School Committee.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 5991, 5 November 1890, Page 2

School Committee.

The Napier School Committee met last evening, when there were present Messrs, J. G Gilberd (in the chair), T. Murphy, T. Sidey, M (Tebden, J. Griffin, 8. Sponoe, and H. Naphtali.

OOBEEBPONBBNOB,

Miss Monteith, headmistress at the side school, wrote desiring to know if the Committee would sanction the use of a newreading book as recommended by the Inspector for -Standard 11. It would, however be inadvisable to introduce it into that school the headmaster of the main sohool wished to change the readers in this standard, as pupils were frequently changing from one school to another—Referred tothe headmaster for report The average attendance for the month at" the mam school was forwarded as follows • Main sohool 482-9, infant department 342' total 824 9. The side sohool average was', for week ending Ootober 10th, 150- 17tb 149 W 3lHt * 165 Avmge formonth 152, highest attendance 171 Mr Thomson wrote staling that he had re--1 f, a ;i s ,* hed the scho °l »n accordance with Mr i i T*T T r, : l \ ort ' a 8 fol l°wa:-Standand 8 VIT and VI (about 85), Mr Thomson and Miss. ?£ w n N* 'Mr Bturrook «"»d Miss Banks;; ,)■' Mr „ F aram and Miss Burden; Hi' Misses Brown. Palmer, and McVay IL Misses Andrews and Wylie; I, «»„ K en ouf. Infant department -Bame as before with the exception of Miss Wylie. Percy J. Bear applied to be taken on as a. trainee at the di-triot school.-The letterwas referred to the headmaster.

THE IWSPKCTOB AND TEACHKES.

