TEMUKA SCHOOL COMMITTEE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1265, 15 November 1884, Page 2

TEMUKA SCHOOL COMMITTEE.

The monthly meeting of the above Committee was held last evening. Pre sent—Messrs K. F. Gray (Chairman), Blytb, Hayhurst, Storey, Miles, O’Halloran, and Bolton.

MINUTES. The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. CORRESPONDENCE. Correspondence inward and outward was read and considered. Outward—Six letters ; Three to the Board of Education, one to the Head Master, one to Mr J. Cooper, and one to Mr E. W. Gurr, Inward as follows : From the Board of Education, dated Oct. 30th, stating that the sum of £B3 19s 8d had been placed to the credit of the Committee iu the Bank, for teachers’ salaries for October. From the same, dated Oct. 22nd, acknowledging receipt of High School fees for the quarter ended 30th September; also in reference to stationery, cesspits, etc.

From the same, dated 30th Oct., stating that the sum of £ls 15a 7d had been placed to the credit ot the Committee in the Bank of N. Z., for incidentals for the fourth quarter. From the same, dated sth Nov., in reference to High School payments. Prom the New Zealand Bible, Tract, and Book Society (two letters), soliciting order for school prizes, and enclosing terms.

From the Board of Education, forwarding summary of attendance returns for quarter ended 30th Sept., 1884. HEAD master’s REPORT. The Head Masters monthly report was read as follows :

Number of pupils on roll : Boys, 190; girls, 143; total, 333. Strict average attendance : Boys, 146 ; girls, 105; total, 251, Working average attendance : Boys, 152; girls, 111 ; total, 263, Highest attendance (Oct. 27) : Boys, 178 ; girls, 124 ; total, 302. THE HEAD MASTER’S RESIGNATION. From Mr Wood, resigning his position as Headmaster of the Tenauka District High School, his resignation to take effect at the conclusion of the school session, Mr Wood testified to the kindness and consideration shown him by the Committee ;

his only reason for leaving the school was that his health would not permit him

to keep up the school work satisfactorily and carry on his private study at the same time. Proposed by Mr O’Halloran, seconded hy Mr Miles and carried unanimously—“ That Mr Wood’s resignation be accepted with regret, and that the Secretary be requested to forward that gentleman a certificate showing the committee’s satisfaction wi'h the manner in which he had conducted the school.” The Secretary whs also instructed to notify the Board of Education of Mr Wood’s resignation, and ask that body to he good enough to call for applications for the position.

THE PRIZE FUND. The Secretary handed in a statement of receipts and expenditure in connection with the late concert in aid of the prize fund. The net proceeds were £7 14s. The Committee expressed themselves highly pleased with the manner in which the Secretary had got up, and carried out the concert, and it was unanimously resolved corded to the Secretary, Mr Rout, for the successful manner in which he arranged the concert.” It was proposed by Mr Storey, seconded by Mr Miles and carried — Unit the amount received as proceeds of the late concert, viz., £7 14s, be supplemented from last year’s fund, and that the Onainntn, Mr OTlalloran and the Head Master be appointed a snb-Com-mittee to selact the prizes from the stock of the N.Z. Bible Society’s agent at Tetnuba.” inspector’s reports. A letter was read from the Secretary to the Board of Education, dated Nov J3tb, conveying the Inspector’# reporta on

the recent examination of the High School and requesting the Committee, should it think fit, to comment thereon for the information and guidance of the Board. —A long discussion took place .‘is to whether it was intended that the reports should be published at once, or not till the sanction of the Board had been obtained. Messrs Storey, O’Halloran, Blyth, Miles, and Bolton were strongly in favor of publishing it at once, considering it the only proper course to pin#ue, while the Chairman and Mr Hayhurst thought that it should first be referred to the Board of Education. Ultimately it was proposed by Mr Miles, seconded by Mr Blyth, and carrie “That the Inspector’s report be published.” The following are the reports :— *• “To the Chairman of the South Canterbury Board of Education.

“ Sir, —I have the honor io report that I examined the secondary subjects in the Terauka District High School on Nov. 3, with the results shown in the accompanying tables. I have already reported the time devoted to each subject during the school week. I consider the amount or work done a fair one, though it h as not quite covered the ground provided in the Board’s District High School Regulations for the first year’s course. The secondary work was began in February. “The average attainments of the pupils in French is highly satisfactory, and quite satisfactory in Latin. In Euclid and Algebra four understand their work well, but the remainder are somewhat backward. One pupil was absent two months ill.—l have, etc., “ W. F. Anderson, “ Inspector,

“Education Office, “ Timaru, November 8, 1884.”

The annexed tables showed that six pupils were examined in Euclid and algebra, with the highest number of marks obtainable 100. Average marks obtained —Euclid, 54.1; Algebra, 51.7. Results in Latin, (7 pupils)—s3.2 per cent. Results in French, 62.2 per cent. The percentages attained by some of the pupils were very high indeed.

