REPORT OF THE INSPECTOR OF SCHOOLS FOR THE YEAR 1877.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5330, 27 April 1878, Page 3

REPORT OF THE INSPECTOR OF SCHOOLS FOR THE YEAR 1877.

A 27tb March, 1878. Sir,—Owing to ihe very large-amount o ' extra examination work caused by the in creased attendant, the increase m the num ber of schools toviait, the extra labor mvolvei in the modification which the standards hav< undergone, and/the farther time required foi examination of the:higher standard work, ] have been nibble to completely overtake the i i -3r]c of examination this year. I was abh —V, examine /-U the schools in the "Wanganui ' district, many of the schools in the Pori rut and Hutt districts, and to get through the greater part of the work in the city schooie before the;end of 1877. Since Christman,! ave completed the examination of the Weiiagton pity schools, except the infant departments ; and also examined ail the larger schools in the Waivarapa. The returns of these and a few other schools are for the month of February. There are still eighl small schools unexamiuad, whoso returns cannot be included in this report. I shall, however, endeavor to see them as soon as possible: and if necessary specially report on them They contain in all about 200 children, numbers not sufficiently large to affect my general statement of the whole results for the year. GENERAL STATEMENT OF THE RESULTS OF EXAMINATION. ...There are now 80 schools established under *teoard, of which 78 have teen iu operation ‘ —iinug the past year. , The new school building at Croftou, although completed, has not yet been opened, and the comparatively new school-house at Marangao has been closed throughout the year for lack of sufficient children to form a school. At the beginning - ...of the year there wore 70 schools under the control of the Board, so that 10 new schools nave been opened during the year. Of the 80 schools now under the Board 42 are Wanganui district, and 38 are iu the Wellington district; but the number of children attending the 38 Wellington schools more than doubles the number attending the 42 Wanganui schools. The standard of education taken as a whole is higher in the Wanganui schools than in the Wellington schools. The Wanganui district schools, with few exceptions, are more evenly efficient; whilst iu the Wellington district there are some schools exceedingly good in results, and others exceedingly weak. The total number on the rolls at the end of the year was 5234, an increase on last year’s returns of 1134. I have examined 953 more children this year than last year,' and about 200 more are yet to be examined. On comparing the syllabus of the standards this vear with that of last, it will be seen that the standard has been raised. The results of examination in the work of the amended standards may bo thus stated : —Exclusive of the eight small schools representing about 200 children, which have yet to be examined, there is an increase of 406 passes in Standard I. 303 in Standard 11., 141 in Standard 111., and 38 in Standard TV. Including all the schools, the lowest estimate will give an increase of 500 passes in Standard 1., 350 in Standard 11., 141 in Standard 111., and 38 in Standard IV. Stated broadly the results will thus show an increase of one-fourth hist year’s numbers on the roll, of one-fourth the number of children examined, of one-fourth the Standard £. passes, and of two-fifths the Standard 11. passes. The number of passes in Standard 111. • has increased by seven-eighths of last year’s number, and the Standard IV. passes have trebled in number. Considering the rise in the standards and the increased numbers examined, I look upon the results in Standards L and 11. as fairly satisfactory on the whole, and the results in Standards 111. and IV. as highly satisfactory. I think the time has now arrived when your Board may begin to expect children, to pass standards according to their age. I have, therefore, for the first time given a return of the number of childerca of age to pass each of the first three standards. A comparison of the actual number of passes in any standard with the number of children in each school of age to pass that standard will give a closer means of testing the work ef the school than per centage results on the whole number attending irrespective of age. Rut the data in the latter case are certain, whilst the comparison by age rests upon more uncertain data, as the ages of children are often difficult to obtain. About 50 per cant, of the total number on the books have passed Standard 1., and about 25 per cent, have passed Standard 11. Considering the increased difficulty in passing the standards and the large increase iu numbers attending, the results, as stated in a previous paragraph, are fairly satisfactory in the lower standards. These results would have been greater if some of the larger country schools in the Wellington district had been in a higher state of efficiency. It will be seen from , the table of results appended to this report- that there are 3201 children over eight years of age, and therefore of age to pass Standard I. Now 2539 children, or four-,-ififtba of the whole have actually passed Standard 1., so that this standard is being nearly reached. In a few schools this standard is fully reached, and in one or two large schools it has been quite overtaken, thereby proving the standard to be fairly set and capable of being generally reached. There are altogether 2164 children over ten years of age, and therefore old enough to pass Standard 11. The standard at present is attained by 1153 children, . or rather more than one-half the number of age to pass it. Standard 11. has been overtaken in one or two small schools, but not in any large one. There are 895 children over twelve years of age, and therefore old enough to pass Standard 111. Of this number 309 have actually passed the standard, or rather more than one-third. I thus briefly sum up the whole results in the work of these standards. Four-fifths of the children of age to pass Standard 1., onehalf of those of age to pass Standard 11., and one-third, of those of age to pass Standard 111. are so classed. Although, for, reasons presently to he set forth, there is scope for better work as a whole, still it will he evident from the following table, showing the results of the past four years, that the work of education is progressing by rapid strides in the district under the management of this Board

