REPORT OF THE INSPECTION OF SCHOOLS. 1885.

Grey River Argus, Volume XXXI, Issue 5315, 9 October 1885, Page 2

REPORT OF THE INSPECTION OF SCHOOLS. 1885.

; Greymouth, ; •;. . , ;,/ .September sth, 1885. Gentlemen, — . < Iq accordance with your instructions I have paid 'a Visit;' of inspection to each school in "the district (excepting Kynnersley) ; and beg to report as follows :— Westbrooke. - : Thursday, July 30th. fine. Number on the roll, 30 ; present, 26, Condition of school^ satisfactory in spite of disadvantages.; i : The/ teacher; holds no certificate, but is preparing for next exmination for Class E. The building itself can only be regarded as a makeshift ; and its position is decidedly badr ' The school is situated on the northern side of the Greenstone Road ; and the ground on the southern side having been gradually; raised by the deposit of tailings from theterrace, the locality of the school has become quite a swamp. < '! As the miners hay working the terrace opposite;, the school, I would advise the Commissioners to apply for, a reserve on the southern side, and to j build thereon 'a school-house suitable to! the requirements. The ; present school building could be removed , to the new reserve, and' with some slight alteration would be suitable for the teacher's residence. •'. "•" ' '■• ' ■ ; ' .■■,«■.• The -teacher is at presenti living in a ; Hut in the immediate ' vicinity of the school. Thehut>was purchased by him for £1, and he has'expehded upon it the sum of £2 10s, in procuring tonguediand ; grooved timber for lining. The necessary; labor was performed by himself. -Se has also made a very good swing for the children and an. easel' for the school. As he has ahdwn a disposition to make .the^ best of pircnmstahces, I beg tb ' recommend 1 that the Commissioners refund the siim of r £3ilosV f expended 1 by him upon the. hut. j,• .. . ; - i; „ If my previous suggestions be agreed to, the hut will be handy as a. fowlhouse-y-a purpose for which, it' is muchrriore suitable than for a dwelling. ' ! The blackboard at present in use is too small. Another one is required. : Greenstone. ■ Friday, July 31st.— Weather, fine. Roll number, 26 ; present, 20. Cordition of school, satisfactory notwithstanding themakeshift character of the schoolroom.' The teacher holds no certificate, but is preparing for next examination? or Class E. 1 advise that ah inexpensive building be erected on the high ground at the back of the school, . and that the present building be made suitable for a residence. The teacher at present occupies~the back portion of the building, but the place is much, top small. The last' addition to the present ! building" was put up by the teacher ; the ' timber was supplied by the late Board. The. new front door, : not having been painted, was shrinking and cracking under the ..heat of the sun. The teacher, had covered it with bags, and he offered -to,' paint it if I would' send him the material., ; I therefore ssnt him.. a; small tin of mixed paint. The closets have been placed on the high ground immediately at the back of the school ; arid 'the probability is that some drainage : from- them may"be found^unpleasantly nearthe ' sur- ; face of the ground upon which the building stands. This Committee has instituted the charge for school requisites, but very few. parents have paid. :- V -. ■' PAROA. : ' ..,,,,. '„ August 4th.— -Weather, fine. Roll number, 66 ; present, 56. The assistant teacher was absent on account of illness, and for the same reason had been absent during the present year for 9 weeks. A scholar, Miss Dowling, was performing the work of the' assistant, and, was doing, very well. : Notwithstanding this drawback, the condition of the school is satisfactory. The +eacher has no certificate, but is preparing for Class E examination. A new blackboard is very much wanted, the one in use having become so warped and twisted as to be of little assistance. ' The interior walls and the ceiling of the school are whitewashed ; and owing to the defective condition of the roof (previous to the repairs) the water has leaked through and very much discolored the whole, interior," giving it a very miserable appearance. I would recommend that j the interior be again whitewashed or painted. The wall blackboards require re-painting. There is only a small hand-bell in use here, and I think that whore the children come fTom a distance there should be a larger bell. I saw Mr Burns, a member of the School Committee, and he informed me that the sum of £5 was required for repairing swings, and that there was an old liability of L 2 16s, being amount due to the caretaker for 1884. He also informed me that the committee has foot yet instituted the charge for school requisites. .', ' . The teacher is not provided with a residence by the Commissioners ;' but has a house of his own directly opposite the school, with about one acre of land. I : would recommend the Commissioners to ■ purchase the cottage and land instead; of / building a residence. The school building requires painting. Marsden. . : Wednesday, August sth. —Weather, fine. Roll nunjber, 17 ; present, 15. The teacher holds no certificate, but is pre- ! paring for Class E examination. Con- ■ dition of school, satisfactory. J The teacher complains of hindrance from the late arrival of some scholars. The new 'window lately put in is^a great; improvement. _ ,/ : The front door or pair of doors is very j old and shaky and quite insecure. A \ strong single door k requited in ltd place, ■