A communication was received from th> Education Board regarding the alleged correspondence that had taken place between the_ Inspector and an assistant teacher without going through the ordinary nhannel. Mr Hill wrote that no correspondence had taken place between himself and an assistant teacher, nor had any arrangements been made with an assistant teacher as to fixing and afterwards altering the dates for examination He asked thit for the informatioa of the Board tue name of the teacher referred to and the correspondence alleged to have taken nlaoe be forwarded. * The correspondence was laid on the table, and it included several short memos from Mr lannm to Miss Rowbottom. and a letter - by the sam-* teacher addressed to the Inapeo.tor of Schools re the examinations On £?,, lokI o k, of th , lß latter communication MrHil had replied to Miss Rowbottom iw< follows:-" f he arrauuenmnta made with, the headmaster are not to be aarried out.. I really don't understand what has heem done or being done in the matter of examinations. I was willins: to examine tomorrow, but I understand from a letter received yesterday that such is not the wish of the master, and consequently your school will be taken as already appointed by tryon Mond»ynext." * Mr Murphy R aid Mr Hill had informed the Board that no correspondence had taken place between himself and an assistant teacher, without going through the proper quarter, The correspondence before, therm showed the very opposite, and Mr dill had' not been correct in his statement to th* Board. They should rnpeat their striotures^ The chairman, and Messrs Naphtali and Sidey spoke in a similar strain, that such 8. prooedure was undesirable. Tho following resolution, moved by Mr Sidey and seconded by Mr Murphy, was carried:— That with reference to the Inspector s assertions that no correspondan-y, took place between himself and a subordinate of the teaching staff of the Ncvpier school, this Committee distinctly state, that such did take place. Thi* procedure is extremely objectionable, md they won'id a<rain point out that such is likely to. militate airaiost the discipline and rood of the school. Further, this Coraro.itteo would req-est the Board to satisfy itse,lf as to the authenticity ->i the complaints '6v reference to correspondence. INSrBCTOB'S BKPOETS-iaA-.CN BOHOOI.. Standard VII and Vr..-_These Standards contain the names of 3<v> pupils. They are in charge of Mr the head-master, who is assisted by ?£ r Watt, an ei-DUDii-teacher. c r Standard V.—ln this Standard there are--76 pupils. Mr 0. A. Sturrook, first assistant master, is in charge. He has the help of Miao Banks, a trainee. Miss Banks however, according to the Board regulations has no recognised status on tbo school staff. Standard IV.—ln Standard IV. there are 115 pupils. Until lately Mr Heslin, the second master, was in chartre. Since his temporary absence, on account of sickness tho class has been subject to the oontrol of Mr Fred Faram. Miss Charlton, a pupilteacher of the first year, renders bulpirt: this Standard. Standard lll.—This large Standard contains the names of 149 pupils. It is divided into two classes of eight-four and sixty-five-pupils, respectively. The former class is in, charge of Miss Brown, the first mistress,. 1 and the latter, of Miss Burden, third assistant mistress. Standard ll—This Standard consists of 127 pupils. It is likewise divided into tv fo classes, containing seventy-two and Rf t v five pupils respectively. Tho former a \£ m occupies the hired building belonging t0 the Wesleyan body, and it is in charge r,« if{ Bß Andrews, assistant mistress. ''fle latter class is in charge of Miss Palmer, assistant mistress, and occupies one of the c A&sg rooma ., at tho mam school. . ■ . Standard 1., upper.-This division of Standard I contains the namer, 0 f 64 ptlpilg# Miss Rcnouf, an ex pupi', teacher, is in ohargo. Standard I. lower. i OW6r divigion of this Standard together -with preparatory classes, form what is Known as the infant; department A separate report has already been forwarded on this portion of the sohool _ Tho number of pupi', 8 returned as belonirmg to the ,' 8 n ; ne hundred and seventy-five, and tune hundred and fiftvsix were present at the examination Since the date of my examination last year, the school has been opened 432 times but out of 566 pupils returned as attending the upper division of the sohool, only 21 have made (4<>o) f our hundred or more attendances during the year, distributed as follows--Standard I 6. standard 11. 5, Standard 111 6, Standard IV. 0, Standard V. I, Standard VI. and VII 3 C,Cttnaard Throughout the Standards I notice that the attendance has been irregular, and this is more marked in the upper Standards thm in the lower. ttl The distribution of the teaohing staff aD *. pearstoraeasbeing, on the whole, satist factory, but the organisation of the Bc hool 1 made much more difficult by the- transforenoe of a large Standard divfefon to L bu.ldtng where general supervision is lese effect.ye than it is at the main school With one or two minor exceptions, theorganization is quite satisfactory, and th* time-tables are adapted to the present school arrangements. c wl Considering that the attendance has beer* so fluctuating during the year, in consequence of various forms of aiokness, exceedingly g oo d progress has been made by the Standard classes in a wide range of sub--timt B wln b ° f-° 8U J ltfl ' with the exception* that will be noticed m tho context, are satistactory and very encouraging. Since the date of my inspection visit in July, a marked change for the better, in the tone of tho school, has taken place, and I am satisfied tliatdjligmt efforts have been made by t\xe whole of the staff to improve tho condition and jafonoral efficiency of the sohool. With respect to what are known. & s commendable progress ij, ehowiiin the standard classes generally, ' out g tan (an j II requires to be strengthened i n readingand writing, as also in t\ w Bty i 0 of Botli * down work on slates.. The time allotted for rcadmg Standard is too short, •standard IV is rather weak in arithmetic— both mental and other, and the grainmac prepared by the pupils was somewhat below the requirements, the parsing being poor The v.riting 111 copy books shows a falling--off compared with last year. Increased attention should be given to the stylo of neltmgdown the work on paper. In Standard Vthore are rather too manyfailures in arithmetic, but the quality 0 f the mental arithmetic made 110 for deficiencp.s in, lh« ease of a number of pupils. Writing i n OiiiiKiiird VJ. though passable, is open" to irreat improvement, and a little more atteu-. tion might, with advantage, bo given torhiC important subject. With the few exoentinnT named, the whole of the pass subjeetehSJ been well prepared _ and are somewhat in advance of the requirements. Class Subjects, Additional. —The m f marked improvement in the year's work t in the preparation of the cU M and additional subiects. Drawing in all Srut„i„ j ' grajhy in Standard! 11,