From this table it will be seen that I have examined twice as many children in 1877 as •ere examined in the beginning of 1871. There are more children classed now in F a ndard IL than were classed in Standard I. -t the beginning of 1874 ; and more children '•-classed in Standard 111. than were classed -dard 11, at the examination in 1874. T advance in higher work is very re- ” markaj.e. Standard 111. results have increased sevenfold in four years, and Standard IV. results eightfold in three years. SPECIAL STATEMENT Of THE RESULTS IN THE : WANGANUI DISTBIOT. Although I am in possession of very detailed Information touching the whole work of the schools, I shall for special reasons coniine my notices of the schools this year to a collective statement, giving particulars in a few necessary cases oily. . . Most of the schools in the Wanganui district are in a fair average condition of efficiency! and; very good work has been done during the past year in many of them. The following are in the front rank of the satisfactory, schools r—Foxton, Harton, Tutaenui, Maldnkiti, Mataongaonga, Mars Hill, Brunswicb, and Waitohi. The girls’ schools at Waaganui, and the schools at Waverley, Tirakira Valley, Greatford, XJpokongaro, - Katoke Waitotara, and Maxwell are doing very satis'ac tory and improving work, I was pleased with this work done for the time school W b-.-j i opened at Moutoa, Karere, Brownlee, K ai, Matarawa, Moston, and Awahuri. The Tarakina school is good in many subjects, and lira. Boddy is evidently a painstaking and tteful teacher for the infant classes. Bulls chool is _ improved,: but the results are not Bgh. Fcilding, although not altogether weak, Sas very low results in Steudard XI, and like 3andon a large number of pupils classed as unss'isfactory ; but in this school, as at Palmerston, there area shifting population and much ■lrregularity of attendance to contend with. The Palmerston school, under the painstaking teaching of the late Mr. Waite, was beginning to show very good work. The work done by .Standard 111 and IV candidates was excellent in all sections ;,'and though much remained to be done in-sthe school to produce high average results in all standards, it was very pleasing to :ie and very gratifying to Mr. Waite to find that Such useful work had evidently been done, and done well. The late Mr. Waite was 3'i efficient, painstaking, conscientious servant of the Education Board, and y/as much respected by his children, X am pleased to state that the efforts made to improve the condition of the Wanganui boys’ school have been successful in producing better general results, although I should like to have seen the work iu the upper classes of a ■ fcttter order, i

There was a marked falling off.in the work at the Sandon school, and the changes made in the teachers at Mount View, Goat Valley, Halcombe, Glen Nevis,. and_ Henlair will open the way to better work being done in the future. ... . . , , The Foxton school was distinguished by capital infant toachiiigK very accurate fractional arithmetic in the ! lugner classes, and, as the master happily remarked,, <l by the absence of dregs.” In the Waitohi school the elementary work was perfect. I was much impressed with the improved style of work at Marion. At Makirikiri Mr. Locke had worked hard with exceeding good results. Mr. Powell of Mars Hill, Mr. Mair of Mataongaonga, and Mr. Guthrie of Brunswick, are very hard working and very successful teachers. The passes iu Standard IV. made m these schools aro highly creditable to the teachers and scholars.

