag, 2 physics W. Montgomery, chemistry F. J. G. Wilkinson, botany A. W. Newton, physiology W. Boag, geography F. J. G. Wilkinson.

History and Geography—E. M. Sandstein, E. Dobson, R. P. Clarkson, A. E Allison, C. W. Garrard. Book-keeping Lower Division A. D. Ellis, Upper Division A. S. Bruce. Singing—H. H. Pounds. Drawing Lower Division G. Croniie, Upper Division A. W. Newton. Perfect Reports J. H. Smith, J. D. Piper.

After the presentation of the prizes the following programme was gone through in a very creditable manner, the musical portion being under the direction of Mr Sims: —" Come Boys be Merry/.' (Anon). "The Private of |the Buffs" (F. H.Doyle), Greenstreet. " Harold"—Act 2, Sc. 2 (Tennyson) : Officer, Arinitage; William of Normandy, Montgomery ; Harold, Kirk ; Malet, Greenstreet. "La Laitiere tst le Pot-au Lait" (Lafontaine), Butterfiild. 1 " Henry IV.—Act 1, Sc. 2—(Shakespeare) : Henry, Prince of Wales, Frank Watson ; Sir John Falstaff, G. Von Haast j Poins, Miller. "Heart's Desire" (Volks lied). I"Henry IV.—Act 2, Sc. 2, t—(Shakespeare) : Henry, Prince of Wales, Prank Watson ; Sir John Falstaff, G. von Haast; Poins, Miller; Gadsbill, van Aseh-; Bardolph, C. Calcutt; Peto, Ford ; Francis, Thomas; Vintner, Wilkinson; First Tra veller, J. Moir; Other Travellers, H. Matson, A. Bailey, J. von Haast. " Duxe Domum."