Education.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 229, 29 January 1876, Page 8

Education.

The various public schools in Wellington City were opened for the first time on Tuesday after the Christmas holidays, and at each there was a good average attendance. There were ■' no formalities, and work was commenced at once in all, if we except the Thorndon school, at which Mr. Mowbray is head master. Here the head master addressed the boys, and counselled diligence during the year they had now entered upon. He also explained a new system of marks he was about to introduce. At the conclusion of his remarks he experienced a pleasant surprise, one of the scholars coming forward and on behalf of the school presenting him with an opera-glass as a mark of respect. The building above the Terrace, formerlyused as the grammar school, has been completely renovated and furnished, and was opened on Tuesday last as a school in connection with the Education Board, and under the charge of Mr. and Mrs. Young, late of Kaitoke. The school is admirably situated in a fine airy healthy position, commanding a magnificent view, and with ample space around for a playground. A new road is being formed to it from the Terrace, which will not only be a convenience to the school, but also a most pleasant promenade. Mr. and Mrs. Young bring with them a high reputation as teachers. Mr.°lnspector Lee's report of the Kaitoke school, under their care, was highly eulogistic. He said in his report :—" 5. Kaitoke.—Best results in the province. This school more than maintains its former efficiency. The whole work is sound, accurate, and well presented." Under the able conduct of Mr. and Mrs. Young we have no doubt the Terrace school will soon be one of the most largely attended and most efficient in the city. The fourth annual distribution of prizes in connection with St. Joseph's School, Boulcottstreet, took place on Wednesday, in the presence of a great many of the parents and patrons of the school. Yearly rewards of merit to the pupils have become established in this school, and they were principally supplied heretofore by Mrs. Sharp, but that benevolent lady being at present in England, the prizes necessary for this year were supplied by Mrs. O'Shea. The latter lady, in presenting the prizes, explained that Mrs. Sharp had not forgotten them this year either, although being miles away, and that a handsome collection of prizes had been made by that lady in London, from which they were tohave been shipped by the Somersetshire, which sailed on the 22nd November last, but as the children may have been beginning to get tired of waiting, she tried to obtain'some fitting presents in Wellington, and that Mrs. Sharp's prizes would be held over until next year. Before Mrs._ O'Shea left she promised the children a pie-nic at the Hutt, on or about St. Patrick's day. Father O'Reilly, on behalf of Mr. Hurley and his pupils, briefly returned thanks to Mrs. O'Shea for her kindness, and stated that he was authorised to inform her that the children would not be unmindful of her kindness. Mr. O'Shea spoke in cheering terms to those who failed in obtaining prizes, and reminded them that all could not win, but that they could next year, for a change would be made in the programme of examination, by which all children who made over a certain per centage would receive premiums. Cheers having been given for Mrs. O'Shea, Father O'Reilly, Mrs. Sharp, and the ladies, the proceedings terminated. BOARD OF EDUCATION. A meeting of the Board of Education was held at the Education Offices on Wednesday. Present : The Hon. C. J. Pharazyn (chairman), Messrs. Beetham, Gisborne, and Toomath. MINUTES. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. FINANCE. The overdraft at the bank was stated to be, as per Secretary's ledger, £lOBl 10s. 10cl., as per bank-book, £ll9O, the discrepancy being accounted for by the fact that the Secretary had been advised of several payments in favor'

of the Board, which had been made at country branches, but of which the bank had not been advised. The Secretary also stated that he had obtained an extension of the permission to overdraw up to £2OOO. £3OOO of the rate had been collected, so that £SOOO was yet to come in. WEST MASTERTON. It was stated the new school was to be erected upon ground to be given by Mr. Crayne and others. CASTLE POINT. A letter was read from the Rev. J. C. Andrew respecting the tenders for the erection of a school at Castle Point. The Board had set aside a sum of £6OO for this work, but the tenders sent in were one from Mr. Mitchell, offering to do the work upon a plan of his own for £690, and another from Richardson and Napier, of Tenui, tendering to build school premises according to the specifications of the Board's architect for £727. These were considered excessive, and it was decided to communicate with the Rev. Mr. Andrew,.flieniber for the district. He now wrote saying that, although the tenders were in excess of the amount set aside by the Board, yet he thought the tenders not out of the way, and something should at once be done. The district had to make shift too long with the services of a peripatetic teacher. He was very glad to see that the school was to be a kind of boarding school. The Chairman remarked that the people in the district were not subscribing anything. The Secretary : They have paid rates for three years, and have had no return for it. The Chairman : I have paid rates, and I have had no return.