An iron bar is wanted to go across the fireplace, to prevent the wood falling out (2ft. .6in.). The sides of the new chinuiey, at the. 3unction with the woodwork, require covering with zinc, as the rain finds its way inside. vi?^. spouting is down in several places. Ine "ttown^pipeto the tank Wd~requiieTf fixing... ... . .. r I -would recommend that a 1 portion of the mside.partition be taken. down ior.the purpose of giving room for class wort. to 6 ? Ie or ro roonvat present. The building requires painting outside " and inside.

There is no residence, provided for the teacher. I believe that.a cottage may be bought, ( f or a moderate price. An ;■: fla^''. is very : much wanted^ the! I 1 teacher haying to, pjace,her blackboard on' 'the back- of achair; ' „, \.; ; \' , , ; ■• ■ The Committee laVe-iibiiirisytu'ted the charge, for requisites ; but dp japp r anticipate any ■ pbjectibns; to it in;the event of their wishing to do so. : -'.'/' ';''■

; .;,.., "\ Ptoganville. : j ; .\;'.'';' .-., . ber,- 58 1 ;' present, 1 49. , Condition of ; school, satisfactory. The 1 teacher 1 has no certificate, ..but is preparing for, Class^E.^ .;. A 'promjnent'. feature _' in'^is^Bdhpol is the care which^has Evidently 'been taken to protect the desks' from injury. Though in use for some^ears, there'' is barely a serat c h'or mark' of ari^incVupoti itnemV The fence, between, th§. south side of the school grouri'd and the 'Chinaman's duelling house, ia quite "ro^eh'iv'ari^,, should, be replaced as'soOri- as 'pbssißle. The' whole of the fencing, will- shortly wani renewal. This is a very good building,' With only an iron, chimney, j : and there' are evidences of it's having' on se'veraj occasions narrowly escaped fire. .The Chairman; of, the Committee suggested that a_ stove would be more suitable and less dangerous, provided the pipe were taken up the chimney. As there is a Btove ili the stipre, it might be tried ; otherwise I think 'that a brick chimney' should ,'bVbuiiti ;

