CHRIST’S COLLEGE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXXV, Issue 9431, 4 June 1891, Page 6

CHRIST’S COLLEGE.

REPORT ON THE SCHOOL.

The following report by Mr Alexander Wilson, M.A., Rector of the Otago Girls’ High- School, Dunedin, has been forwarded to us for public, information’ To the Right Rev The Warden, Christ’s College, Canterbury. My' "Lord,—At the invitation. of your Lordship and the Body of Governors of Christ’s College, I paid a visit of inspection to the Grammar School on - April IS, and following days; and I have now the’ honour to present to your Lordship and the Governing Body the following report of my visit. I began my inspection on April 18, and continued it over .the 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th. Every facility was placed in my way by tifo hehd .'master, - and I “have to ;ex press my sense of the invariable couritesy I received at the hands of the head master and the members of the staff. jßefure leaving Dunedin ,1, made a very thorough study of the time-table at present in operation at the school, so that on arriving in the school I knew exactly in which' direction to make my inspection. The points which I conceived to come within the scope of my inspection were these- ' General organisation and distribution of >ork _ , ; .... ' General Character of the teaching : • The 1 , text-hbbks in Use ’ I Written work and home preparation , i. Discipline : University results of, the school teaching System of scholarships in connection with the school. GENERAL ORGANISATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF WORK. On the whole, I think very highly of the general arrangements of work as shown on the time-tables. The value of a timetable rests chiefly on two things—(l) On the wise balance of subjects as regards the time allotted to them; (2) on the perfection of the classification of pupils. To illustrate the first point,. I will tabulate the distribution of time in the 6th Forms (classical). The weekly total of school time for those forms—26 hours 80min—is distributed as follows; ' Divinity ;.. 2 hours. ■ . Latin. ’ 'G'jhours SO.mipnies Greek",'' , ,1.." 6 hours 30 minutes ' Mathematics - 5 hours French /.. -2 hours4o minutes," I «-English , 3 hours 50 minutes. *lf the subjects .are to. constitute the course’of study for the classical side of the school, I'cannot suggest'a much better distribution of the time than that above given. Latin and Greek may appear to appropriate an unreasonably large part of the school time; but if these languages are to mark the character of the school I do not think it would be wise to give them less. On the other hand, it may seem that English has not a fair share of .the school time; but where so much time is given to other languages, a good deal of the teaching that usually comes under “English” will be incidentally given. If any time could be saved from the various subjects as here shown, it might be well that the classical side of the school should be made acquainted with a science, say chemistry. I may point out, however, that as an equipment for the University Junior,Scholarship competition a single science would be useless. CLASSIFICATION OF PUPILS One of the greatest difficulties in secondary school management is to make a satisfactory classification of pupils. ■ By the usual form system the pupil is classified according to his proficiency in one or two subjects. Under this system a boy may be quite abreast of his form in certain subjects—say in English, Latin and arithmetic, but much behind the form in other subjects—say Greek and geometry. The ideal classification is that by which a pupil will find himself independently .classified for each subject. Your head master has succeeded, in a very large measure, in achieving this ideal classification, and I must specially commend the skill which he has brought to this port of the school organisation. The fact that he has on his staff a large proportion of what are called “ all-round men ” enables him to have the same, subject taught through one-half of. the school at the same hour. I understand that, this system of classification has not been.long in operation, and I should look for good results when it has had sufficient time to tell. The danger of this plan of classification is, that, in order to meet, the classification, a master may be taken from work for. which he is well fitted to take work fpr which he is leas well fitted, or for which "he is even ill-fitted. This must be guarded against, and in making new appointments to the staff the requirements of this system of classification should be borne in mind. GENERAL CHARACTER OF TEE TEACHING. Before offering any comment bn .the character of the teaching, I will indicate the system I adopted in my inspection. Having an exact knowledge, ; from the time-tables in my possession, of .the. work, being done throughout the school during each of the school' hours, I was. able to sketch out each evening my programme of visits for the following day. Except just at first, when I was not familiar with the lie of the class-rooms, my round of visits was arranged without consulting anyone connected with the school. I moved freely from class-room to class-room as I thought necessary, remaining in each a. longer or shorter time, as it seemed sufficient for my purpose. Occasionally I asked the head master to change his arrangements to enable me to examine into some particular point of the school work, but this did not occur often, as I was anxious to disturb as little as possible, the ordinary working of the school. ' UPPER SCHOOL—LATIN AND GREEK. : The' Sixth FCrma appear to me to be .carefully taught." .They translated• revision work (Bforabe andiEuripides).fluently, and answered questions. in grammar 'readily. Ifound the boys in these forms, generally , speaking, more shy in .their answering than the younger , boys of the schOdl."Alt the' ‘encL 1 of ;my- inspection, when. . this, shyness bad worn . off, they Appeared to better advantage. • -Judging from their written work, I should think .that these.forms require some systematic drill in: their. Greet -cadence. I was much pleased with a lesson in Latin prose composition given to the Upper Sixth in my - presence. In the, translation s . into English of a Latin passage at sight, I noted, more particularly in the translation of one boy, a very happy knack of English phrasing. It is evident that the art of spirited translation is cultivated. This freedom of translation, however desirable as it is up to a certain' extent, tends to run to excess, passing too often into mere paraphrase, and suggesting that a random guess is being made at the general sense. The numbers in these two classes are small, and the boys seem to me to be very intelligent and well disposed to wofk. If a little more emphasis, is laid on the accuracy of the written work, the Sixth Form ..boys should be able to give a good account of themselves by and by in classics.