The Secretary : But the district in which you live has. The Chairman : That is not a direct return ; and if the people of this district have subscribed, the province has got the money. The Secretary : They won't look at matters in that light. Mr. Gisborne moved that the plans be referred to Mr. Toxward, the architect, to see if they could be so altered as to bring the expenditure down somewhat. The Inspector said the plan embraced a schoolhouse, teacher's residence, and boarding establishment, therefore he did not see how the cost could be very much less. Mr. Gisborne's motion was carried. TERRACE SCHOOL. Mrs. Young wrote pointing out that she was only now receiving £75 for taking charge of this large school, although at the comparatively small school of Kaitoke she received £6O. Living was much more expensive in Wellington, and she worked three hours a day more than she did at Kaitoke, and, therefore, she thought the extra £ls was not proportionate to the work nor the expenses. The Inspector said as yet Mrs. Young was an uncertificated teacher—though she was coming up for examination in June —and the salary she was receiving was the maximum fixed by the Board. On the whole, Mr. and Mrs. Young had received good promotion, and there was really no reason for complaint. The Board decided that it could do nothing. GREYTOWN. A letter was received from Mr. Caselberg, chairman of the local committee, asking the Board to provide a well and pump for the school property, and to authorise slight alterations in the furniture. The cost would be £9 or £lO. Agreed to. PARAWANUI. A similar request preferred by Mr. Moore of the local Board, in respect of this school, was also granted, the cost to be about the same.

HOROKIWI. Mr. Hamilton, formerly a supernumerary in one of the city schools, had been sent to take charge of this school, and Mr. McDonald, of the local committee, wrote the Board that an attendance of twenty-eight children would be the result of the change. He asked for the schoolhouse to be repaired. The Inspector advised the Board to wait a little and see how the school got on before expending money. Hitherto, there had been a very small attendance, and the cost per head had been something like £l2 per annum, so that it had almost became a question as to whether the Board should not altogether leave the school. It was to meet such cases as this that he had advocated a system of subsidies to private schools. However, a little time would show whether the school would get on. CARNARVON. The mistress, Miss Ray, forwarded her resignation, which was necessitated owing to ill health. The Inspector stated that her medical man had said she must leave off teaching at once, so that she wished to get away without the usual notice. The resignation was accepted, the Board expressing regret at losing Miss Ray. MR. HURLEY AND THE INSPECTOR. The following letter was read from Mr. Hurley : Boulcott-street School, January 24,1876. Sir I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 17th instant, containing a report from Mr. Lee on correspondence which I have addressed to you in reference to the detention by the Board of £2O per annum of my salary. As his report has been referred to me for explanation, I intend to show in this note how inconsistent his report is in certain respects. The financial year of the Board ends on the 31st March and the Board's new scale of salary commenced on that date; and when I called on Mr. Lee at the office of the Board about that time, he showed me how the new scale would affect the teachers, and read from his schedule, "Mr. Hurley £240." You however, fixed my salary at £220, and when I called on you to know the reason, you said "We arrange the average every six months. If at the end of six months your average is 75, you will get the arrears then due. Accordingly, in forwarding my returns for the month of September, the end of the financial half year, I added under the heading " Remarks," " My average for the last six months is over 75, will you recommend the Board to pay me the arrears due ' I was then made aware for the first time that the half year ended three months previously. It is now over nine months since

the Board's new scale of salary came into operation, and I have not participated in the increase to the extent to which my average entitles me. The Board will not sanction my taking more than 100 pupils, owing to want of accommodation, which by the hardest working will give no more than 73 average attendance, and this is very materially affected in certain months, a i n .Tanuary last. , With regard to the second paragraph in Mr. Lee s report, I am not aware of anything in my correspondence that could have left such an impression in his mind, and I regret its existence. As to the third and last paragraph in the said report, I beg to tender this explanation. My class rolls being those used in the Irish National Schools, and which I have procured at great expense to myself, are sanctioned by you, and by the Inspector at all his previous visits to my school. In these rolls the ages are reckoned by quarters of a year, so that in seventy-five cases out of a hundred the ages set down may not correspond with the children's exact ages. Furthermore, I have to take the ages given me by the children themselves, and where the children are not New Zealanders born, as is the case with a great many in my school, they are not so exact as to birthdays. Mr. Lee examined four children as to their ages. One child s age was set down in the schedule as twelve months under the actual age, and this was explained to Mr. Lee as a clerical error. All the other cases were almost correct in accordance with the quarterly system. Me further said he was not taking ages mto account in his report this year, and that I should reckon ages by the month next year, to which I signified my assent, and he seemed, or rather expressed himself, satisfied. He has made a mistake as to the time my schedules should be made up to. I made them up to the 30tn September, according to his written instructions to me. In conclusion, I would ask the Board to consider that out of forty five pupils last year_ who passed in standard 3, I passed five, and out of ninetyone who have passed this year, I have succeeded m passing six, and I had seventeen in preparation. The largest school in the province has only passed seven in two years, although having more than three times my number ; and I believe there is only one school in the province which exceeds mine in actual numbers, leaving mine the largest as regards per centage in that standard. Two of my pupils who passed standard 3 last year, have since passed very creditably as pupil teachers—equivalent to standard 4. Should there be any other point in the report which I have not sufficiently explained to the satisfaction of the Board, I would deem it a pleasure to have the honor of appearing in person before them, and then and there xplaining it. —I have, &c, ■ Jeremiah Hum-by.

