EXAMINATION OF SCHOLARS.

Marlborough Press, Volume XXI, Issue 1250, 26 November 1880, Page 2

EXAMINATION OF SCHOLARS.

Mr Hodgson, tho Inspector of Schools, has made the following report to -the Marlborough Education Board : To the Chairman of the Marlborough Education Board. Sir—l have tho honor to lav before you my Report on the Marlborough Public Schools for 1880. I have examined nineteen schools, the flooded state of.the rivers having hitherto prevented me from examining the remote little school at Kekerangu. It is the wish of the Board, however, that-[ should-publish nay report-without waiting for the resale of the examination of that School. The number of; scholars on the , rolls ot ihe schools examined was 1122, 892 of whom were present at my examination. The number of passes was 505, giving a percentage of 78 for the district on the number presented ' for standards, 643. ...... ...

The age at which scholars pass the standards being an important factor in determining the value of the work done, I have compiled a table showing the average age at. whieh-the pupils in each school have passed the several standards. I have ’also shown what is the average age for passing in the whole district. As a rule, the schools did well this year ; though - the state of a few—as will appear from my estimate of each school —was far from being satisfactory. There are also defects in the method of teaching common to most of the schools, which I shall point out. The schools however vary so much, that it is not easy to give such a general estimate of the degree of success with which each subject is being taught as shall be equally true even of a large proportion of them. The reading, on the whole, has improved ; the spelling being certainly far better than it was. The arithmetic of many schools is still weak —this being especially manifest when a question is put in a form differing even slightly from that to which the pupils have been accustomed. Thought would be stimulated and accuracy gained if teachers would exercise their scholars in sums set in the most varied forms. Geography is now fairly well taught in almost every school, while the results of the examination- in History were, taken altogether, better than those obtained last year. Letting-writing—-amongst the most important matters that a child can learn —is evidently not practised enough. Not only are many of even the older scholars quite at a loss to express themselves clearly on the simplest subjects, but they have not been properly instructed in form ; ” that is, they do not know how to address or subscribe a letter properly. The handwriting in the different schools, with at most half-a-dozen exceptions, is still far from being as good as it ought to be, aud. as it would be if the requisite pains were taken. I- shall not cease to insist upon this point until I see a general amendment. Elementary science continues to be well taught. Singing by note is now taught, so far as I can ascertain, in one school only, Ren wick ; I make no account of singing by ear. Drawing forms part of the school-course in a few places ; needlework being tnught wherever a mistress or assistant mistress is employed. Before giving my usual summary of the present state of each school, I shall do what I can to correct a widespread misapprehension as to the quality of the instruction given in our public schools, and its probable effects both on the scholars themselves and on the cost of the system. It is probably and very generally alleged—lst, That the kind of education given in our primary schools is such as to unfit children for their future work in life ; and 2nd, That expenses might be largely curtailed if the instruction were confined to the bare elemeuta.of reading, writing, and arithmetic.

It will not be difficult to show that there are no good grounds for either of these allegations, A practical test is, fortunately, readily applicable. Six hundred and forty-three children have tliis year been presented for examination in the Marlborough district, Of these no more than 21 have succeeded in passing the Fifth Standard, 21 having passed the Sixth, including nine scholars attending the High School Ami there is no good reason for supposing that this number will be materially increased for some time. It follows then that the vast majority of the children who attend the primary schools will not get beyond the Fourth Standard when they leave school. Experience shows that their lime, especially in the country, is too valuable to admit of their being retained at school much beyond" their twelfth year, when this standard is usually passed by scholars of average ability. But all that the average boy carries away with him from school after passing the Fourth Standard may he summarised thus :—He can read a passage of ordinary difficulty from a newspaper, not well, but intelligibly. He can write a short letter on some simple subject in a legible hand, and probably without gross misspellings ; and he knows enough of figures to be Hble to make out or to check a tradesman’s bill. As to the )rest of his acquirements, no apprehension need be felt lest the scraps of geography, grammar, and history that he may have picked up should be a serious obstacle to his success in life. It may be assumed that a large proportion of the children who attend the Marlborough schools will be engaged hereafter in the field or the workshop. In neither of these pursuits will the acquirements I have enumerated be found superfluous ; nor, even if a little elementary science be added, with some knowledge of the principles on which a pump or a hydraulic press is constructed be found burdensome to a farmer or a mechanic. The danger of our children being overtaught may then, I believe, be regarded as a very remote contingency. Nor can I see how the cutting off of what are termed the extra subjects, such as grammer and science, would materially lessen the total cost of primary schools, A teacher who is not competent to give instruction in these matters is hardly fit to be employed at all in our public schools and, as a matter of fact, teachers do not object to taking up two or three of these subjects, which, on the contrary, are regarded by many as a relief from the monotonous drudgery of grinding at the bare rudiments. The salaries of teachers whose work was restricted to teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic could not well be reduced below the new scale ; the only difference, so far as .they are concerned, would he that their work would ho duller.

