Education.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 226, 8 January 1876, Page 18

Education.

LARGE SCHOOLS C ANTERB CRY AND WELLINGTON. (FROM A CORRESPONDENT.)

Visiting one or two of the larger schools of Canterbury and Wellington for my own information, I observed the working and condition for an hour or so at each, and think some of the facts noted will be of interest to teachers and perhaps to others. The Thorndon and Buckle-street schools, excepting the Te Aro, are the largest in the province of Wellington. The East Christchurch school is not only the largest in Canterbury, but in New Zealand. The Timaru school is, however, very nearly as large. The Thorndon has an attendance of about 240, and was the first large school in Wellington, built nearly twenty-five years ago. The Buckle-street school is quite new, will hold 224 scholars, and the attendance now approaches this number. In Canterbury there are ten or twelve larger than these. The East Christchurch school has only just been completed, is built of stone and wood, and was opened by the Governor the Marquis of Normanby about a month ago. It will hold 1000 scholars, and in a fortnight 1100 names were entered on the books. The Lyttelton borough school is comparatively quite new, built of stone, and has an attendance of about 570 scholars. These were the four schools that I visited. The East Christchurch is, of course, the most imposing, but more from its size than its structure. The Lyttelton borough school is the most substantial and best arranged, but the varnished walls and ceiling of the Thorndon school give it a pleasanter appearance inside than any of them. In both the Canterbury schools there are two floors. The Thorndon school contains two large rooms and two small ; the Buckle-street contains two large rooms only, but they are larger than those of the Thorndon school, being rather more than 50ft. by 20ft. The Lyttelton school contains two very lai’ge rooms, about 60ft. or 70ft. by 22ft., —one in the lower storey and the other in the upper, just above the first, —and, I think, six other rooms, but considerably smaller. The East Christchurch school is pretty equally divided, for boys and girls, and each division is very similar to the other. It is in two storeys, and nearly double the size of the Lyttelton school, contains four large rooms, and, I think, six or eight moderate-sized or comparatively small rooms. The two largeupstair rooms were exactly 30ft. wide, and about 60ft. long. The rooms of the two Canterbury schools opened into one another, when adjoining, as well as into passages or lobbies ; but the Wellington schools have no passages or lobbies. The ventilation of the East Christchurch school was truly excellent. All round the edges of the ceiling in the lower storey were perforations 3in. or 4in. in diameter, which could be closed at pleasure. There seemed to be principally window ventilation in the Lyttelton and Thorndon schools. There is one large ceiling vent in each of the rooms of the Buckle-street school.

The arrangement of the desks presents one main feature common to all. The desks, longitudinally, occupy one half the room, the other half being reserved for class space, in which are the teachers’ desks or tables. The new desks in all these schools are compact, occupying but little space, and are very firm. The desks in the Lyttelton school rise by small gradations, there being small platforms for the back desks. In the East Christchurch school the back desks are higher than the front, but there are no platforms, the desks themselves standing higher. In neither of the Wellington schools (one room excepted) are there any gradations in the height of the desks above the floor ; neither are there any platforms for the teachers to more conveniently overlook the school. The desks of the two Canterbury schools are more handy in their construction for the scholars than are those of the two Wellington —there being vertical openings for the slates, and scooped hollows for pens and pencils in the two former. In the Wellington schools the seats are fixed to the desks ; in the Canterbury schools they are moveable. In the East Christchurch school, certainly, the seats and desks are made of different heights for different classes, and there are two galleries. In the large rooms of the Lyttelton school there are curtains between every block of desks, but nothing of the kind in any of the other three schools. In the East Christchurch school, the teachers have desks of uniform pattern ; in the other three schools, tables. In the Buckle-, street school, I did not notice the provision for hanging hats and bonnets on. In the Thorndon school there are pegs all round the whole school ; in the Lyttelton, the pegs are in lobbies ; in the East Christchurch, the innumerable pegs are in stalls, specially provided. There are chimneys in, I think, every one of the rooms of three schools—the Thorndon being the exception. All the schools were lined, or had solid walls. Lastly, in every room in all these schools there are four rows pf desks,

In the Thorndon school, two scholars have passed the fourth standard, as laid down by the Inspector of Schools, in which a creditable knowledge of the sixth “ Royal Reader” is required. In neither of the two Canterbury schools were the highest classes beyond the fifth “ Royal Reader.” In all these schools, the head masters were very courteous, and showed me all over their schools, and the head master of the Lyttelton borough school,, Mr. Hedge, M.A., Dublin University, most kindly allowed a few questions to be put to his own—the highest—class. In compound proportion, Nos. 21 and 23 of Colenso’s arithmetic were dictated separately, as was also No. 7 of simple interest. The question was “slated” while being dictated, and it was marvellous to see the celerity with which all these sums were worked—all, I think, were “ cancelled ” as far as possible. This indicated arithmetical “ drilling,” such as perhaps is encouraged in Canterbury, but which struck me as taking up time rather unduly. A question set to scholars of the Wellington fourth standard was next putTo analyse “Through his side the red drops fall.” (Byron’s verses on dying Gladiator.) It was analysed in general form correctly by twothirds of the scholars in the class. One Scholar had “ through his side ” as either extension of predicate or indirect object. This was highly satisfactory, and showed that the scholars had given thought to the matter. Four very difficult words from one lesson (Pacific Ocean) of Fifth “ Royal Reader,” were dictated. These words were “coralline,” “discernible,” “diminution,” and “ porous.” Not one scholar wa3 quite correct, though the mistake of one scholar simply consisted of substituting “chorus” for “porous.” One-third of the class had only one mistake. This was but very moderate. The class, however, bad not been taught reading by the head master, but by, I think, the second or third. In neither of the Canterbury schools had any of the scholars taken any of the provincial scholarships. In the Lyttelton school, the highest class were of good average age—perhaps from twelve to sixteen. In three schools, the Thorndon, Buckle-street, and Lyttelton, the scholars rose on my entering the room ; and in one (the Lyttelton) the highest class sat down without being told, immediately on my acknowledging their courtesy. The head master of the East Christchurch school said he considered the practice of children rising on a visitor entering the school objectionable, and had ordered its discontinuance. The discipline of schools is generally relaxed near the holidays ; but it was fair or good in all. The Buckle-street school was very quiet, and the East Christchurch and Lyttelton satisfactorily so. The Thorndon school was fairly quiet, but not so much so astheotherthree. In the Bucklestreet and East Christchurch schools, the discipline seemed to be the result of coercion ; but in the Thorndon, and more especially in the Lyttelton, the discipline seemed to spring either from interest in their lessons, or a sense of the rules of conduct. In the East Christchurch and Buckle-street schools, on the whole the instruction seemed to be given—almost handed as it were—from the teachers to the scholars. In the Thorndon and Lyttelton schools the scholars seemed to acquire their knowledge from communication between themselves and the teachers, the intercourse being in some cases, as it were, reciprocal. In the East Christchurch and Buckle-street schools the scholars seemed to be in fear of the headmasters, and, of course, in a lessened degree of the assistant masters and teachers. In the Thorndon and Lyttelton schools the scholars seemed to be on more genial terms with the teachers. The relationship between the head master of the Lyttelton school and the highest class seemed to be of a most cordial and gratifying character. It is impossible to keep with nicety to an exact statement of facts in a condensed account, and it will therefore be understood that there are some exceptions to some of the general statements put forth. Roughly, the head master of the East Christchurch school. gets nearly £soo' per annum ; of the Lyttelton borough school, nearly £4OO ; of the Thorndon school, £3OO ; and of the Buckle-street school, £240.