SCHOOL REPORT FOR 1876.

Manawatu Times, Volume II, Issue 32, 7 February 1877, Page 2

SCHOOL REPORT FOR 1876.

"We have received a. copy o£ the yearly report of the inspector; of Schools for the educational district of Wellington, from which, document it appears that, during the past year, the total attendances-has increased from 3,47Q , children ; to 4,081. At the last; e^ininati<«s 3,672 were examined as a coa^Hi||3. with 2,998 for 1875. ''!tuf^S^l23 children passed the?>Pirst,>^B^ard as against 1,666 m 1875^ '^Sic iccrease m standard I. has been from 48 to 52 per cent. ; m standard 11. from 19 to 21 per cent. ; and the increase is still greater m standards 111. and IV. As regards the character of the education imparted, the Inspector finds that the arithmetic throughout the educational districts has generally improved, the work being much more accurate' and more neatly presented: The copy-writing, taken as a wh.bleX is very faulty, which the Inspector attributes to the practice of leaving the children at their writing- while the teacher is engaged m other work. Spelling is generally fairly taught, but is best taught m schools where no one method of teaching it is relied on, but where word-learning by heart, writing from dictation, and spelling the words of the lesson, are all given. The reading throughout the Wairarapa is a wretched mumble ; m Wellington. City it is goocU; m Rangitikei and Manawatu it is very satisfactory. ' The report suggests that honour certificates shoui4.be issued for proficiency m any work taken up over and above what is^put down m the standard schedule, the examination for honours to be held once a year. Prizes, m the shape of books, are provided generally by the local committees, but the report recommends 1 ; the^- Boards to . offer annually four gold and ten silver medals, to be divided equally between boys and girls. v The special report of the schools m the Manawatu County is, upon the whole, a favourable one. The Fo xton school is spoken of ■• m very high terms indeed, both- :as regards the intellectual advancement;, of the children and the 'excellent disQipline maintained m the seKooi. '; , The ," Inspector congratulates thejcommunity m which Mr Hulke labours on the benefits which it is likely to derive from his valuable services: . The Sandori school has iricreiasedjrom 67 to 96 m the year. On "aMbxceedingly wet day 93 musterjjPlor examination, the results ofvgwch were satisfactory. The Eeild^l^school is at a standstill m attendance which is attributed to the fact that the children are taken away too young. 50 left within the year. The Inspector expresses himself disappointed at the low/results, but thinks that when all circumstances, are taken into consideration, especially the low average age, the state of the school is satisfactory. Of the Palmerston school he reports as follows : — " Palmerston School- has increased from 52 to 66 and is "under a master who has been six months m charge. lam still disappointed with the state of school matters at Palmerston. I know the district is young, but there ought to be double the attendance. JSTor is the working condition of the school such as ,1 could wish for. However, Mr Waite has had many difficulties tp contend with; and now thajb a good building will soon be available, I shall hope to report more favourably at my next examination." The Carnarvon school is highly spoken of. 20 children passed a Standard out of 23 attending, the school has increased from 17 to 23, the: Arithmetic -was very well done, and- the fsvhole improvement is attributable to the teaching of Miss : Chatwin. ' The "Waitohi school- had not been opened at the time of the Inspector's visit. It is an assisted school numbering at present about 13 childreir who are under the charge of Jiiss Matthews.