THE WANGANUI EDUCATION BOARD. ANNUAL REPORT.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume II, Issue 109, 30 April 1881, Page 2

THE WANGANUI EDUCATION BOARD.

ANNUAL REPORT.

From the annual report of the Chairman of the above Board, we learn that there were 51 schools open at the end of the previous year, with an average attendance of 2850. By the last December return, there were found to be 56 schools open, with an average attendance of 4403, being an increase of nearly 20 per cent. New schools at Makino" road, Otaki, Ashhurst, and the Girls High School at Wanganui have been completed during the year. Architects have been appointed in Wanganui at the rate of £3 3s. for a job of £50, up to 20 guineas on a contract ot £500. The Board has resolved to let all work exceeding the value of £5 by public tender. The Board has now 102 teachers, 47 male, and 55 female, in its employ. Many of the teachers' quarterly returns having been sent in incompletely or incorrectly filled up, the issue of the report has been considerably delayed. Tenders extending over two years have been let for the supply of desks, school furniture, and printing. New rules and regulations have been issued. All the school buildings, to the value of £19,791 have been insured at the rate of 6s. per £100, in response to tenders which were invited. The Board was pleased to learn that the police have received orders to act as truant inspectors. The Board considers that all the schools should be in vacation at one and the same time. The Board regrets that the capitation grant of 10s. should have been disallowed by Parliament, and states that the Government grant of £2000 has been quite inadequate to its requirements, and trusts that during the ensuing year proper provision will be made for the necessities of the district. On the 31st December, the Board had available assets amounting to £1181 ss. 4d. : had incurred liabilities amounting to 896 14s. 6d., leaving a' credit balance to the Board of £284 10s. lOd. The Inspector reports on the schools of; this district as follows : — Hawera. — This school, in all respects, continues to be conducted with great ability and success. The moral influence of the master (Mr A. Mair) appears to be excellent, and so does the discipline. The only point that requires more attention is the reading. It needs improvement both in the style and in accuracy. The fifth and fourth standard examinees did their work well ; their written papers bore evidence of careful teaching, and the revising of them afforded me much pleasure ; they were quite model papers. The drawing and mapping shown by the children in the third, fourth, and fifth standards, were promising. Three

iailed out of fifteen presented in standard 111. The written arithmetic was very good, but the mental was between fair and good. The second standard examinees acquitted themselves admirably. Two only failed out of tbirty-one presented. Twenty-four passed in all subjects. The geography was excellent, and so, genetally speaking, was the recitation. The written arithmetic of the first standard was very good, the mental was excellent, and so was the recitation. Thirty were presented and passed; twenty passed in all subjects. The needlework under the different standards was very creditable. — Infant Department: There were sixty infants present on the dayipf examination. They were working at all stages of the rudiments, and many of the more advanced were well informed and intelligent. The order was perfect. Miss Cornfoot (assistant), who has charge^ of this department, is an intelligent teacher, of kind and cheerful manner, and possessing very specially the talents needed for such work as she is engaged in. She has a deoided talent for teaching infants, and keeps up the routine of infant instruction witu spirit and assiduity. If we except the Wanganui school, this is the best conducted infant school in my district. Additional accommodation is urgently needed. A gallery or platform for infants is indispensable. Since this report was written, additional floor space has, I have been told, been provided. The erection of a gallery or platform should not be delayed. The school committee was represented at the examination. Normanby. — Twenty-three were examined below Standard I. A few could read a little. The rest were learning the letters. Standards.— The examinees in the first passed creditably; in the 2nd, the reading was but moderately good ; in other subjects they were weak; and in the Brd and 4th, the results were favorable. Considering all the circumstances, and the short time the master has been in charge, the school in some respects made a very good appearance. This is an important school, and I hope the master (Mr. W. A. McCutchan) will succeed in getting a certificate in January next. The school committee was represented at the examination. Whakamara.— This school has been open for three months, and is held in the room of a farm house, which is small and only partially fitted up. This fact alone greatly hinders the thorough discipline and efficiency of the school. On the day of my visit there was a thin attendance, owing to a heavy rainfall. Those that were present, however, afforded a favorable speoimen of what the schoolmistress (Mrs. Bremer) can do. The school committee was represented at the examination. Manxjtahi. — The children were cheerful and well behaved, and the school bore marks of dih'gent and thoughtful work, as far as it went. The infants were well grounded in the elements, and all those presented for standard work passed fairly well. The reading, spelling, writing, and geography were all good. I can speak favorably also of the meaning of words in the second standard. The sewing seemed to be well done. Altogether, and as regards both the tone of the school, and the intelligence of the children, the state of the school is creditable to Miss Hay. Members of the school committee and others were present during the examination, Kakaramea. — After making every allowance for speoial causes, which are said to have operated against the prosperity of it, I am bound to state my disappointment with the attainments of the children in this school. There has been little or no progress made since last year. The reading throughout was slovenly, the dictation — on slates of the third standard, and on paper of the 4th and 5th — was altogether unsatisfactory, and the arithmetic and grammar were equally so. The copybooks were clean, and comparatively free from blots and and scrawls, and the written papers of the 4th and sth standards were more favorable than last year. I ascribe the fact, that the results are so unsatisfactory, partly to the lack of self reliance on the part of the children, partly to the prejudicial practice of skipping a standard, and partly to the master not having fully employed the ability which he has at his command. With greater attention to discipline and classification, and to the working of the elements, this school, under its present mnster, ought to succeed better in standard work than it has yet done. The school committee was represented at the examination.