I I"would| recbmmend'fthat the infant's t gallery be removed and replaced by desks. ' The walljblackboard i wants re-painting. T The rings fixed in jbhe- upper sashes of 1 the windows are very flintay, and in using ■ the hook to pull the sash down, if the ring should give way suddenly; thef esitf danger k of the window being brokeni The ; building- requires one coat; of paint I- outside and painting inside, i The, teacher;- has planted some trees> f which, when- grpwn fupj will improve the • appearance of the school ground. . . . : 1 CpBDBN.. •■:... U August 10th.— Weather fine. Roll i \ number, 74 ; present, 53. .Condition of • school, satisfactory.,,- The, teacher,. holds a \ D certificate. ' ' ' r ; The' large room of this school is very . , badly lighted ; while in the smaller room, »■ more lately built, the light-is all that could i be desired. To make matters worse, the 3 glass in the "windows of the larger room 1 'have all been frosted. This should be > taken off ; arid blinds supplied. . ■ It: would be a great improvement if two large winidows were placed in the south-east side of the room. This and painting the interior H a light color would go far ;to remedy the j evil. . ,It was a bright. clear, day when I '. visited, the school, and it must have a very j dungeon like appearance in cloudy weather. v . ... , Several panes of glass are broken. [ A drawer is required for the head r master's table, and.a.,clock for the smaller. I r00m.,, . , ' ■ ■ • The floor in several places wants re- '■■ Pairing.; . : V.;-|.j"'." ■■,■'' ■ " % '''.y ' l ; ; New hat-pega are also wanted, and the '',' livatbry is much too small. ! ' . : J : . The fence in places and the front gates \ are rather dilapidated. „ „ \ ' ' .;:'."',' Greymouth. „ . ; ! ■ • August 11th.— Weather, fine. " '" l' , The following are the numbers, present s in each division, rand the names of- the I ■ teachers in charge : — ..■..• = , Infanta 85 f f lor fi c " rown V' PapU [ *!*•■_? ■{&£££? j *?**,■ !'.;. ;T0ta1142,; '■■; ■- ..'.■ „•,..■.'■ „ '„/'"' J , The seat, arrangements in this division are not ;- satisfactory, the, infants being k much crowded, though the floor space on \ the whole ia aufficient. . ; Standard I. 44 Jane Sotheranl'Papil Standard nl 65 Miss'PeUirig ' J Teach'rs 1 Total 109 : The desk accommodation for the 2nd • Standard is riot suflicient for a full atJ tendance. L f The Infant Department and Standards \ I and II are under the general supervision \ .of Miss Brown, junior assistant. ■ Wo n ,i.,jTTT go f Miss Batchelor, jr. as. standard IJI. 82 < tut- -p- . _■• ' J . , (^ Miss Kemple, p. t. This room is far too small, i Standard IV. ."■ Miss ■' Robinson,; junior s [ assistant, assisted occasionally by Mrj Clements^: : assistant teacher; /and FloE rence Laws,' pupil teacher. ) There is only just suflicient' accommodation for this class. ! ;T r V Standard V. 35 Mr Malcolm; assistant i teacher. • This room gives ample accommodation J at present. , , '; ' ' : ' *' ' : Standard VI, 33 Mr Clements, assistant 1 teacher. ■ This room is very much too small. 1 The time table 'for this' fichool does not differ as to the subjects taught from that ' of any other school? in the' district, arid I think it is to be regretted that time cannot be found for some teaching of elementary science arid . domestic eoonomy.. Vocal music' arid military drill 'should alsoreceive attention. The reason for the omission of these*, subjects ' are iprdbably as follows :— risk The insufficiency, of the staff. 2nd. Thefact of the school having been _ closed for some time during the year owing , to the prevalence of scarlet-fever. 3rd. The requirements of the annual examination, in the matter of percentage. : ,; j;j j ff j Perhaps it would be better if (.tejachers generally had less "cpnscipusness of ; ihe f

imminence^ of the examination" and were grided*more by the' old "maxim to " Take ; care of everything but the examination, and let the examination take care of itself. " So long, however, as the work of a school is judged solely by the percentage of passes, teachers cannot fairly be blamed for directing their efforts to the securing of the largest possible percentage. To prevent my meaning being misinterpreted I must explain that my objection is not to the matter of percentage per. se. for provided that the^stToape^aSe'skillfully and carefully prepared, such a thing as cram is barely possible ; and the percentage gained may be accepted as a sufficient indication of the! general condition of a school. ! > ' .'■ .■■■■■<:

The real question is— would not a percentage of 80 or 85 be more satisfactory with the subjects mentioned included, than one of 90 or' 95 without them. My impression is that ! it would. ;■ I am aware of the difficulty attending the teaching thoroughly of almost any branch of science without material for demonstration and experiment, but I think that the want of such material jineednpt prevent fairly good work being. done.'- in some subjects. For the subject of Domestic Economy it can be said that some

