WANGANUI EDUCATION BOARD.

Feilding Star, Volume I, Issue 123, 22 November 1906, Page 4

WANGANUI EDUCATION BOARD.

_. — _ _ «. CHIEF INSPECTOR'S REPORT. Mr Braik reported: — During this period the inspectors bave been engaged with their annual visits to schools in the vicinity oi Wanganui, and in preparing for the examination of the secondary classes in the District High Schools as well as for the examination of the sen largest primary schools or departments in the district. One primaryschool and two District High Schools have just been visited. Whether the plan of deferring the examination of so many of the large schools till the last two months of the year will prove in ever" respect successful remains to be seen. Reports on Annual Visits. — Thirty-five, reports on annual visits are presented. These reports, it will be found, are uniformly satisfactory. The inspectors jointly and severally express themselves as not quite satisfied with the teaching of three subjects, viz., drawing, geo- j graphy, and the elements of compo- j sition. This dissatisfaction is expressed more or less pointedly in thirteen of the reports. Reports from Training Centres. — The seventy-eight returns from training centres show that the attendances, conduct," and work of ohe p« pil-teachers is uniformly satisfactory. Technical. — The director reports that the district Technical Classes have now completed their terms of instruction, and he notes the fact that while during 1905 classes were conducted at two centres only, there have been during this year classes successfully conduoted at no fewer than ten centres. The Director at

Feilding reports that his Committees, which is now complete, contemplates extending its operations during next year. Both reports will be submitted to the Board's Technical Committee. Agriculture. — Mr Grant reports that he has visited thirteen schools and delivered five lectures. He mentions, in addition to his strictly agricultural work at the schools, iie takes a selected number of pupils for Nature study excursions. It is to b»» hoped that wherever possible one I or more teachers will join in these j excursions, so that the interest awakened by Mr Grant in the minds . of the pupils may be maintained by the teacher. Mr Grant presently ' proceeds to Apiti to give a course of i lectures to the farmers there. i Dairying. — Mr Browne, instructot ia this subject, proceeds to Wellingi ton at once, where -he will study at the Bacteriological Laboratory, and put himself in touch with the Dairy-? mg Department. I have given him letters of introduction to Mr Hogben, Mr Kinsella, and Professor Faster field. I would suggest that the Board write to Mr Gilruth thanking him for his ready acquiescence in the proposal that Mr Browne should pursue a course of study at the Government Laboratory. Suggestions. — I wonld respectfully ask the Board to permit me to invite to conferences those chiefly interested in the following: — (1.) The Saturday training centres. (2.) The District High Schools. (3.) The general work of teaching as represented by the Teachers' Institute. It is extremely desirable that the wcrk in connection with the training centres, the District High .Schools, and the manual training classes be mapped out before tbe advent of the holidays. In view of the forthcoming Inspectors' Conference it is well that the teachers and the technical staff should meet the Board's inspectors with tbe view of exchanging opinions on the work of teaching in the district.