8.—5.

considerably impeded steady progress. I much prefer coloured bricks for bricklaying, and the coloured paper used at Home for paper-folding. Colour gives increased interest in the work, and increased interest causes an increased desire to produce the best possible work. Whatever one is interested in is done to the best of one's ability, and even in the case of adults hobbies for this very reason are prosecuted " for the joy of the working," and represent one's best efforts. Colour in the case of young children acts as a powerful means to an end, and should not lightly be disregarded. When brush drawing is undertaken I should like to see free-arm drawing undertaken also, as they are of mutual assistance, and produce better all-round training than either alone. The introduction of handwork has, particularly in the lower classes, produced a marked beneficial effect on the development of the intelligence of the pupils. On the other hand, notwithstanding all that has been said about manual work, hand and eye training, and so on, it must be admitted that there still exists a great deal of misconception as to the educational aims and value of manual work in schools. Those who have given little thought to it are very ready in condemning it as a waste of time, though they may admit that woodwork "is not so bad" because it enables one to do odd jobs about a house, and that first aid also " may come in handy." But while some kinds of manual work may be of practical utility to some people after they leave school, the importance of all manual work is educational, training the eye to accurate observation, the hand to accurate manipulation, and consequently training the brain which governs both. And surely very little consideration must impel one to admit that a pupil who during his school course has had his faculties so trained will become a better man, and a more useful being on the veldt, on the farm, in the office, or in the workshop, even if after he leaves school he may never drive a nail, handle a saw, or see a piece of plasticine. But teachers also fail to look upon manual work in the proper light. They often look upon paper-folding, modelling, and so on, as new subjects instead of methods of teaching other subjects, and they are, moreover, inclined to look at the result of the work rather than to the training of eye, hand, and brain received in producing that result. In addition to their value as methods of teaching, manual subjects afford a valuable training, obtained in only a slight degree from the school subjects prescribed by the standard regulations. Drawing, either with the pencil or with the brush, is .very seldom utilised in object lessons, science, geography, matter of the reading lessons, and so on. Modelling is brought to bear in very small measure on the other subjects of the school course, and therefore one of the most valuable aids to instruction is not used to its fullest advantage. Handwork, including kindergarten work, must be looked upon as a means to an end, and not as the end itself; and when teachers fully realise this I have no doubt but that it will fall into its proper place in school training. Just as spelling is judged by general ability to spell as well as by the test from a specially prepared book, and as writing is judged by the general ability to write as well as by the work in the copy-books, so also must handwork be judged by its effect on the training in the general work as well as by the quality of the specially prepared exercises.

wanganui. Extract pbom Bepobt of the Education Board. Technical Schools. — The technical schools at Wanganui, Palmerston North, and Hawera continue to do good work. Pupil-teachers receive free instruction in drawing on Saturdays. Early in the year a sum of £360 was received as a grant for the erection of a science-room and an art-room as an addition to the Hawera District High School. Some months later the sum of £760 was promised for the erection and furnishing of the technical school at Palmerston North, for which, with the District High School, a suitable building is in course of erection. At the beginning of the year the classes which had formerly been held in connection with the Wanganui Technical School were resumed under the supervision of Mr. T. B. Strong, M.A., B.Sc, and in addition some new classes were started. The most successful of these was the book-keeping class. In connection with this a class in commercial law was formed for the benefit of those students who wished to present themselves for the examination held by the Institute of Accountants. Manual and Technical Instruction. —As yet but little has been done to take advantage of the facilities afforded by the Manual and Technical Instruction Acts for school classes. The only classes held were classes in swimming and first aid and home nursing (Wanganui Girls'), cookery (College Street District High School, Palmerston North), and brushwork and shading (Hawera District High School). The regulations under these Acts are of such a nature as to preclude the possibility of much being done except in the largest schools of the district. Summer School. —This report would be incomplete were mention not made of the summer school for teachers which was held during the latter part of the midsummer holidays—2oth January to 6th February. The success of the gathering, which was attended by some 250 teachers, including several from other districts, was undoubtedly due to Dr. Smyth's organization. Extract from Report of the Inspectors. Manual and Technical Instruction. —Quite a number of teachers, influenced by the summerschool classes, have during the year been giving attention to some of the subjects that come under this head. Brushwork has been found by many to be a very useful adjunct to drawing. The pupils take to it with great relish, and some of the work shown us was extremely creditable. In most of our larger infant-rooms one at least of the various forms of kindergarten work is now being taught. We do not recommend that these subjects be taken up generally until the long-promised new syllabus has come into operation; but in all schools where there is more than one teacher, although it may not be possible to earn the departmental grant, it is possible to devote some time to at least one subject in the lower classes of the school.

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