knowledge of it ,-is absolutely . essential ; which is really mpre than can be said for several subjects included in the school Erogramme, for instance— geography and. istory. In the Ehglislji^Goideto^lnstruc--tion the teaching! of this subject was at first made compulsory for girls onlyfbut it is now compulsory for both girls and boys, the instruction to the latter being confined to one branch, viz., housekeeping generally, that to the former including both housekeeping and food; and 1 its preparation. When! a large percentage of the girls attending our public schools are likely to become domestic servants, it cannot be said that'these schools arefulfill-j ing their mission when this subject 'is ex-' eluded from the programme. It is safe to aay that many housekeepers in the community are suffering more or less every day from the absence; of the most elementary knowledge of household matters and the existence of the most primitive ideas as to cleanliness, &c., on the-part of jthose thgy employ. ! ' Supposing my conclusions as to the occupation of some of our girls be considered » derogatory, it must still be admitted that each one is a probable future mistress of a house, and that a knowledge of this science is as necessary for the mistress as for the maid. ■ Hi / <- : y I I ' Herbert Spencer says :— " To prepare us ior complete ; living is the function which education has to discharge, and the only rational mode of judging of an educational course is to judge v in ... what degree it discharges such function;' 1 - The reading books used in the schools contain some useful chapters upon this subject, but in a large school particularly, such an important subject should be specially provided for in the time table. As to local music I need say little. Its humanising effect and tendency to soften the asperities occurring in school work are recognised by all authorities on school management and it may safely be affirmed that no scholar should pass the Sixth Standard without possessing the faculty of reading an easy piece of music fairly well. There would be little use in my pointing out the deficiencies in this school, both in teaching staff and floor space, were there no more than the ordinary probability of their being remedied. As there is howa likelihood of the school being '^ transformedihto a District High School, I will here point out the deficierices in the teaching staff, (those relating to floor space I have already alluded to) and under the heading of the District High School will suggest the remedies. , Ist. It cannot be considered satisfactory that there is otfy one teacher of anything approaching extended experience in charge of the Infant.. Department and Standards 1 and 11, and that the Infant Department and Standard I are mainly taught by untrained pupil-teachers. There is^a general agreement among authorities upon the matter of primary education, that, whilst whatever actual teaching the Head Teacher may find time to do, (in addition to the general super- : vision, whichjn a large, school is really his most important duty) should be in the higher , the next most important position is that of the teacher who has charge of the; lower classes.. I caunot put the matter mmre clearly than by quotitng one of these authorities. \ "As the care of the higher classes should be the special; work . of the master, when he takes any particular section of the teaching, so the lowest section of the the school, as being the next post of difficulty and importance, should be given to the most skilful, suitable, and energetic assistant. The work at the bottom of the school needs a teacher of .cheerful; patient, vivacious, temperament, gifted with much ski.ll in, fixing attention, and in presenting facts ; in/ a vivid 1 and interesting way to little children. It is a very, great mistake to give the lowest group of children to an inexperienced or unskilful teacher. 2nd. A junioj assistant and pupil teacher are not sufficient for Standard ...... nj- ■ ■■■■■■■ ■ . .-,;-. ■ 3rd. There should, if possible, be ; a male teacher in charge of Standard IV. In, addition to- putting untrained pupilteachers in charge of large classes in the lower; department, during tke $ whole schoolday; we exact from them the maximum of preparation in the way of studies of their/, own, and therefore we have no one to blame but ourselves if the patience and vivaciousness required for teaching young children are not always forthcoming. ° "Another authority says: — "It is a mistake to exact so much, as is often demanded, from young teachers. If we expect a young assistant to spend the whole of the ordinary school hours in charge of young children, and to pursue his. own studies when school is over, we expect what is unreasonable, and we go far to disgust him, and make him feel the task to be drudg'eryi" • •'. , With the object of attempting to remedy this state of affairs I have embodied in the latter, part of this report some suggestions for. alteration in the pupil teachers' programme. ' '"■•'• BruNNERTON. AugustlSth'.— Weather, showery. Roll number 208'^present;, 133; Condition of school, satisfactory. „ . ... . Standards i^aftd'lHvund'ef 'charge of Miss Scott, junior,- c.assistaht; uftnd Miss | Dick, pupil_teacher. Thjjfciioom is very j niuch,oyer-cwwfled,,therebeiijf' ,np room j for class work l on fldnr^-T^o^em.'&esk's are very much wantetL ■.^ \, ' '