SPECIAL STATEMENT OP THE RESULTS IN THE

1 WELLINGTON DISTMOT. ■ Of the 38 schools containing 3595 children in the district of Wellington, six schools, repre- ■ seating half the children attending in the district, aro in the city of Wellington. All these schools are now doing satisfactory workThree of them have reached a high standard of efficiency —th e I horndon. Terrace, and Buckle-street boys schools The Tborndou school had tho honor of sending in tho three best candidates for the Wellington College Scholarships, ihe terrace school produced the greatest number of successful candidates in Standard IV.; and the Buckle-street Boys’ School was distinguished by the rupid rise in higher standard work. The To Aro School produced tho best arithmetician of the year, and generally did better work in the upper class under Mr. Gordon and improved work in all departments. ihe Standard I. results of this school are good, and the other standard results about equal to tho average of the whole."district. In the Thorndon and Te Aro schools half an hour each day is taken from the ordinary school hours for the teaching of subjects not included in the standards. The teachers, therefore, in these schools were under a disadvantage in competing with other schools for standard results. . The results of the Buckle-street girls school are low ; but this arises not from the want of good teaching, but from tho want of good schools for girls in past years. With the efficient staff of teachers in this school, I feel sure the results year by year will compare more favorably with those of the boys aud mixed schools of the city. The numbers have doubled in the last half-year. Mrs. Francis, who has been appointed to the new infant school, will, I trust, prove an excellent manager aud teacher for so large a school. Besides the city schools, there are six country schools in the Wellington distict each having more than 120 children on the roll— Masterton, Gceytowu, Feather-ton, Lower Halt' Upper llutt, and Carterton. The Lower Hutt school shows the best results. The Featherstcn and Upper Hutt schools have done exceedingly good work under the present management. I was disappointed with the general results in the Masterton school, especially with the arithmetic, but the reading and oral instruction were, decidedly good. The school has suffered from serious drawbacks, such as a large aud sudden increase of pupils, want of sufficient accommodation to meet the increased numbers, aud rather weak teaching power for the lower classes. Larger accommodation is being provided and more assistance will bo supplied ns soon as possible. I shall therefore hope for better results next year. In the Greytown school there has been good teaching power for all the classes, a competent assistant master, a fifth year pupil teacher, and a second year pupil teacher. The attendance has been steady ; the school has been subject to no extraordinary drawbacks ; and yet the work on the whole has certainly fallen off. There has been, I think, a want of judgment in apportioning the work, so that each teacher has been burdened with the work of two grades instead of being confined to a larger class for one grade. The head master has aimed too ranch at passing a few higher standard candidates, aud he has pressed them on too hurriedly with their work. The character of the important work was in cases unsatisfactory. There was an absence of expression in reading; there was a want of method and neatness in the work presented on slates ; copy books wore in some' 'cases carelessly written and much defaced ; and, old habits of threading pen-holders through slits made in tho covers of copy books are still encouraged. With careful teaching of intelligent reading, judicious classification, inculcation of habits of ne/itnean-and a. fair apportioning ot work among the teachers-with fixed responsibility, a very great improvement in the school might be hsped for. The results, though falling off, are not altogether unsatisfactory, especially in Standard I, and the school has done comparatively better work in tho past ■ The Carterton school is in a very unsatisfactory condition. The general character of the work is unimproved. There was no section of the work uniformly good. The reading particularly was lame, mechanical, and devoid of all expression. l The results are exceedingly low although the head teacher has been five years in charge. The following schools are attended by over 50 and less than 100 children:- —Clareville, Taita, Knrori,"Tawa Flat, Johnsonville, Kaxwarra, and Pahautanui. Of these the Tawa Flat school well maintains the leading position, under the painstaking aud successful teaching of Mr. Horne. The Clareville, Taita, and Kaiwarra schools were all still low in results, but they are under much better management and with good prospects of better work being done. I was much disappointed with Johnsonville school, although the teacher has been only a few months in charge. The Karori school px-eaents nearly the same features as last year. Satisfactory work is done in the lower classes only. There was a breakdown in the arithmetic of most of the candidates for Standard 11. and 111., and the work of the same candidates was unsatisfactory in spelling, geography, and grammar, Pahautanni'school continues in a fairly satisfactory condition.