The Upper Fifth.—The boys of this form seemed to me not to give themselves as heartily to their woefeas might be desired. T robeervect ;a- want of--alertness, which would, I think,.idisappearif. some system of place-taking were adopted. This, by -induo;ipg ; a ipoifO Spirited rivalry, amongst ■ the 'bbysj .would kdd interest to thp work and improve, its -quality. 1 am inclined to question the wisdom of reading Homer with this form j not because of any inherent difficulty in the author, but ■ because it seems undesirable at this stage to perplex boys with Epic forma, while their footing in Attic Greek ia still insecure. .The, Middle Fifth, as concerns classics, is in good hands, and ia vigorously taught. The boys take their seats as if they knew that a spell of serious work ia expected of them. A good deal of the answering in this form is done by simultaneous writing, a ‘plan which should conduce to accuracy : in written examinations. ", The Lower Fifth deems to contain a large proportion of backward" boys; but the teaching both of Latin and Greek is vigorous, and I think the boys are doing, in, these subjects,, as good work as can be ‘expected of them..' '■■■; ■■■• ENGLISH. , 1 The in thia. iubject; seems well

arranged throughout the school. I cannot say that I was very favourably impressed with-the teaching of this "subject as far as I saw it ; but I believe I saw it at a disadvantage. There was good discipline, and the pupils were attentive. But the teaching seemed to me wanting in interest. I believe that in one form at least (the Sixth) the constraint of inspection affected the teaching unfavourably. I subsequently had an opportunity of taking this class myself for an hour, and I found them answer readily and intelligently. Of eight examination papers which I set the Sixth Form, the English paper was one of those most satisfactorily answered. Prom what I saw, not only of the teaching of English, but of the teaching of other literatures throughout the school, I was led to think that the masters of the school do not make sufficient use of their own resources (undoubtedly large resources in the case of many of thein)-. The lessons; seemed to me to tend too readily to “drill”, in accidence and syntax. This drill is, of course, in itself, a very essential thing, and must not be neglected; but after aIL it ia-the-means to a proper appreciation of literature, and not an'end in‘itself. Op the other hand, I do nob forget how easy it is to go to the opposite extreme of discursiveness ; but I observed no tendency to this vice in the school. MATHEMATICS. ■ _ . _ • Of the , teaching of mathematics in the Upper School I am not able to speak so explicitly as I could wish; for this reason, that:when L..visited the classes in mathematics very little teaching seemed to ha going on—except; in the case of the Upper Fifth Form. So far as I could judge, the boys go on' working from books, each at his own pace, the master standing- by to resolve difficulties as they arise. I.am inclined to think that with the advanced boys this is the best plan to follow. Such boys, having been already over the ground they require to cover, are familiar with the processes, and require only to be helped over the difficult places. But with the larger part of the pupils, especially where so perfect a classification is possible, I do not think this “ go-as-you-please ” system is the best. I should prefer to see the pupils arranged in groups, and each group treated in turn to vigorous blackboard teaching. There would in this way be a batter stimulus : to work, and the duller boys more particularly wouhUbetter apprehend the more difficult points. In the Fifth Form room the master seems to make more frequent use of the blackboard than I observed to be-the case elsewhere. ’ The boys in this Form appeared to me to be somewhat unequal in their mathematics; and, although the Form seemed to be under good discipline, there was a listlessness which I think ought to be overcome by some stimulus such as place-taking. The Form might, I think, be very effectively handled in two divisions, one division to be taught from the blackboard whilst the other worked on paper. As regards written work, the papers in algebra* l and arithmetic which I sec to the Sixth Form were done in good style. FRENCH. This •subject I saw taught in the Upper VI. and Upper V. Forma of the Upper School, and in all the forms of the Lower School; hut I was present in the classroom of the Second Form too short a time to enable me to give an opinion of the teaching. The teaching of French throughout seemed to me good, and in one or two forms I thought it excellent. In the Upper VI. points of difficulty were explained to the