-. Standards 11, IV, V, and VI, in large ; xopm;;underMr Malcolm, head teacher, and Miss Owen, pupil teacher. j The head master having the IV, V, J and VI, and Miss Owen the 11. 1 There is plenty of floor-space in this j room, but the desk accommodation is i quite inadequate. Six new desks should be supplied at once. Infant and Primer classes under Miss iM'Donald. There is sufficient floor accpmmodation.in this room, but another desk is wanted. A great deal of mischevious damage has been committed outside the building, the head teacher says partly by j scholars, and partly, "By } lafas and young men who cpngregatepnithe back verandah on Sun- ! day evenings. j j , The following are some of the particulars ■ of damage : — ' Tank tap and pipe wrenched away. ■■' Down-pipes on building unloosened, and the spouts at ends torn off. Persons have been permitted to cut down timber outside ot the school fence, and allow it to fall on the fence. The ; Committee sometimes lets the school-room for entertainments, &c. ; and j on several of these occasions,; the furniture has been damaged, and no effort appears to have been made to get compensation. , The closets are in a most wretched condition, and the boys' and girls' closets are placed side by side, and. they are much ioo near; the.schbol building. The fence surrounding them is quite rotten. The closets should be removed without delay, and more widely separated. They also require whitewashing inside. Strong locks should be placed on the doors, and the closets should be used only by the scholars. '■•'■ , /'. For one of the front doors of the school building, a new door-step and lock are required. ■; Th^dqwn-pipejat the back of the building brings down a considerable quantity of water, which has the effect of making the ground very swampy. A box drain is required to carry away the water, and several loads of gravel to make the ground passable. i (A :'of wpoden drain pipes are %iiig in profit 'of the building ; and should be removed. The fence generally is in a very bad condition. I think that if half the present area were securely fenced it would be sufficient. There is no residence here for the teacher ; and if a cottage were erected on theVreserve, it would .probably have the effect of preventing a good deal of the wilful damage, at present perpetrated. The School building requires painting outside and inside. ... .The only v conclusion one can come to, after making an examination of the school building and its surroundings, is that the School Committee does not attach a proper value to the educational advantages provided.; : To say the least, it is extremely careless, to allow the school buildings to be used for other purposes without having some guarantee that any damage done will be compensated for. Wallsend Side School. Same, day. — Roll number 85 ; present, 63. Room very much crowded ; and desk and sitting accommodation quite inadequate. Two desks should be supplied at once. The school is totally without apparatus for teaching, and there is no clock. The chimney smokes considerably. A piece of zinc fixed across the front of the fireplace, would I think prevent this. Miss North should have a pupil teacher to assist. ... Seeing the very crowded condition of the Wallsend School, its awk-vard position, and the generally unsatisfactory condition of its surroundings, and the fact of there being very little spare room at the Taylorville School, I believe that the Commissioners will do wisely by having a school-building erected at Dobson Town as aoon as possible, and severing the connection of the two schools. Red Jacks. August 27th. — Weather showery. Roll number, 17 ; present, 15. The teacher has.no certificate. Condition of school, satisfactory. . It would be a great improvement if the portion of the walls above the dado and the ceiling were lined with timber, instead of scrim and paper as at present, and painted. . A "window should be placed at the end of the schoolroom. The part of the building occupied by the teacher should be rendered more habitable. The bedroom is evidently very j damp. ' Tho outside of this building has ' never been painted. j No Town. i August 28th. — Weather, showery. Roll number, 52 ; present, 32. Condition of school, satisfactory. The teacher holds an E certificate, and is preparing for this year's examination for D. I recommend that the gallery be removed. 1 and two desks substituted, the Primer Class being rather crowded., A blackboard and easel are required. Some slight repairs to the lavatory; and spouting are necessary. The ' chimney in the teacher's house smokes very much. A piece of zinc fastened across the front of the fireplace would prevent this. . \ Maori Gully. • j Monday, September 14th.— Weathsr, tine Roll number, 27 ; present, 25. The children were quiet and orderly. The teacher informed me that he had caught a cold in the eyes through sleeping m the room attached to the school, the room, he stated, being very damp. Owing +o this he was, he said, incapable of teaching as usual, and his efforts appeared to j be principally directed to keeping the children quiet... ■, ■ : . ■) I therefore can priye no opinion as to His efficiency as a teacher. i The building requires painting. ! T he blackboards want re-painting. ' The girls' and boys' closets here should bo more widely separatee . t The Chairman of the Committee recommends the purchase of a cottage, situated near the school, as a residence for the teacher, for the sum of £12. It was the; property of the late teacher. I cannot say anythingrSus to ics condition, not having examined.it.;; .' I Totara Flat. I Wednesday, September 16th. — Weather, ■ showery. Roll number, 37 ; present, 32. ; Condition of school, satisfactory. The teachor hnWs no certificate. ' The Bcfonol building and residence re* , quire paintifrg..

