SUPERIOR SCHOOLS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXXIX, Issue 3740, 16 January 1873, Page 3

SUPERIOR SCHOOLS.

The following reports upon the condition and efficiency of the Superior Schools of the province appear in the annual report of the Board of Education, recently printed:— HEIST’S COLLEGE GEAMMAE , SCHOOL. Christchurch, Nov. 18,1872. tTo the Chairman of the Board of Bduca* tdon, Sir, —We have the honour to report that, in accordance with instructions from the Board, we have inspected the Christ’s College Grammar School. The circumstances which prevented our earlier performance of the work were explained in our last report. The examination lasted five days, from the 4th inutamt to the Bth, inclusive. It embraced all the subjects returned to ns as taught in the school, except Divinity, and was conducted partly by written papers and partly viva node. There were one hundred and fifteen boys, present, divided into six forms, each of which, except the first and second, is again divided into npper and lower. C. O. Corfe, Esq., 8.A., is the Mathematical Master, and is also Acting Head Master in the absence of the EevW. C. Harris, M.A. E. Worthy, Esq., 8.A., has charge of the sixth form. The other forms are tanght respectively by Messrs Church, Condell, and Berkeley, and the Eev E. Brittan, 8.A., the two lowest forms being tanght as one. Except in the two lowest forms, which are confined to English subjects, the study of’ Classics takes a prominent place. Latin is begun in the Third Form, and Greek in the Upper Fourth. Each ranges upwards from grammar and first reading books to the highest authors read in schools. The work of the Sixth is to some extent regulated by the requirements of the New Zealand University. The Third Form, Upper and Lower, who are still in “ Principia, Part I,” were examined viva vone. Their work is, of course, quite elementary, but they appear to be taught with much care and pains, and their answers show that they have been well grounded. The rest of the examination in classics was by papers. In the lower fourth, out of thirteen boys, nine obtained more than three-quarter marks, and none fell below half-marks. The questions in parsing were answered by all but two boys with scarcely a mistake. The upper division was somewhat less successful: the translation was generally pretty good, but the parsing was but middling, while some questions m Syntax were omitted by four boys, and completely answered by only one. This I form has begun Greek, and has got as far as the verbs. Some questions in the early part of the grammar wore answered correctly by six out of the thirteen boys, the remainder (except one who had apparently not learnt any Greek) doing pretty well. In the lower fifth, a piece of Greek translation, taken from what had previously been read in school, was tolerably done; but the parsing was in most cases very indifferent. In Latin, the translation was omitted by three boys—the passage selected having probably been read by the form before they were promoted to it—and was not well done by any of the others. The author (Livy) seems too difficult for them. A simple piece of Latin was construed at sight *•very fairly indeed by all but four boys ; and ; : the parsing, with the same number of exceptions, was equally good. Of the upper fifth,

out of twelve boys, throe acquitted themselves well in Greek, and three failed altogether; the remaining six making an average of something less than half marks. In Latin, passages from Virgil and Cicero, previously prepared, were fairly construed by half the class; but a passage to be translated at sight was not attempted by several, and was accomplished with any degree of ■ success by only three. In the sixth form, the papers of two boys in the upper division were of a very high order of merit. The translation, especially that of a difficult passage of Thucydides, was both accurate and in good style, while the answers to some critical questions showed careful reading, and a good deal of sound scholarship. The majority of the papers dope by the lower sixth, though in point of stylo not on a par with those just mentioned, were extremely good. The only noticeable defect, was the Littin writing. The two best specimens were deoidodly inferior to the translations by the same hands, while the rest were for the most port a mere rendering of the English words into Latin ones, without regard to differences of construction and idiom. The same remark would apply to the upper and lower fifth, who appear unable to render a simple sentence into Latin with any approach to correct construction or even without violating the first rules of grammar.

English grammar is professedly taught only in the three lowest forms. Allen and Cornwell’s is the text book, and the boys passed a very fair examination in that book. They less successful in applying their knowledge to the parsing of English poetry which they have been reading. In the three highest forms the study of English is confined ; to the reading of English classics (Shakespeare and Scott.) The sixth form wrote an essay on the plot of “ Macbeth.” On the whole the essays shpwed a good understanding of the play. The composition was fair, and in the upper sixth very good. The style was in some cases cramped and inelegant, the syntax not always correct, and the spelling seldom perfect. The punctuation of some of the essays was, very faulty, while others, afforded very little ground of complaint'in this respect. The explanations given of some difficult expressions in “The Merchant of Venice” were generally unsatisfactory; and the parsing of a passage from the same work was very defective. In this form, and indeed throughout the school, there is a tendency to parse English words in forms applicable to Latin and Greek rather than to English—a fault which indicates insufficient teaching of English grammar. The fifth form was examined in “ Much Ado About Nothing.” They showed a moderately good apprehension of the matter of the play; the parsing was tolerable. There were few satisfactory answers to questions on the derivation of words; and with few exceptions there was no great readiness in distinguishing obsolete terms from those still in use. The fourth form had been reading " The Lady of the Lake,” and was examined in it. About one-thitd of the class can parse fairly; the rest are backward. The spelling in this form, and in those below, is bad. ,