boys in a lucid and intelligent way, and the teaching was emphasised by. clear exposition on the blackboard. In the Upper V. also the work was well in hand. , GERMAN. _ . This language, with science, is the “ Modern Side ” alternative for Greek. Unfortunately I was not able to see. so much of the German work as I could have wished, because I was unable to be present at the school at the hour when I had arranged to visit the German classes. I was present, however, at one German lesson (Modern Sixth Form), when the boys translated a piece of narrative prose with fair accuracy and facility. SCIENCE. The science of the school is not what it ought to be in a school where the arrangements generally are so good. Apparently the same plan is followed here as in mathematics—that of throwing the boys largely on themselves. I found in the science classes 'that the boys were working from text - books—mechanics, or some branch of physics. Hera, if anywhere in the school, one would expect teaching, with plentiful use of blackboard, and with illustrative, experiments. If I had had longer time to spend in the science classrooms I should probably have seen some such teaching. As it was, I saw no teaching except in the Lower Fifth Form, where a class was being questioned on some part of Balfour Stewart’s Primer (Physips). The boys did not seem to me to be much interested in the lesson, or very clearlyto understand it. In the teaching of Physics a few simple experiments would give vitality to the subject. But I believe the school is nob sufficiently provided with apparatus for Science teaching. On the modern side of such a school as this Chemistry ought to be taught, and there ought, to" be attached to the school a properly equipped laboratory. , - I made a point of looking closely into the working of the lower ' school, and I think that this part of the school is, generally speaking, in a sound condition. . The classes are orderly, the teaching lively and intelligent, and the pupils active and alert. The first is. a model form. Not only are the boys in the form well disciplined and industrious, but work and discipline . seem to ,be an enjoyment. . The weak place in the lower school is the Second Form,'which, it appears to me, .requires, a good deal of attention to bring it, as. regards'work and discipline,'to'the level,of other forms in the school. ■ ; : ;;,„ j TEXT, BOOKS., i jhe text boqkMeem to.me,<>p this whole, vary- judiciously chosen, and"! have no ■briticism-td offer bn this-point, exfcept; perhaps this, that on looking' into the “jSubsidia Primaria, part 1.,” since myreturn to Dunedin, it seems to me a confused book, likely to perplex boys who are beginning Latin and make them lose their bearings. It is, however, a very full storehouse of examples of Latin construction; and what appears to me its confused scheme, may be corrected by its being used along with Dr Kennedy’s very - clear and. simple “ Shorter Latin Primer.” WRITTEN WORK. ' My opinion of the written work of the school has been formed, partly from what I have seen of the home' exercises, and partly from papers in various subjects which I set to the Sixth Form. (Eight papers in all.) This written work I consider the weakest point of the school. The home exercises, except in the lowest form, did not impress me as having been written with sufficient care, but rather as having been dashed off in a hasty and perfunctory way; and this I found to.be the case even with classes which receive excellent’teaching. I found a good deal of work- expended by the masters on the exercise books, which were carefully corrected with red ink—much more carefully indeed than the exercises deserved. I am inclined to think that mere neatness of style is. notv.sufficiently- insisted : upon; and if boys are careless in: the > penmanship , and style of their exercises, such carelessness is" certain to affect the general quality of the work. In some, of the papers which I set the Sixth Form I was surprised to find the answering so much more inaccurate than I had been led to expect from their Nina voce work. I should say that this inferiority of the written to the viva voce work is due to the following causes : (1) To insufficiency o£ stimulus given to written work done either at home or in school. (2) Insufficient practice m written work carefully done in school. (3) Insufficient black-board work in teaching. In regard to this last defect, I may say that I was surprised at the small use made of tho black-board in the teaching of the school, and at the quite inadequate black-board accommodation of some of the principal class-rooms The general inferiority of the written to the vivtp voce work js a, matter -of extreme.

