S.O. BOARD OF EDUCATION.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1863, 9 March 1889, Page 3

S.O. BOARD OF EDUCATION.

The monthly meeting of the Board of Education was held on Thursday. Present—Messrs S. W. Goldsmith (Chairman), J. Jackson, W. B. Howell, U. A. Barker, end it. H. Pearpomt, and ttev. T. Jasper Smyth. The Chairman Btated thnt since last meeting the following resignations had been received: Miss Houper, eighth assistant at Tiraaru; Mr McLaren, at Hook; Miss J. Mcllroy, assistant at Waimataitai ; Mr G. Steven, at Orari Bridge ; and Mr G. B. Barclay, at Redc|iff. The following appointments had beenVfnade, subject to the bonrn's approval : Mr Steven, to Hilton; Mr J. Scott, to Waihoa; and Mr Barclay to Glenavy. One tender only was received for repairs at Woodbury, T. Fbden at £2O 10s, and this was accepted. Mr Foden was granted £5 for loss sustained by him in an attempt to drive a pipe for a pump at Gtenavyn school. The inspector submitted reports on the following schools Valley : Presented in standards, 20 ; passed, 18 ; percentre of marks in diss nubjects, 67 ; in additional subjects, 75. Preparatory pupils good in reading, spelling, and writing, weak in counting. The school has passed a very good examination. Due attention is given to' the manners of the children, and good order is maintained.—Pleasant Valley: Presented, 86 ; examined in standards, 49; passed, 41 ; failed, 8 ; percentages, 47 and 16; percentage of marks for class subjects 46, for additional subjects 75. The preparatory pupils made a very fair appearance in al> the work they profess. The results of the examination are highly satisfactory in Standards T. and 11., but in the upper standards tbW are bad. The children are quiet and orders. Belfield: Presented, 59; examined in ttandards, 31; passed, J 5; failed, 16; percentages, 25 and 51; percentage of marks for class subjects 45, for additional subjects 52. The school made a very poor appearance at the examination. The manners of the children and the order maintained are satisfactory. The inspector nas called in, and he explained that the large proportion of failures was due to the teacher presenting children for a standard too high for them. Mr Pearpoint said the teacher ought to have assistance. She had too many children for one person to deal with. The inspectors report on the meeting of householders in the Seadovrn district was read, and it wbb resolved—" That the usual steps be takon to proclaim the Seadown school district, aßd that the Levels Eoad Board be asked whether they would be willing to give the Board three acres of Reserve for a school site." The inspector submitted a report on the District High Schools of Waimate and Temuka, Bnd from it we make the following extracts:—lc both schools an encouraging increase in the number of secondary pupils has to be recorded. The numbers for 1888 are nine, at Waimate and thirteen at Temuka, the corresponding numbers for 1887 being three and ten. Besides those examined several had been working for great part of the year bub had Jeft before the examination. Temuka—Latin.—The papers of the only pupil in the highest class possessed ve%, little merit. A large amount of work was professed, but the knowledge of it seemed too superficial to stand the teat of this examination, In the other classes two pupils did their work very well, and two fairly ; but the work of the rest was ao unsatisfactory that it will be advisable for them to spend another year at the same course. French.—l.i this subject one very good paper was done. The girl who took the third course showed considerable facility and commendable accuracy in translating from French into Eoglish, but ebe made some sad blundering in her i.\fctemptsto render some easy sentences into f'ranch. Euclid.—None of the papers in thi"> highest class was even fairly done. All' the papers of the middle class and two of the lowest were very good. The other papers were fair with one exception. Algebra.— There was one excellent paper in the highest class, and the other was, v<?ry good. The percentage of markß in the middle class was very low in every case. The lowest class made a good appearance on the whole, their average, however, being spoilt by one boy whose ipaper was of no value." The scholarships committee reported that as'one of the scholarship winners to whom £8 had been allotted had resigned the scholarship, the committee had reallotted the money to Miss Balfour.

An account from the Rev. Mr White for examiner's fee for geography paper (£3 3s), was not entertained. Mr Jackson ■was surprised that any fees were paid. He thought the examiners should do the work for the honour of the thing. The results of the committees' voting on the election of three members of the board were reported by the secretary., Thirty-three committees voted, and the rejnlts were : —Mr Barclay, 24; Mr Goldiffnith, 24 ; Mr Jackson, 23 ; Mr Oliver, 12. The three first-named (the retiring members) were declared elected. Further appointments were made as follows:—Miss H. Bennett, eighth assistant at Tinaru; Mr G. McAlpine, to ljpper Waitohi; Miss Goodey, as pupil teacher at Temuka. Mr McLaren was allowed to withdraw his resignation of the .mastership of the Hook School, A deputation of three residents of Arundel (Upper Rangitata Bridge) waited on the board to urge the establishment of a school there. There were 40 children of school age in the neighborhood.—rhe deputation was promised that the matter would be considered when the next building grant is received. A letter from the Grown Lands Department stated the reserve on which it was desired to get a school site belongs to the Canterbury College.—The College authorities to be written to as to the terms of sale.

Mr James Aitken, head master atGeraldine, applied for six months leave of absence to enable him to attend lectures at a University College iu order to qualify for the degree of B.Sc. Be would provide a suitable substitute. —As the application did not come through the committee it was ruled out ot order.

Miss Mcßeth, pupil teacher at Sutherlaods, which school is no longer entitled to a pupil teacher, asked the board to retain her services until the examination in Jun 9, when she would go up for her final examination.—This was agreed to. meeting then terminated.