Sly own objection to attempting so many subjects is that they can rarely be taught effectively, especially in our smallor country school, where, there are many classes to one teacher. For this reason, mainly, I have formerly recommended the excision of history from our school course. So far, however, am I from sharing the apprehension that the children of this colony will he overeducated, that my only fear is lest, owing to the abridgement of school-life—caused by had roads, bad weather, sickness, and perpetual withdrawals for homework—a large proportion of our youth should leave school with but a sorry equipment for tho hattlo of life 1 have written strongly and at length on this subject, because I feel its paramount importance, affecting, as it does, the very foundation of our education system. 1 have much pleasure in adding to this general review of the literary work done in the Marlborough schools my favorable testimony to the behaviour of the children, so far at least as 1 have observed it on my former visit of inspection and during my late examination. The scholars, as a rule, struck me as being mannerly, well disciplined, and promptly obedient to orders—a matter in which they have improved perceptibly during the last two year;.

BLENHEIM HIGH SCHOOL... VJ Mr Macklin. (Present 30 ; on rollN,H4)4= Standard work :—On the whole, this division.of the Blenheim schools has greatly improved since last examination. I except from this general expression of approval the boys who took up th£ Fourth Standard, seven of whom failed to pass. But all the scholars who tried the Fifth .and Sixth Standards passed creditably in every subject. Not a single scholar in either of these two classes did badly in Arithmetic or Dictation, subjects in which so many broke down last year. Their papers on Grammar, History, and Geography were neat, quickly done, and of good quality throughout. They also did well in Mental Arithmetic, fairly in science. The reading was distinct, and well emphasised. Drawing i* taught. Special,-subjects ;,t—l trieej-the High School pupils in Euclid and' Latin bn 'the day after the examination, in Standards'. The results "of this examination were Ty "ho means'sb satisfactory as those obtained in the Standard work. Seven scholars attempted the question* being taken from the first book! : Three of’the seven did fairly well, another very well indeed ; " the rest knew - butlittie; 'ln Latin, I found’ mirieess scholars in the upper class, whom I set a paper., taken from Smith’s Principia -Latina part LI, -air far as Exercise 25. I also set them to translate, viva voce, one of iEsop’s fables,' which they had ' ~~ prepared previously! I can only say of their Laitin, that there was very little of it, that little being, moreover, ot poor quality. There is a junior Latin class of ten boys, but these have not been long at work. . „ .... , r

BLENHEIM BOYS— Skcond Division. . ? Mr Alloway, Major Martin. (Present 68 ; on roll 83). Thg children here did very badly this year. A third of those presented in Standards were unable to pass, the failures being in the most important subjects. The younger scholar* broke down in Reading aud Spelling, the older ones in Spelling and Arithmetic. The Geography of the Third Standard scholars was worse than anything I have met for some Nor could I discover that any other subject was so well taught as to.compensate for the grievous deficiencies that I have pointed out. Extenuating circumstances are not wanting, however, so far as the teachers are concerned. It is only-’ within the last three months that a second assistant has been appointed, the 117 boy# in this and the upper school having been previously under the charge of only two teachers. Under such circumstances, though it is easy (enough to see that the school is in a backward state, to apportion the blame, or even to ascertain whether anyone is really blame-worthy, is a difficult matter.

BLENHEIM GIRLS’ SCHOOL. Miss Macklin, Miss, Kate.Macklin. (Present 58 ; on roll 73). The work of the school was not so even as that of last year, the failures in the First and Fourtli Standards being more numerous than they ought to have been. Only; one of the 13 girls in th© Third Standard knew anything of History. The Arithmetic of the highest class was weak, and the handwriting, throughout, with very few exceptions, ill-fprmed. The first class answered badly in Science. On the other hand, Reading, Spelling, and Geography were well taught, and the older ■ girl* acquitted themselves creditably in letter-writing, so far as the matter was concerned. Sewing is, I believe, well taught.