importance, for this amongst other reasons, that it so closely affects the success of the school in public examinations and competitions. This defect, which I consider the most serious defect that has come under my notice in connection with the school will soon be cured, and can only be cured by the united action of the head master and staff in encouraging and enforcing careful attention to the general style of all written work. I may mention that the papers in algebra and arithmetic worked for me by the Sixth, were done in very good form, and lead me to believe that a term’s careful attention to this point will produce very encouraging results. EVENING PREPARATION. I visited the school in the evening to see the hoarders at evening preparation. This is superintended by the staff in tom, three masters being present each evening. Besides the boarders, a number of day boys whose homes are within eapy distance of the College, attend to take advantage of the supervision given to the boarders. From what I saw, I should say that this careful system of preparation mast exercise a very wholesome influence on the school. discipline. - I can speak only in the highest terms of the general discipline, and of the excellent spirit which seems to pervade the school throughout. Of course, as is to be expected in a school where there are so many forms and so large a staff, there are parts of the school where the discipline is less perfect than it is in others, and I have indicated places where I think the discipline might be improved. But on the whole, though there is no martinet system of I thought the boys were kept very well in hand; and it. gave me pleasure to observe the perfect understanding that existed between some of the masters and their pnpils. RELATIONS OF THE SCHOOL TO THE UNIVERSITY. Whether the school is satisfactorily discharging its function as a feeder of. the. University is a question on which my knowledge of the circumstances of the school is not large enough to entitle me to pronounce an opinion. I must, therefore, restrict myself to suggesting certain considerations which ought to weigh, with those who form an opinion on the subject. •’ Whether the school is properly discharging its functions as a feeder of _ the University must be judged - from ■ three 1 things:— (1) The number of pupils that.matrioulate from the school.