In history and geography, the two lowest forms passed a capital examination. , Their answers showed that both subjects are carefully taught, and that both, so far as the boys have gone, are well and accurately known. The third form scarcely did so well in history as their juniors; there was not much to find fault with, but they showed less alacrity in answering, and less general information. In geography some did well, but a few appeared to know very little. Taking the form as a whole they may be considered to have passed fairly. * The fourth form has begun Roman history. They passed an examination in both ancient and modem history in a manner that did them credit. All answered, well, and some very well, indeed. The geography also was, on the whole, very fairly done. The lower fifth form are reading both Grecian and Roman, as well as modern (or rather English) history, but did not appear to advantage in any. The ancient history is by no - moans good, and they showed out a moderate acquaintance with either the leading facts pf English history, or the details of the chapters they had been reading during the term. The geography, however, was better. Questions upon the map of Europe, which is -the particular part of geography that the class have been studying, were- in most cases correctly answered. The upper fifth, with the exception of two or three boys, did poorly in history. The ancient history was very indifferent, and the English history only middling. The geography, in this form was tolerably -good. There was considerable difference in the work done by the sixth form. The papers by two of the upper division were surprisingly full and accurate. In the lower sixth four h°y ß answered remarkably well in both history and geography, but the work of the other two, though not incorrect, was Very scanty.

The whole school receives some instruction in physical science. The upper sixth passed a very fair examination in mechanics; the lower sixth has some not very accurate knowledge of the same subject, and made rather less than half marks. Elementary astronomy is taught in all the forms from the fifth downwards ; but the highest average marks of any form scarcely exceeds one-third. In the fifth, Hamilton, Herbert, and Twentyman, and in the fourth, Bridge 11, Donald, Rhodes 11, and Wilson, answered very well. In the third, most of the boys know something of the theory of the tides; and in the eecond, of both tides and eclipses. The fifth form was examined also in physical geography. They have a fair ' knowledge of a small portion in which they have been instructed, but can answer very few general questions. The boys of the fourth, who were examined in the elements of statics and hydrostatics, were-very accurate in defining the three kinds of levers, but did not know the ratio of the power to the weight in each. They knew a little of the construction of the pump and the barometer. The amount of instruction in physical soiqnce throughout the school is less than might be given by a series of short reading lessons such as are prepared for use in-common schools.

French is taught in the sixth and upper and lower fifth forms. The only reading book , used is T6lemaque, of which the sixth have gone through the greater part. A work of a higherclass might be substituted with adyan-, tage. The translations were as a whole very good, and the construing at sight of a passage from Tel&naque by the hoys of the. filth deserves special notice. In both forms a considerable amount of grammar has been learnt, and a paper of grammatical questions was very well answered; but very little ability is displayed in applying this knowledge. With only two or , iiree exceptions aU. the boys in each form faded totally in composition. Those who succeeded best in translating from French into English were entirely at a less when j called on to turd an easy English sentence 1 into French. Considerable attention is paid to Mathematics, and with satisfactory results. By a very proper arrangement the classes for Mathematics are different from those for Classics and English. The first division includes the upper sixth, and (for some subjects) one boy from the lower sixth. The second consists of ten boys from the sixth and fifth forms, the third of the remainder of the sixth and fifth. The rest of the school is in divisions A, B, 0, to F. Boys of the fourth form are found in all the divisions A to D, and generally the forms are broken up and dispersed through the divisions. Divisions 1., 11., 111., and A profess arithmetic generally. The lower divisions were examined up to the points they have respectively reached. Thirteen boys made, no mistake in the sums they hud to work. The average marks of the whole school reached two-thirds. Only division F, the lowest, falls below half-marks. Divisions 1., 11., A, and B are above the average. Division I. has more than an ordinary school knowledge of algebra, and attained an average of three-quarter marks in a wide-reaching examination. Division 11., examined to quadratic equations inclusive made the same average ; and three boys out of ten did all their work correctly. Division 111., examined to' simple equations inclusive, exceeded half marks; and division A, in the same examination, fell but little short of the same average. In division A, Rhodes (II) made no mistake either in arithmetic or algebra. Division 1., has read six books of Euclid, and the average marks were threequarters. Division 11. has reached the nineteenth proposition of the sixth book, and