C. C. Graham, Esq., „. ' . Secretary Education Board, Wellington.

In reply to Mr. Gisborne, The Inspector said Mr. Hurley had been treated exactly the same as other teachers had been. Their averages had been struck on the same data, and for the same time as his had been. His present salary was paid according to his average, made up from the returns of the attendance during the six months extending from January to June last year. His last half year's average was now, in common with those of other masters, being calculated, and as he would be paid during the present six months according to the average of the past six months, he would not lose the benefit of a large average during the past year. The thing adjusted itself from one half year to another, and all the other teachers were treated in precisely the same manner. With reference to the incorrectness of the given ages of the children, he (the Inspector) did not desire to press that further. He had merely pointed out the circumstance that the ages were given incorrectly in one instance to the extent of fourteen months, and in other cases less. The question of rolls was quite beside the question. The circumstance was only mentioned to show that Mr. Hurley was not sufficiently careful. It was most necessary to have correct returns given in, or the registers compiled by the Board would be valueless.

The Secretary said he had never known anything about the rolls till the arrival of Mr. Hurley's letter. The Board adhered to its previous resolve not to interfere in the matter, and directed that Mr. Hurley should be informed that the Inspector had conformed with his usual instructions in the course he had taken. HUTT. Mr. Toomath reported that, according to the request of the Board, he had seen Mr. John Martin, and that gentleman had very liberally offered to. give the site of the present school to the Board for educational purposes. He moved that the thanks of the Board be given to Mr. Martin. Agreed to. The Inspector recommended that the Board try to purchase of land adjoining that given by Mr. Martin. That gentleman had given about one-seventh of an acre, but if the additional piece were bought the Board would then have room to build a schoolhouse and residence together. A better site could not be obtained, but a new schoolhouse was necessary. The present was very unsuitable in point of structure, having originally been a block-house. It was dark and desolate, and, there being two floors, a very noisy place ; yet the timber was good, and could be worked in in the re-con-struction. Something much better was wanted. There were 120 children attending the school, and it was becoming one of the most important in the province. It was decided to postpone the matter until Mr. Toomath had seen if it were possible to buy the other piece from Mr. Martin, or whoever it belonged to. buckle-street. The following letter was read from the chairman of the local committee, "W. W Taylor, Esq. January 24, 1876. Gentlemen, —At a meeting of the local committee for the Buckle-street school, held on the 17th inst., it was resolved that the Board be requested to form and gravel the playgrounds of the boys' and girls' schools. Estimate hereunto annexed. 2nd. Also, that the water be immediately laid on, the pipes and fittings being fixed as far as the street fence in Buckle-street. No water at present on th. premises. Estimate hereunto annexed. (Mr. Marchant states £3.) 3rd. Also, that the Board will please furnish the local committee with information regarding Mr. Newlyn's appointment, and under what conditions. W. Waking Taylor, Chairman. To the Chairman and Members of the Education Board, Wellington. It was decided to comply with the second request, and call for tenders for the other work. In respect to the third query, Mr. Gisborne said it seemed Mr. Newlyn thought he was to have charge of the whole school, and he said that not to place the two schools under one head, seeing that all the

children were in the same room, would interfere with discipline. He (Mr. Gisbome) was not able to judge the matter. It would be well for the Inspector to give some information. The Inspector said from the first it had been his intention to recommend to the Board that the two schools should be separate, and when he made the recommendation it was agreed to adopt it. It was the first purely girls' school in town and was upon its trial ; and he was sure no mistress of any standing or any influence would consent to be put under a master. In this case he was not sure that the mistress was not the better teacher of the two. Mr. Newlyn had been making suggestions in various ways, of course with the object of increasing his salary ; but he was now quite as well, even better off than he had been before. He (the Inspector) thought it undesirable to fetter the working of the girls' department, and therefore hoped the Board would not interfere. Mr. Toomath pointed out that Mr. Newlyn was only provisionally appointed. It was decided to inform the local committee that Mr. Newlyn was provisionally.appointed to the charge of the boys' school. The Inspector mentioned that the boys' school was now crowded, and that although the mistress was comparatively strange, there were 80 girls in attendance, while accommodation was provided for 112. However, the Board would see, as time went on, whether the large attendance represented new scholars, or whether other Board schools in the city were suffering. An invitation was received from the school for members of the Board, particularly the city members, to attend the sports and tea on Friday. A question arose as to whether the Board should assist in defraying the expense, but it was decided nothing could be done in respect to a particular school.. The Board then adjourned.