REPORT ON PATEA SCHOOLS.

Patea Mail, Volume III, Issue 304, 16 March 1878, Page 3

REPORT ON PATEA SCHOOLS.

The following is report furnished by Robt. Lee, Esq'., of result of school examination in'Patea, to the Patch Education Board ; WELEl&Sftjk, February 6, 1878. Sin, —For the'fifth'time I have the honor ’to report to your Board oh the schools of your district. I thiiik it may now be fairly 'said that they are the leading institutions of the Patea County, and that elementary education has been placed bn a good footing throughout the district. All the six schools in operation are fairly established, well attended, well appointed, in good working order, and completely provided with suitable school buildings, teachers’ residences,; andsufficientwell-fenced playgrounds. Your; Board may, therefore, be congratulated on having done a good work in Thus laying the foundation of'six elementary schools. Great interest is also now being taken 'in education not only by 'the _ parents of children, but also by the children themselves. This I think is shewn' by the fact that altogether only seventeen children were absent from my last examination of the six schools ; and the earnestness and carefulness generally displayed in the ex-, ainination work were very commendable. I remember well the'impression produced in my mind on niy first visit to yOur district, when you had no' school property and" had only just started your plans by opening two schoolsin temporary buildings.: The present contrast is a remarkable one. ; The attractive appearance of your neat, properties, the sight of children everywhere wendingtheir way foschbol every morning, the consciousness that they are growing up| with fair mental culture, and the ‘presence’ of teachers in your midst who are watchful of your childrens’ welfare, will, I aih sure, be fit rewards for the energy you have displayed in thus caring for them. I experience some difficulty in forming a judgment bn the value Of the work of' the past year, and the schools themselves stand at a great disadvantage Owing to the change of teachers which has taken place in four of your schools. It is not easy for an officer to estimate the work done in any ’ school by any one teacher until two inspections have been made at a fair interval of time. This 1 have stated again and ; again. When a new teacher is in charge, the results of inspections are mainly impressions produced by the management, method and discipline, and by a. few minor results. If the arithmetic ahd reading are good, it is often impossible to say whether the work has been done by the late or’by the acting teacher, unless the work of the teacher is already known to the inspector and the style of work is apparent. Tn my notice of each of the four schools in which a change of teachers has occurred, I here confine my remarks to the. stateihent of a few facts or impressions which seemed to me likely to be of use to your Board. In my report of the schools at Carlyle and Kakaraihea, where there has been no change of masters, you will see ’that ho such difficulty has presented itself, ' and that' 1 have been able to arrive at aii interesting comparative statement of the progress made, and of the general character of the work of the schools. The number of children attending the schools under the Patea Board has increased from 100 last year to 219 this year; and the number examined from 107 to 202. The school at Whenuakura has been opened during the year. The'numerical increase in children who '.have passed Standard I. is 20, being 111 this year against 82 last year ; but the per coinage .of passes in Standard I. work, as reckoned ‘in the '.respective numbers attending, remains about the same, being 49 per cent, last year and'so per cent, this year. I must, however, ask your Board to'consider this by no theans an Unsatisfactory result, first because'so per ceiit. is a high rate to maintain'; and, secondly, because the work of all the standards has beeti so much raised, that I shall not feel disappointed as an officer, if this-year’s average results do not on the whole throughout the County exceed those of last year. I am pleased to state, however, that Standard 11. work shows a considerable advance in that of the past-year, the passers numbering 62 against 37 last-year ; and the relative increase beiirg from 21 per cent, last year to 24 per cent, this-year—now the Standard II work fairly represents what has been looked upon for many years as all that can be expected in eleriientary schools—so that I consider the results'here are very satisfactory. In Standard 111 work there has been very marked progress, although the work has been almost' eemfined to two schools. There are now 16 scholars who have passed Standard 111., double the number of lastyear, 10 of them being hew passers as compared with 6 new passers last year. . Onecahdidate this year passed Standard TV'; and this, with two others, all in the Carlyle school, who passed last year, and still remain at '"school—gives a total of three pupils Who ‘have reached the highest standard. 'Certificates have been forwarded for all the successful candidates in'Standafds 111. and IV.

‘On looking through the table of results ’ attached to this report, your Board cannot fail to notice how riiuch the generally satisfactory average results iff this, which is due to tlie exceeding’ good \vorlc o£ a comparatively large school. ‘lt is evident that very creditable work is now being produced in schools which have the advantage,‘of ■ regular systematic teaching, and in which the pupils have steadily advanced in the j "standards bf examination. T shall hope to learn that the HaWera school has in time attained at least a standard of efficiency: how actually reached at Carlyle. From the schools atMahutaln,Nbrmanby, and Whenuakura, not much couldbe looked ; for at present, as they have been opened only a short time, and the children hadvery little, if any, previous instruction. Better Work might have been expected in one or two cases, for'it is qaite astonishing , to see‘how much is sometimes done by trained teachers under every disadvantage. • This brings me to the consideration of’ what appears to me just now the all-im-portant question of normal training—the one thing heedful above all other's at this stage in ah educational progress, to render our schools more efficient. Eveh the best of our teachers Would profit by someexperi- - ence in a model school. The general public ( Continued in fourth page.)%

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-. HON E. W- STAFFORD.' The Timaru Herald writing on the retirement of Mr Stafford from political life,'says:—“In losing him from her councils, the colony , loses not only a politician, “but a maker of polticians. Without ever claiming, any innate superiority, or affecting the part of a Triton among the minnows, their is no denying that he has towered over the highest of his fellows. His loft’y intellect his wealth of resources, his untiring industry, his perfect simple-riiindcdness; enhanced a hundred-fold by that nameless grace which made everybody trust and esteem him as much as they admired him; have constituted him the very model of a public man, in a country where good models are of incalculable value.”