1 mode noarly two-third marts ; but twoboyb' 1 of this division are much behind the rest, and i being examined in the first book fell below . half-marks. Reeves occupies a place by him- - self. He has now read two boots, and gained P nearly full marks. Between the second diviI sion and the third there is a wide gap, none of i the third having got through the first book of [ Euclid, and some not half-way through. They • wore examined individually according to eaon boy’s reading, and the average marks were a little below two-thirds. Two of the boys of , this division have not yet begun Euolid. Out 1 of thirty-four b'oys examined in Euclid, seven obtained full marks. Division L has made very good progress in trigonometry, and made three-quarter marks. Four boys in Division 11. passed an easier examination with a result almost equally good. Division I. answered . easy questions in oonio sections moderately well. The school affords every facility for gaining a thorough knowledge of the branches of mathematics hero specified. The only faults we would point out are that some boys are allowed to lag too far behind their equals, and that there is too wide a difference be--tween the third division and the higher divisions, especially considering that divisions one and two contain only fourteen boys. We think it unnecessary to add much to the foregoing detailed statement. The discipline and general tone of the school appears, so far as wo had opportunities of judging, to be satisfactory. There is a sufficiency Of teaching power, and the classes are small enough to admit of each boy receiving a fair share of individual attention. , The comparative neglect of English grammar and physical science is a failing common to most English public schools, and is a point on which much may be learned from the methods pursued in the best class of primary schools. - We have reason to believe that arrangements are being made to promote the more careful study of. English. - We have the honour to he, sir, your obedient servants, Wm. Jas. Habens, B.A. J. Y. Coltsoene-Yeel,M.A. HIGH SCHOOL. f Christchurch, Aug. 28,1872. To the Chairman of the Board of Education, ' Sie, —We have the honour to report that, iu accordance with instructions received from the Board to inspect and report on the condition and efficiency of the High School and Christ’s College Grammar School, we have; held an examination of the High School. The college being engaged in its own examination at the time of our intended visit, we were unwilling to interfere with the work of the school, and have therefore postponed our inspection till next term. . ' The High School is attended by sixty hoys, divided into four classes, of which the lower two (the Ist and 2nd) are under the cAre of Mr Edge, 8.A., and the two higher (the 3rd and 4th) are taught by the head master, the! Rev. J. Campbell. t The course of instruction includes classics (Greek and Latin); mathe-. matics (arithmetic,' algebra, geometry, me-; chanics, and a little trigonometry); history,; ancient and modern, including Scripture history ; English (reading, writing, grammar, and composition, geography, and book-keeping); and French. A course of lectures on physiology is being delivered by Dr Powell, and Mr Maskell has just commenced another course on astronomy. The examination commenced on the 12th instant, and occupied us four days. It was condncted partly by written papers, and partly viva voce, and extended over all the above subjects (except the lectures on astronomy), so far as they are taught in each class. . Classics is confessedly not the strong point of the school. The study of . Greek is confined to the fourth class, including in the lower division grammar only; in the upper, easy exercises, and a little construing from Xenophon. Latin is taught in the third and fourth classes, beginning, with grammar and “Principia” in the third, and passing upwards through four several gradations of the fourth to Csesar and Virgil in the highest. This is not ah extensive programme, though it may be doubted whether more than this is practicable. But though v the range is limited, within those limits the progress made is; considering the age of the boys, as much as could be reasonably expected. No fault is to be found, with the quality of the teaching, and the work so far as it goes is fairly well done. , The arithmetic of the whole school is remarkably good. The sums in interest, discount, and cube root, seem to present no difficulty to the highest - class. The third class is familiar with fractions, reduction, and proportion, and some of the hoys have advanced to interest. In these two classes, more than half the boys did all their sums at the examination without a mistake, and only one boy fell below half marks.' In the second class, which was examined in the four simple rules and in reduction and fractions, one-third of the boys of the upper division made no mistake,; and of the rest of that division no boy did less than half of his work correctly at • first, and i all of them on being allowed to revise what they had done found out and perfectly corrected their mistakes. The lower division of the second class was less accurate, and the same must be said of the first 1 class, but some boys obtained full marks, and the rest only suffer by comparison. The upper division of the fourth mass has advanced in algebra to quadratic equations, the lower division to simple equations. The third class has tds.i; an upper and lower division for this subject, and some of the boys have only just r entered upon the study of it. Only two boys, did less than half of the' snipe given, them;' and about one-third of them made ho mistake. The average of correct answers throughout the classes was two-thirds. . The third and fourth classes are very much' sub-divided.for . geometry. One boy knoWs six books of Euclid, others four, others thirds, while some are just beginning the 1 first book. The fourth class answered very wall in the viva voce examination; the third doss poorly. Each boy was required to write out a proposition set with regard to the progress made, and nearly half of the papers were Correctly done, While less thah one-third were decidedly wrong. : History appears to be very thoroughly taught in every deportment of the school. In the junior class throughout a detailed viva voce examination iu the main facts of English history, extending from Julius Caesar to the Crimean War, not a single question was left unanswered. The proficiency of the best boys in this claws was quite astonishing. In the third, the examination in Ancient history (also viva voce) was passed'very fairly by the class as a whole, and by several boys remarkably well. The Modern history was somewhat inferior ; as though half the claws answered well, the other half comprised several boys who seemed completely ignorant of the subject. In the fourth class, the examination was conducted by papers. In | both Ancient and Modem history, not one bad I paper was sent in; several of them were , highly creditable, whilst those from the I three boys of the upper division were excellent.