(2) The number of pupils that gain University Junior Scholarships. (3) The number of pupils that win distinction after entering the University. As to the number of pupils that matriculate from the school I cannot speak; but from what I have seen of the school I should suppose that a considerable number of boys from the Upper Fifth might matriculate at the end of the school year. It might be advisable to constitute the Lower Sixth and Upper Fifth matriculation admitting to these forms no boy who had not a fair chance of matriculating at the end of the year. It will, of course, be for the head master to say whether this is not demanding too much of the Upper Fifth, and whether the Lower Sixth only should not be made the matriculation form. SUCCESS OP THE SCHOOL IN THE MATTER OF UNIVERSITY JUNIOR SCHOLARSHIPS. I cannot venture to say whether the school is doing what ought to be expected from it in this direction, but I think it comes within the scope of the commission which your Lordsuip and the governing body have entrusted to me, _to mention certain important considerations which ought to weigh with - those who form a judgment on the matter—(l) Has the school had its fair share of those boys who win Education Board scholarships? Such boys are the best talent of, the province, sifted out by a rigorous process of selection, and it is clear that the schools which succeed in attracting them will, other things being equal, outdistance other schools in the competition for scholarships. In Otago the winners of University Junior Scholarships have been, with few exceptions. Education Board scholars. I believe the same will be found to hold good in Canterbury and Auckland. To what schools then do the Board scholars of Canterbury go for their secondary education ? These are the schools that ought to carry off University Scholarships, and if Christ’s College Grammar School gets afair share of the Board scholars it ought to gain a fair share also of the University Junior Scholarships. In an article in the Lyttefc ion Times of Feb. 27th, which I have read only since my return to Dunedin, the writer contrasts the success of the Christchurcfa Girls’ High School, over a certain number of years with the want of success of Christ’s College over the same period in respect of University scholarships. I have no means of knowing whether this is or is not a fair comparison, but I take leave to point out certain considerations on which the fairness of the comparison will largely depend. Assuming the Education Board scholarships to be pretty evenly divided between the sexes, the fairness of the comparison will depend on the answers to these questions : 1, What proportion of the girls who win Education Board scholarships attend the Girls’ High School for their secondary education. 2, What proportion, of the boy scholars attend Christ’s College Granmiar School? 3, What is the age at which candidates compete for University scholarships from the respective schools P If it be the case that in these respects the schools compared are pretty equally conditioned, the criticism of , the Lyttelton Times is, I think, warranted. Perhaps, however, to be perfectly fair, the comparison should be made only in those subjects that both schools have taken in common. SOMES SCHOLARSHIPS, • • In its Somes Scholarships the school has a very special jpeans of attracting promising pupils. .A. considerable number: of boys receive more or less pecuniary, help towards their education from the Somes benefaction. I venture to point out certain considerations which, it ■ seems to me, aocount.for the fact that not the very best material is attracted to the school by these scholarships. ... . . (1) They are, by the terms of the trust, restricted to one denomination. The area which they net is thus, correspondingly narrowed. „ (2) They are of comparatively small value—not sufficient to pay for the entire maintenance of the. holders., Poor country boys would thus not be attracted; and the scholarships will be likely to fall to boys who' reside with their ■ parents in Christchurch, or else to boys whose parents could as easily pay for their sons’ entire education as for part of it. (3) The scholarships are open to all boys of the Communion of the Church of. England throughout the Colony. Prom inquiries I have made, however, X am.led to think that the competition for these scholarships is not advertised in thuProvinces and cities of the Colony outside of Canterbury. If this is so, this" again narrows the area of competition. I believe it will be found that the present-holders of Somes Scholarships are all Canterbury boys, ;and, with .very.,few , exceptions, Christchurch boys. If'l, am .generally correct in my apprehension of the conditions that regulate the competitions for the Sqxnes Scholarships, the inference I should draw from these considerations is this—that the Somes Scholarships, generally speaking, will draw good second quality boys to the school, but not first quality. I should not look to find Somes scholars occupying a distinguished place in the list of University junior scholars, but I should expect them to take a creditable place in riiafc is called the “ Matriculation Credit List.” GREEK AS A SCHOLARSHIP SUBJECT. Assuming the pupils of your Grammar School to he able to_ hold their own against other schools in Latin, English, French and mathematics, they would still, in my opinion, he at a great disadvantage so long as the best boys take Greek aa one of their subjects for the scholarship competition. I say this advisedly, from a careful consideration of the ..examination papers and examination r re tarns-of the last few years. The maxi*