The teacher to not occupying the house, having removed his family to a house built by himself upon his own land. There is a leak in the roof of the school building at the belfry which should be seen to. ! The blackboards want re-painting. Map hooks are wanted. I recommend that the infants' gallery be taken away and that a desk 10 feet lpng be provided instead. i This is the only School Reserve where trees have, been planted by the Committee. The reserve presents an appearance very j different to that usually seen. i Ahaura. Thursday, September 17th.— Weather, wet. Roll number, 25 ; present, 24. Condition of school, satisfactory. The teacher holds no certificate. Another blackboard and easel are wanted. The fireplace •is too small for the size of the. room. There are several cracks in the concrete chimney, and the water finds its way inside the building at the side of the chimi ney. ; There is a quantity of manuka scrub round about the building, which should be removed before the summer or there will be danger of fire occurring. There is only one closet, which has not been painted. A footway should be made to the build- [ ing, arid a hole close to the road, and about ten feet deep, should be filled up. | A bell is required. I took with me the specifications and agreement for repairs to the teacher's house, and they were signed by the contractor (Mr Paul). I went with the Chairman of the Committee to see the building, aad he pointed out that it would be of very little use to renew the foundations of the chimneys in the same way as before, as they would be again undermined by rats. He recommended a concrete foundation, and as Mr Paul offered to use concrete for payment of £1 extra I agreed to it. Tine section upon which the teacher's house stands requires draining, and a few: loads of gravel should be supplied. ' " Orwell Creek. Friday, September 18th. — Weather, fine. Roll number, 31 ; present, 18. The teicher holds no certificate. I am sorry that I cannot speak favorably as to the condition of this school. The discipline is lax, and the method of : teaching is capable of improvement. The Committee has requested the teacher to resign ; but if there be no other valid reason for his removal, I would suggest that he be allowed to remain until after the examination. The school building is in good condition, but there is a leak at one end of the building The cesspit of the girls' closet is open at the back of the closet, and being rather deep it is somewhat unsafe. Hatters. Wednesday, September 22nd. -Weather, fine. Roll number, 71 ; present, 54. Condition of school, satisfactory. The teacher has passed in all subjects for E. but music, and is preparing for examination for D. Miss Parker is doing good work, and is entitled to consideration in the matter of salary. Military drill receives attention at this school. The building requires painting. The large stones and the rushes in the playground shauld be removed. The lava- | tory tap needs repair. • There is a deficiency of apparatus, and the following articles are required : — blackboard and easel, pictorial alphabet and reading sheets, globe, and cabinet of objects. Some difficulty having arisen with the parents concerning the payment for school requisites, the Committee called a meeting of parents to consider the matter. With a few exceptions, they declined to contribute. The cause of this, however, is, I think, a misconception on the part of the Chairman of the Committee as to the articles included in school requisites He stated at the meeting that the teaching apparatus, including blackboards and maps, came under this heading, and that they could not be used unless the parents pay the charge. The decision of the parents not to pay is, I think, caused more by a desire to test the accuracy of this statement, than from any disinclination to contribute to the school fund. One would certainly require further evidence before believing, that a large, commodious, well-lighted and well^ventilated schoolroom having been provided, two good teachers appointed, and most of the accessories necessary for effective teaching supplied, thepraents wil deliberately refuse to make a small contribution to a fund which is to be expended in promoting the health and comfort of their children.

The building hitherto occupied by the teacher is a very unsuitable one, and he is about to remove into a cottage near the school. The owner of the cottage interviewed me, and offered to sell it to the Commissioners for £40. I examined the cottage, and found it in a thoroughly good condition, aid it is, I believe, worth the money.

(To he continued?)