Of the smaller schools, those at Waihenga, Kaiwaiwai, Fern Ridge and Charm are in a very satisfactory condition. In the Waihenga school the reading and recitation were given carefully and with taste and expression ; the writing wits beautifully neat, uniform in style, and showed very careful teaching ; the arithmetic was remarkably accurate, and very orderly in 5 arrangement; tables were well known, the classes were intelligent, tho general knowledge was good, and the general neatness and order were admirable. The work so far as it went at Fern Ridge was exceedingly well presented. • It is this quality of work which is valuable and which appears to bo lost sight of; iu Grey town and Carterton, but is well cultivated in Featherston and ICaiwaiwai. The results at North Makara except in reading are very fair ; but at South Makara they are very poor. The style of work is not good. The results at Kovokoro, Horokiwi Valley, Porirua and Kaitara I consider fairly satisfactory under their several conditions. TRAINED TEACHERS REQUIRED.

In comparatively few schools is the work that of a teacher trained for his profession. The contrast between a school working with good method and that of a school under an untrained or unprogressive teacher is very great. It surely must be an established truth in educational as in other matters that if tho work is to be done it should be well done, and to attempt the work without skilled labor simply means that it will be imperfectly done. I have already had the pleasure of recommending a scheme for beginning the work of Normal training which has been embodied in your report to the Minister «f Education, and which I trust will be adopted. Many of the teachers in charge of schools would he glad of an opportunity of seeing the work of model schools, and of learning the best methods Of imparting instruction. This also could bo arranged. for. That one large training college for the colony would do the best work there can be no doubt; but practically such an arrangement would not, I fear, be generally acceptable, and the loss of time in bringing it about would bo a matter of serious consideration, I am therefore of opinion that in the educational interests of this district it would ho best to ask for a share of tho sum appropriated for norma! schools, to appoint a normal master, to constitute the schools at Thorndou and Kaiwarra practising schools, and to open a class for students in training at once.

ntOrOBED ADDITIONS TO AND MODIFICATIONS OF THE STANDAUDH, 'i'ho four standards which have boon in Operation four years have worked well and are working well. I could not have devised standards better suited to the requirements of the time. I have' taken a whole year to consider whether more standards are necessary, and I have arrived at the conclusion that tho number may be enlarged so as to give an annual interest in tho posses to all or nearly all the children m school between the age of 7 and 13. Tho present Standard IV. pass, with modifications, will be retained under u new name—the scholar’s certificate examination. Practically there will the«i be six standards in which all children may be classed before leaving school,

and a higher examination for the best scholars of the most advanced schools. The general system of marking, passing by sections, and the methods of examination will be retained. The system remains, the classification is changed by an increase of classes and sections and by a modification of the work iu the sections. At the next examination pupils passed in old Standard 1., will be required to pass new Standard 11., those passed iu old Standard 11. will be required to pass new Standard IV, and pupils passed in old Standard 111. will be required to pass now Standard VI. Two fifths of the maximum marks in each section will be required to pass a candidate, and 120 marks in all out of a maximum of 200 for each standard. No pupil will be expected to pass a rtmdard who is under age or who has not attended 250 half days since passing the previous standard; and no" scholar of any age will he expected to advance more than one standard each year ; but candidates of any age may bo presented for any standard, and returns will show tbe status of the school and not merely the per centage of now passes made each.year.

CONCLUSION. Schedule A, attached to my report, gives the details of the proposed new standards, and schedule B those of the old standards. Schedules C and "D show the number of children of age to pass each of tha old standards, and the number actually passed in the four standards of each school examined. The Wanganui and Wellington school results ore separately collatod .for the convenience of tha new Boards. In schedules E and F will be found lists of the higher standard candidates passed this examination.—l have, &c., Robert Lee, Inspector of Schools. The Hon. C. J. Fharazyn, Chairman of the Wellington Education Board.

Ho. on At Exam* Passed in Standards . Iloolt*. illation. X. II. III. IV. Beginning-1874 — 2381 066 247 — — End 1874 3147 2580 1444 445 45 — „ 1875 3470 2998 1666 657 111 7 ' „ 1876 4080 2672 2123 850 168 17 „ 1877 5234 4625 2520 1153 300 55