CLERGY AT SCHOOL.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17617, 21 November 1922, Page 2

CLERGY AT SCHOOL.

A week's conference of clergy of the Church of England on educational problems, mainly of the Sunday echool, began last night at Church House. Archdeacon Taylor presided over a fair attendance. The conference's intended to. be technical rather than general. The diocesan organising teacher (Miss E. Elliott) gave the first address on some practical problems of internal organisation of the Sunday school. She urged careful grading of children according to mentaf age and social affinities, but insisted that the crux'of orfmisation was the superintendent, iven an efficient superintendent for each group of classes, the other problems could be solved. Where "moat schools failed was in having no deputysuperintendients in training To-day, after attending church and breakfasting together, the conference discusses, under the leadership of Canon Galwey, methods of conducting a teacber-tra'ning class, Professor Shelley gives the first of a series of daily lectures on "The Mind of a Child." Miss Elliott also begins a series on "How to Reach the Child." A practice lesson will be conducted by the Rev. A. J. Petri© in tho afternoon, and in the evening the Rev. J. R. Young opens a discussion on Confirmation class methods. An interesting lecture to bo given in the course is upon modern methods of "self-teaching'' in religious education, in which experimental classes are being conducted in one or two lceal schools —the' method by which the children axe directed. to the source of the information required, and find it for themselves, bringing it back to the c'ass as ftheir, contribution to the study. Miss Elliott has such' a class at St. S iviour's Orphanage, the Rev. A. J. Petrie a Bible class at Lyttelton.