8.—2.

"Appendix C.

affected by the pressure of parents. Although, in consequence of frequent promotions in the lower classes, the average age in Standard I has slightly decreased, that of the preparatory classes remains stationary. We would urge upon teachers the sympathetic consideration of the claims of children somewhat above the usual age who are found from time to time in infant classes. Little mental progress is being made by such pupils in their present surroundings, and there seems every reason for accepting a somewhat lower standard for promotion to test the effect of working in a class more nearly corresponding to the age of the pupils. Central Examinations.— -These were conducted on similar lines, and mostly at the same centres as in the previous year. It is now generally recognized that the candidates at these examinations suffer little or no inconvenience, and teachers welcome the opportunities of ascertaining how the attain - ments of their pupils compare with, those from neighbouring schools. Teachers, too, are enabled to discuss methods, to give and to receive helpful information, to hear new ideas, and to learn from united experience. In districts where there would be difficulty in reaching a centre the proficiency candidates were examined on the occasion of the announced visit, which in such cases was made during the last quarter of the year. Methods. —lt is exceedingly gratifying to note the increasing number of our teachers, both in town and country, who have broken away from the shackles of the old regime, and are now eagerly* seeking better all-round methods of reaching the heart and intelligence of the pupils. Unity of aim, continuity of instruction, the place of purely formal work, the proper amount of necessary " drill " in subjects, the variety which conduces to understanding and remembrance, the use to which illustrative material within the child's experience may be put have all received pleasing attention. " Rule-of-thumb " methods are fast disappearing, and the wide adoption of intelligent and educative teaching has become the characteristic of the instruction in the majority of our schools. There is sympathetic study of the child, with a setting-forth of the material of knowledge in such a form that its true inherent relations may be grasped, and a real love of learning awakened. Of the quality of the instruction given in the several subjects of the syllabus, the following brief estimate is submitted :— Reading. —This subject varies much in quality. In a number of schools it is distinctly good, in some stilted and artificial, and in others marred by defects of enunciation and expression, due partly to local causes and partly to want of proper training on the part of the teachers. Special importance should be attached to this subject during every teacher's training-course; and lessons in elocution, in reading aloud sympathetically and intelligently, and in the management of the speaking voice should form an integral part of every teacher's training, both as a pupil-teacher and as a student. Teachers should bear in mind that by no other means can the general intelligence of a school be so easily and effectively tested as by hearing the reading of the pupils. Dull and monotonous reading is a sure indication that the intelligence of the pupils is not of a high order. Mechanical reading " drill " will never make good readers, and we would emphasize the necessity for more attention to training the pupils to grasp the thought of the passage read, to oral composition, which, if extended to all subjects, must tend to naturalness of expression, to the encouragement of libraries as powerful aids in awakening the mental activities in children, and to more frequent and appreciative use of the continuous readers. Such readers and the School Journal should be read for pleasure, and difficulties met with passed over lightly so as not to interfere with the continuity of thought. Silent reading on correct lines has proved a source of strength in schools where teachers have exercised a healthy supervision. Spelling. —This is generally very satisfactory, but the time devoted to this subject in many schools is greater than the limited allowance at the teacher's disposal seems to warrant. We would again emphatically condemn the practice (found, we are pleased to state, only in a few cases) of attempting to teach spelling by learning groups of isolated words. What is really wanted is closer attention to' words occurring in their natural context. Writing. —Although writing is generally creditable, there are some teachers who do not make sufficient use of the blackboard in demonstrating weaknesses, in correcting faulty formations, and in encouraging the children to find out what is wrong in, their writing. The infant schools continue to reach an excellent standard, but it is to be regretted that equally successful work is not obtained in some of the upper classes, the holding of the pen and posture at the desk evidently receiving little or no attention. Copy-books are carefully done, but we are anxious that all written exercises should show legibility, satisfactory speed, and pleasing form. The careful overlooking of all manuscript work should be regarded as of paramount importance, as any evidence of perfunctory treatment quickly leads to carelessness on the part of the pupil. It may be taken as axiomatic that no detail of the. pupil's work should escape the personal observation of the teacher. Composition. —The study of formal English shows improving tendencies, due largely to better methods of treatment and the fuller recognition that " applied grammar " should be taught through sentence-structure, grammatical rules and composition going hand-in-hand. The introduction into our schools of Lewis Marsh's excellent series of " Picture Composition " books has done much to bring about the desired improvement. Taken as a whole, composition is one of the most successfully handled subjects. The prominence given to free oral expression and the use of continuous and supplementary readers have widened the pupils' vocabulary, and enabled them to put their thoughts into shape, and tell their little story in interesting and pleasing form. The sentence-answering of the younger children might well be developed into continuous speech in the upper classes. Ordinary business or social correspondence, although showing that pupils were conversant with the formal methods of beginning and ending letters, was disappointing, in that there was in evidence a great lack of the little courtesies incident to such correspondence. In the Standard VI examinations some of the candidates failed to show much knowledge of paragraphing, and also considered that periods were quite sufficient to meet punctuation demands. We feel, too, that in the infant classes more use might be made of conversational methods as a means of securing freer and fuller verbal expression.

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