JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 37, 13 February 1930, Page 9

JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS.

ENGLISH EXPERIMENTS.

SIR • JAMES PARR'S, REPORT.

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; (By : :Telegrapli.V--EfcssAsgociation:) ' ; -' ' _ ; Gonclus'ibrisl '. reaolied.':. a by Sir Parr, formerly /High -Commissioner and Mini'stfiivof.Education, as-"a result of an inVestig'a'tion,- of the new organisation of elementary arid' secondary education, as typined in. the junior- high school system, established at Brighton, England, have beeri embodied in a report, the details ot which'''%ere to-day riiade .available for publication by the' Minister of Educatiori, Hon: H. Atmore. • "If might hot unreasonably, .be claimed," "Sir' James Parr stated, "that New-Zealand had led England, at any experinient; 'on the great.educational' reform of • making a break in elementary education at the age ot U plus,'and beginning a course of secondary education - for~three" or four years based .o.n .'the. principle, .of adapting the school -oom-se to the needs of the child, rather, than the child to,.the forms of onetypetbf school... • "1 ivus' interested to find," sajd S r ifaraesV'"tiiafc Brighton not only made tlie big Change but also- abohshed the separate . elementary . schools for- boys a 4 girls;" : He-had. .Inquired specially whether new buildings. had,been. found accommodate _ the , new movement. '.The answer was that Brighton had-utilfsed ; very largely the,exist-iffg/biiildingsi-v v ,-- r+i Higher Leaving Age Advised: The Object of [■ thejreorganisation of elementary.:; and , education V as,lieftoolc it; '.largelyvtaprovide posprimary iristruction.,vnot..atl3 or 14, but aV lFyears of,age, and,; moreover to provide'suCh a-type of. post-primary edpcit and aptitudes of the'individual, child, - ; : . ; . The 'Brighton: -in ; making re'aiisation'.'of.;thc promise ; of .the. Socialthat age wo I be'Vaised ;t0,15 : ,yea.:s >n 1931, ., and whole .'scheme^vas^heref ore largely b.ult ripbri that" assumption./ ~ ...:• . . "Onrmightiiot inaptly reniark *he%Port "that .'.-.in-; New Zealand-it raise

the school age,,to. 15 years before-.we" can ; satisfactorily, accomplish the ends ari'd aims of the new system. .. • .' : "At Brighton all' the "children' have been dealt with. In the first place, the brightest children, by • an ; examination and certain forms of accrediting, have been carried from the elementary'schools, at li to the high school proper, the parent's being bound to' send the, children to" the'high': school-.up to 16.0r-17 years. TJhis ge.ts the cream of the young Jbi'ains.', , "Then the ■ next. 'brightest "group of Children go Uo what is called the intermediate school. Lastly v the. bulk of the children, about 60 per cent of the .whole, is transferred to what/is called the senior school, to distinguish it from the school which now" takes children" from seven -to eleven years of age'and is called the junior school. It will be,seen that, the pupils going/ to. the intermediate school and to the high school proper are selected pupils, , so. that the senior school, I think,. briefly, described, contains the less bright children. Indeed,some might almost'be called the 'duds' of the educational system.'.; • A Danger Apparent...... "There is a great danger as regards, these ■ senior school. ■' I fear that them, will be a t tendency to. provide'but, indifferent equipment for this, type of, school, and one was not ■surprised to. hear that already "there-Is a strong demand by the teachers and authorities having- to do with these, senior schools' that they shall be placed .in: the same position exactly as-regards of staff and equipment as; the selective central schools.; Another .feature, that was strongly apparent was this—that in the senior schools particularly provision, was made for some degree of internal classification. „ . '*■;, ■ ,■:■ • • ' "I ouglit: perhaps to. say," concludes the report, "that the, Kpwhai Junior, High School in 'Auckland", if its. term be "extended to definite courses up to ;15 years of-age, and if it be not handicapped by too close an association with the. grammar, schools:—if,-in short, it has a,:, life and!"'object of its own—thenVl believe' that the .Auckland solution tried at Kowhai may really;prove more.efficient for ' our ,'■ purposes , than if We at- ■ tempt" tb ; -follow 1 strictly; the advice of the Hndow report. ' ..; . ' '"With regardto the smaller New Zea : land cities^the-solution indicated at Mr. Milner's .school, in the South; Island *(WaitakT Boys', High. School) arid iri .the consolidated central school of the Mataniata type for the smaller districts'.-.will, I think, iiieet the'needs 'of-the new; reJ organisation;"- - : -..-••.'».'-- -__ • ' ..." .-.