mum of marks for Greek has been fixed by the University Senate at 1000. Latin repeives ; 1600, or half as much again. Yet, at a moderate computation, Greek takes np five or six hoars a week for four or five years of a boy’s life. It is a language of extreme complexity and difficulty both in its accidence and its syntax, and has a vocabulary of enormous extent; besides which the difficulty is aggravated by an elaborate system of accents and by perplexing varieties of dialect. In addition to this, the examination papers show that the candidate who expects to score must have a tolerably comprehensive knowledge of the history of Greece. Yet, in point of marks, this formidable subject is balanced by two branches of science, in some of which it is possible to make 60 per cent by a single year’s work. In order to show now Greek tores as compared with science, I subjoin a quotation of marks from the examination results of the last three years:— 1890—The percentages obtained this year by the various candidates for Greek are: 46, 27, 8, 23, 21, 10, 19, 6 and 1. The parcentages in science are too numerous to quote in fall. These are a few:—

Heat—sß, 80, 80, 68, 72, among the marks of scholarship winners; and 82,84, 64, 62, 60 and 74, amongst the marks, of unsuccessful candidates.

Chemistry—6B, 82, 64, 60, 92 and 78, Botany—B2, 80, 72 and 60. ■ Electricity—Bß, 70, 60, 62 and 64. Mechanics—76, 70,60/74 and 56. 1889—In this year the Greek of tho Colony was in a much better state than in 1890. The Greek percentages for this’ year are:—7o (first scholar), 47, 68, 54,43, 37 and 43.

The science is in a worse state, though. still respectable. Heat—62, 50, 56,58 and downwards. Electricity—66, 53,40, &c. Mechanics—7B, 76,46, 53, &c. Chemistry—74, 74, 72, 60, &o. Botany—66, 76, 64, 70, &c. 1888—This year Greek is again low, the percentages being—29, 35, 28,11, 20, and science is again high, though not so highas in 1890.

Notwithstanding the fluctuations in these science marks, it seems clear that Greek is not so good an investment for competition^purposes aasoience. : (1) Because, Greek ia very expensive in time and .trouble as compared with science*

(2) Because examiners in science-are bo evidently more generous in the matter of marks than the examiners in Greek.

I should be, sorry if anything I said helped to dispossess Greek of one of its last strongholds in this Colony. The Greek classes were to me one of the most pleasant features of Christ’s College; but I must point out that as long as the University offers so little encouragement to the study of Greek, the Governors of the College most be prepared to retain Greek at the sacrifice of a certain amount of University distinction. There is one point that should he very carefully attended to. When a boy of more than average ability enters the school it onght not to be assumed that he is to join the classical side. The quality of his ability should be carefully considered, and if he has a leaning to science he should be drafted into the modern side,, and every opportunity should be given to him, in the matter of teaching and science appliances, of getting the heat possible training in science. I mention this, not because I have any reason to think that careful judgment is not exercised in the classification of new boys, but because of the great importance of the matter as a factor in the success of the school. I have now, after oarefol consideration, placed before your Lordship and the governing body the conclusions I have formed as to the state of your school. It is inevitable that a report of this kind should concern itself chiefly with the weak points of the school, and I should be sorry if the criticism which I have thought it my duty to offer should discourage those who'have the interests of the school at heart, or should be regarded in any other light than as the expression of a sincere desire to help a school, already in many respects excellent, to become still more so. In order to be thus helpful I have had rather to emphasise the defects that require to be remedied, than to point out its excellence. I may say, however, explicitly, that I do not believe that there is anything radically wrong with the school; and I should deprecate any changes of a revolutionary kind as likely to do the school more harm than good. What is required is attention to certain details, which will improve the quality of the work, without unduly changing the excellent lines on which the school is already organised. Perhaps I may be allowed to say, farther, that it was a particularly gratifying experience to myself to spend a week in a school so-ex-oeptionally endowed with all the advantages to be desired in a public school for boys. The Divinity lessons and chapel services, the large and zealous teaching staff, the spacious and well-equipped premises and grounds, the large opportunities for recreation and physical training, and the comfortable homes attached to the College, make np a full and wholesome school life which 1 fear is not possible for many schools on this side of the world. I have the honour to-be, my Lord, Tour Lordship’s most obedient servant.

Alexander Wilson. Dunedin, 29th April, 1891.'