elemeii'ary science, in Standards TV, "V, VI, singing in Standards I, 11. 11l IV, V, VT, drill and calisthenics, senior boys and girl* have been well and efficiently taught, and the results in some of tho Standards are of a high order of merit. With regard to drill and oalisthenics, these subjects are taught by Drill Instructor Huddlestone, but whilst tlie results are highly satisfactory. I would point out that his appointment by tho School C unroittee, as a paid officer, to give instruction, is irregular. Secion 85 of the Education Act, states that «• The Board shall From time to time direct provision shall be made for physical training." The Committee should recommend Drill Instructor Huddlestono to the Board for appointment. The following remarks apply moro particularly to tho work of each Standard : — atandard I.—Teacher Miss Renouf Number of pupils. 63. This is tho strongest Standard I, that I remember to have examined at this school, no failure being recorded, and a number of the pupils gained full marks in each -übject The tests set in arithmetis wen difficult, but the results showed excellent preparation. The copy books and drawing books in this Standard were well and carefully done. Recitation, singing, and object lessons wero satisfactory. Standard IL—Teachers, Misses Andrew-l-and Palmer. Number of pupils 127 On tie average, the results arc very fair but the ■work is uneven. Reading requires attention generally, and I would suggest, the use of the Star Reader, iv place of the present reader, as some of the lessons in the latter have no interest whatever for New Zealand children. In Miss Palmer's division writing in copy books is of poor quality in too many instances. It is very desirable to have a strong Standard 11. in the school, as otherwise, it is impossible for Standard 111. to compass the wide range of work under the regulations I understand that Miss Palmer has only had charge of her present class for 10 weeks or so Recitation was well rendered, and tho singing and geography in both divisions, and tbn object lessons in Miss Palmor's division, were satisfactory. I did not examine in object lessons in Miss Andrew's division. Standard lII.— Teachers, Misses Brown and Burden. Number of pupil*, 149 On the whole this is a capital Standard, and the results, generally, are very commendable Arithmetic is the only subject in which signs of weakness appeared. Reading, spelling, dictation. writing, drawing grammar, and geography being well and carefully prepare!, and of very good quality. Tho writing in copy-books was exceedingly and tho style of the work in the exeruise-booko wa* a great advance on that of a year ko. Many copy-books and exercise-books obtained tho mark «' excellent." The or.il examination in grammar and geography showed that these subjects had been very successfully taught, more especially the geography. History »nd object lessons, as cla-s subjects, with repetition and singing as additional subjects, were on the whole satisfactory. The tone shown by tho pupils in this Standard appeared to me as being exc-lle.ut Standard IV.—Teachers, Mr raram with Miss Charlton. Nam w of pupils, 115 The irregular attendance of most of the pupils, and tbe "breaking clown" of Mr Heslin at tho most'important part of the sohool year have combined to throw back the efficiency of this Standard On the whole tho results are fair, but there are numerous traces of weakne-s, and Mr Sturrook, in Standard V.. will have a good deal of up-hill work with many of tbo-e •who have j'>"t pussiid tin- requirement.-. Writing and grammar aro by no means strong subjects, and the failures in arithmetic are somewhat numerous. Column 12 gives tho number of sums worked correctly by each pupil in mental arithmetic. George'Somerville, Herbert Jago, !-'dw.inl Chamberlain, and Edward McO-mgull obtained the best marks in this branch of school work. Tho memory mans of the North and S mth Wand,. .it New Zealand we re well done. Fr>in« Oolledgo obtained "Excellent" for bis map. Tlie fiv.-h.-iml drawing and the clement- of geom.-neal drawing were well pr..,.:ir.»l on the -yhole. and a number of the pur it* gain-d fob marks in thee subjects Tl-.e prog,-, si mad.' during the year in these subjects l- very marked. In th-cW and addm..-. tl subjects, history, geography, repetition, aud Singing were very fair. I.i elementary science the results were excellent. Standard V.