In grammar, the first class (of little boys who hare not been long in the school) is backward. The second class answered admirably, most of the qnestions being answered by the first boy to whom they were put, and the composition was very fair, and above the average productions of boys at their age. The spelling here, as throughout the school, is very correct. The third class was very unequal in this subject, about one-fourth doing verywell, and one-fourth very badly, the rest taking a middle place. The fourth class did well in grammar and composition ; all the work was fairly done, and some—including that of all the boys of the upper division—was really very good. Most of the boys of the fourth class have correct and copious knowledge of geography in general, but failed to give a good account of the astronomical causes of dimate. The third class was weak in the political part of the subject, but otherwise answered fairly. The second class passed as good an examination as could be expected. The first class is not far advanced; French is taken up in the fourth class only and has but one hour a week' devoted to it. The boys appeared to have a tolerable knowledge of grammar, and the construing of passages from Charles XII., previously read in class; was pretty good. The reading and pronunciation were m all oases indifferent.

d/ Po'Well examined bis class frt ohrjiresence. Fourteen boys were there, and about half-a-dozen of them appeared to take an intelligent interest in the subject, and were able to answer most of the questions. , On the whole, the examination loads us to that the school is well taught. There is nbt more than an average, number of backward boys. The classes are very much sub-divided, so that eaoh boy may almost be said to yooeive individual attention. For thorough efficiency a school so sub-divided sofims to require, more than two teachers, which, probably, the present small number of boys will scarcely allow. The distribution of the time to the various ‘ subjects appears generally judicious, but we should like to see more time given to English grammar-and composition, especially in the higher class. The text book of grammar (Lonnie’s) is decidedly inferior to some that might be used. A great part of it consists of faulty sentences which the learner is required to correct, and the eye is likely to become accustomed to the errors instead of being familiarised with good English. Having regard to the recent changes iu the map of Europe, great care ought to be taken to have in use the latest editions of school books of geography. For want of this many of the boys, following their book too closely, fell into serious mistakes. A considerable knowledge of physical science might be imparted if the reading lessons of all the classes were specially framed with that object; at present it is only provided for by lectures, which are not likely to bo very serviceable except to the senior boys. The great drawback of the school is the short average of time during which eaoh boy stays in it,* and the consequent want of boys of a good age. This cramps the teaching of - classics, which cannot amount to much whilethe highest class has no one in it above; 15 years old. It also allows any boy of ; average ability to be prompted to the highest class before it is good for him to occupy such 1 a position, and before his character is suffi-; oiently 1 formed to enable him to have much' weight with his juniors. In this way the ; tone of the school is kept down ; and it ‘is ■ impossible for those traditions and habits to grow up, and for that esprit de corps among the hoys to be produced (so observable in the public schools of England), which, in themselves constitute an important disci-; pline, and exert an insensible but invaluable; influence upon their intellectual and moral development. We have the honour to be, sir, your obedient servants, ; Wm, Jas, Habens, B.A. J. V. COLBOENE YEBL, M.A.