“ To the Chairman of the South Canterbury Board of Education. “Sis,—l have the honor to report that I examined the standard subjects in the Temuka District High School on Monday, and Tuesday, Oct. 27th and 28th, and on Monday, Nov. 3. The results are shown in the accompanying table, and in the schedule of passes. My high expectations have been to a certain extent fully justified, but I have been compelled to criticise with some severity the work of two of the teachers. “ No examiner could wish for a better class than that presented in Standard VI. AH the subjects are quite satisfac tory. The geography is deserving of all praise. The accuracy and rninnteness of the pupils’ knowledge is surprising, and some of the maps are of great merit. In grammar the analysis is generally excellent, and the parsing good. Most of the pupils show some knowledge of prefixes, and a little more attention to the common roots would improve their work considerably. The pieces of composition are carefully written and properly punctuated, and the thoughts are fairly well expressed, but beyond this there is no particular merit. Some mental confusion is evident with regard to historical facts, but this is not unnatural at the end of a hard day’s work. The writing and spelling are worthy of commendation. “ With Standard Vi three pupils were examined who have already passed. Their work is of the highest excellence. It would be difficult to find anywhere a better pupil than Murdoch McLeod, whom I have placed first. “ Standard V. is not quite so good. The spelling is surprisingly poor, considering the great intelligence shown by the pupils in other subjects, and the arithmetic is only moderate. The grammar on the other hand is gratifying. The analysis is good, the parsing neat, methodical, and accurate, and in composition some of the pupils display considerable powers. The geography is also worthy of special mention. The situation of places and the facts that make them notable are given with remarkable accuracy. In both standards the papers presented were neat and carefully written. “ Of Standard IV. I cannot speak m favorable terms. I have little doubt, however, that want of experience alone on the part of the teacher is the cause of the failure, and 1 anticipate better results in the future. In this standard I have felt it rather a painful duty to refrain from promoting children whose general intelligence would evidently entitle thereto a higher position in the school. The writing] is highly commendable and the grammar proceeds on a sound principle. The little pieces of composition are particularly pleasing. The reading may on the whole be considered satisfactory, but in the other subjects the evidences of ineffective teaching are unmistakable. The spelling, tested in the ordinary way, is about the worst I have yet seen, and the geography and history are scarcely better. In spelling the girls are somewhat better than the boys, but in arithmetic they are a failure. Their work is inaccurate and in many cases very meagre. Among the boys there is room for considerable improvement. “Standard 111, has been well taught. The general good quality of the instruction is indicated by the fact that only two of the children who have failed have made 250 attendances. The even accuracy of the arithmetic is moat pleasing. The same good quality, indicative of good teaching, is also seen in the writing. I have not given high marks for it, but it has not the fault of being too ambitious and gives promise of good writing in the. future. In history the results do not show out so well, but the subject is a very uncertain one in this standard. I am less satisfied with the reading than any other subject, and I should like to see an improvement in it throughout the jjjhool. “Standard 11. is a very weak one. The reading is destitute of every good quality and only great indulgence passes more than a few in this subject. The spelling and writing are still more unsatisfactory, but considerable improvement is shown in geography, and more markedly in arithmetic in, which the boys do fairly wdl. Standard I. is satisfactory enough. The children are well and carefully taught up to the minimum limit of the requirements, hut it would bn better lor their future success it the objects aimed at were a litte higher. In arithmetic the woik is slow, and the girls somewhat

inferior to the boys. The former do not know iheir tables accurately. “ The Infant Department was examined on November 3 and found satisfactory. Remarks on the classes are made in the accompanying schedules. I have, etc., “W. F. Anderson, “Inspector.

“ Education Office, “Timaru, Nov. 8. 1884.’ The following information is extracted from the accompanying schedules : Standard 71, (Teacher Mr Wood) presented, 11. Passed, 9 ; failures, 2. Percentages of passes, 81.8. Standard 7. (Teacher, Mr Wood)—Presented, 22. Passed, 15 ; failed, 7. Percentage of passes, GB.l. Standard 17. (Teacher, Mr E. W.Gurr) —Presented, 34. Passed, 16," failed, 18. Percentage of passes, 40. Standard HI. (Teacher, Mis# Brown)Presented, 32. Passed, 25 ; failed, 7. Percentage of passes, 78.1. Standard ll—(Teacher, Mias RussellPresented, 47. Passed, 27 ; faded, 19. Percentage of passes, 57.4. Standard I. (Teacher, Miss Ladbrooke) —Presented, 41 ; failed, 3. Percentage of passes, 92.6 per cent. Glassification after examination —Passed Standard 111., 13. Preparing for 71., 17 ; preparing for 7., 23 ; preparing for 17., 43 ; preparing for 111., 34; preparing for 11., 58 ; preparing for 1., 34; Infants, 81. .. Of the pupils below Standard I. classification under (Miss G. Rowe and Miss I. Morton) the Inspector remaiked that all in the upper division ought to pass Standard I. next year. Total number attending school ; Boys, 173 ; girls. 157 ; total, 3SO. Total Examined for promotion, 296; Examined for promotion in Standards, 184. Promoted, 130 ; percentage of promotions, 69.5. Pupils who have made 250 attendances since last examination and present, 220. Total percentage of promotions, 72 6. . .. Observations. Needlework carefully taught, hut not sufficiently advanced in the upper Standards. Recitations satisfactory ; object lessons, satisactory ; knowledge of subject matter of recitations, not examined ; science regularly taught, fairly satisfaetery ; drawing, fair; singing, disciplinary exercises, and school drill, good. Ordjr, excellent ; discipline very fair ; records, satisfactory. Pupils regularly taught. General condition satisfactory. Proposed by Mr Miles, seconded by Mr O’Halioran, and carried—“ That the Secretary write to the head master, foiwarding him the reports and asking him to be good enough to explain the reasons for the low averages in Standards 17. and II.”

It was resolved—“ That the Secretary write to the Board of Education, stating that the Committee, having carefully considered the Inspector’s report, regret that the averages obtained in Standards IV. and 11. are not more satisfactory, and inform them that the Committee have written to the head master asking for an explanation.”

CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS. Proposed by Mr Storey, seconded by Mr O’Halloran, and carried —“That the Christmas holidays be from 19th December to 19th January, and that the prizes be presented by the Chairman on the former date.” VISITING COMMITTEE. Messrs Blyth and Storey were appointed Visitors for the ensuing month. ACCOUNTS. Accounts to the amount of £1 2s 6d were passed for payment, and the meeting terminated with a vote of thanks to the Chairman.