—Teacher, Mr. Sturrock. Number of pupils, 70. As a whole, tho Standard is a good one, and, cm-Klermg the irregular attendance of so many pupil-, as shown by the return*, the results are commendible, and in two insUneos, excellent Harry Conrov obtained full marks 'ti each of the pass subjects, beating Kthel Dugleby, a much younger pupil, by one ZJk only- These results are exeepu„nally to the pupils In the examinaUon the giris are stronger than tho boys, but in most cases where the pupils h<no gained pass murks, the results are of a higher Iverago merit than "i former years. The style of the work throughout show « n important advance and altogether the Standard has done well. . Writing should receive a little more attention. In spelling and dictation very high marks were obtained Drawing, both freehand and •reorautric.il. have been well taught, and tho gLre*. darimr the year is very satis actory. £l ul-tfs and additional subjects, history. Relics repetition, drill and singing were teLT Iv history the results wore rather *&.* science, singing, «"n«, ««• - W- in repetition, good. ibo exo-Clse-looVs were ucatlv dme. and some of the... both as to matter and armndwneut VII -Teachers. Mr atandards VI ana *■■>■ .. h A B Thomson, with Mr Watt. Number of Pupils. 3G This important cHr.Mon of Oi P u '» "■ niM t he upper class ro-.m the school 00-upies v 11 Six of thoso examined are ex SUxtti fsfanmmi Bunils It will be noticed in the schedule ?hat, with few exceptions the average conSn of tho claas Ls good The following £m«l» are taken from the schedule, as TnS durin-r tho progress of the oxara.naentere, celling, and dictation.----!n tL boo h"»g and dictation tests. Writing. Ths show improvement since my .nspecHon Inis shows in v l , d lik( , to Bea to mental'arithmetic will be Jo, md in , ~, Phrebe Jacobs gamefl me w0,.:, eighteen out of though » r .^ grTpCaud grammar papers, worked by tho Sis in these subjects were well done. I. by pupils. With regard to class and a. - Actional subjects, fair .mirks were gamed in | n glish history, excellent in -cience, smgC* and drill, ttiid-ro.nl in r. petition Alt ogethcr'the class ha- ™do iro'-d pro- «*» > a wido a,,d ' ilh .'-' ult ' v y FT h'on Order and discipline, except fcSZTJS that is hired for sc'tn,,! purposes i™r ra aintained, and the tone of the a t i Li?h respect to diligence ami obeBchool with, p b(! . aati9f dience, appear gcnorully, I In manners a* ia most (>f notice an Standard elates t th() The buildings, arb aeoommoda ion i ra of „_ requirements and m- under m-uiy disespecially, is carnca o. Advantages. , ~ )ik(J . The rooms arc olean tno J % SKmS^o^area'n.enaccto classrooms, l unuciM« „ Ln and a number of her pupils have sut W much from sickness during the past *AllTi h "school and 01-ca records l»v-----been duly kept in aocordauco with tlie iwartmental and Board r-qmremnnts ' « zo «>t the class record of attendanco of the senior teachers. In future the teachers Attendance .register should receive duo atsohodules contain the results for each pupil iv each ot the puss wbi*te examined, and the summary sheet -conLius the class and add, -ona marks obtained by the several Standards, in Xrdauce with the regulations. I have to thank the chairman of tlie Committee for visiting the school during ,& e progress of the « am, ™ n ° ] £ LLi Inspector of Schools. October 25th. 1890. , Adde.ndum.-Filt.ers are badly wanted at the whool. At least three should be Provided for tho main bu ldiug and one ?« the pupils under Miss Andrews The Inspector's report, on the infant de Battment was very satisfactory. flic Cthod and quality of instruction in this ™ lortant dopartmeut were of a very satisffiS ychStcr, and the results thronghl though, sometimes uneven in tho .ftaatSffi iSfleotmueh credit up.* the • te Of h tho side school the Inspector reported <.ioorablv Considering thediihcuit.es ■very fo»°'W: work had been carried on nn der which tho work n. , through the year owxnL » h tendances ot so many pupi"», roa de o» mmen ?AK o ports the CommitWth TlhofStowT. grcsolutious :-TLat tee passed f } this Committee ™« re of th In . the very -ari«fac ory czam inat,on sector's ropo™ o "head master aud staff and congratulate the ma doplirt me..t, of the main school and "»'» fl / tho ride and the head mistress sohool on the the good work the ;( ™ Carried out which has been und irH v a , Ho con . to a most succeHolui is-u..; J t j ir ( . orl . vey their thanks to, and express ti.e .Menc. in the teaching tiff, an a maintained in the , MofWra .CJriffin and Hebdeu were appoScda Voting Committee tor the c-umg

''The Board intimated that Mr He, 1. had been granted further leave ot, absu.r ' o. half pay, and M- Fi.r.MnV services w-m... be retained until Mr Ho-li.i should resume his duties. , ! ,v,vSeveral accounts were paused 101 x u -j ment, aud the meeting adjourned.

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