BLENHEIM JUNIORS. Mrs Macklin, Miss Mary Macklin. (Present 80 -, on roll 141). No more than 15 of the 34 children who attempted the First Standard succeeded in passing. Arithmetic and Reading proving fatal to the majority. I cannot but regard this as a meagre result of the twelvemonth’s work. The small draft fitted for promotion to the upper divisions will not suffice to fill up the gaps in those schools sure to be made at the close of the year by the withdrawal of the older scholars. The teachers of the Girls’ school, and of the lower Boys’ school will therefore be compelled to take up largely the work of the First Standard, which ought to, be doiie—and elsewhere is done—entire!}’ in the preparatory school. This, I regard, as the most serious defect in the present organisation of the Blenheim schools.

PICTON. Mr Harris. Assistant, Mrs Robertson. (Present 81 ; on roll 95). The improvement in this school, which I noticed last year, continues, and is especially observable in the Reading and Handwriting. The History papers of the older scholars were remarkably good. They also did fairly in Geography. The letters on a given subject were very poor performances Science and needlework are both well tftught. The behaviour of the children during the examination was exemplary.

PICTON JUNIORS. Mrs Jones, Assistant, Miss Mouat. (Present 68 ; on roll 89). The speciality of this school seems to be Needlework, which, as 1 was assured by the ladies who kindly undertook the supervision of this part of the work, is of excellent quality, The results of my own examination were not so satisfactory. More than a third of those presented for the First Standard failed—an unusual large proportion at this early stage. Many of these, moreover, were bad failures. The reading was especially faulty, the sing-song that formerly pervaded the upper division of Picton school having now, apparently, settled among the juniors. HAVELOCK. Mr Severne. (Present 34 ; on roll 34). In striking contrast with the state of matters a few years ago, when not more than half of the scholars appeared on the examination day, every child on the roll was in place before the appointed time. The scholars, who are alert enough now, acquitted themselves well, the work being Jvery even throughout. The reading was given with such good intonation as to deserve special mention. Science is taught fairly well, the Girls aLo receiving instruction in Needlewoik from Mrs Severne. HAVELOCK JUNIORS.

Mrs Severne. (Present 46; on roll 56). The children here are carefully prepared for the upper school. . Many of the older scholars, however, attend very irregularly, and are, therefore, detained far too late in this division, the average age of those who passed the First Standard being over nine. TUAMARINA

Mr Peake. Assistant, Mrs Peake. (Present 65 ;on roll 79) Much better results were obtained this year than at the previous examination. The Arithmetic of the upper classes is still‘scarcely what it ought to be, but the improvement in Spelling, Geography, and Grammar is marked. The excellent form in which the papers are drawn up deserves special commendation. This neatness is found to be not incompatible with quick working. Science is well taught. Needlework being carefully attended to. The organisation and discipline are exceptionally good. REN WICK. Mr Tissiman. Pupil Teacher, C. Barry. (Present 66 ; on roll 75). This school, as usual, passed an excellent examination. The Reading, Geography, and, above all, the Penmanship, deserve special mention. The general neatness of the work, which extends also to the Drawing, is noteworthy. Part singing is rema’rkably well (aught. The Arithmetic, this year, was only moderately good. The pupil teacher is doing very good work, and reflects great credit on Mr Tibsiman’s carefully training. I was sorry to find that the girls had not got over the foolish habit of bursting into tears when they failed, however slightly, in any point. GROVETQWN. Mr Andrews. (Present 43 ; on roll 59). This school has actually retrograded during the past twelve months. Although the highest Sum Far'd attempted—the Third—is a grade below what was taken up in 1879, the per centage of passes 8 eren below the very moderate rate obtained i

laet'yearr. ' It'ii" difficult to find any' sufficient ® tate M thiijgs,' except, perhaps, the irregularity with which many of the scholars attend, the average for this year having been only 66 per cent. There jhas been no change of masters for' several years, and the age of the children presented for the several Standards is exceptionally high, the average for the First and Second Standards being 12 years. The scholars have not yet learned to work in silence, even on examination day, which augurs badly for the ordinary discipline. SPRING CREEK. Mr Squire. ' (Present 36 ; on roll 48). The scholars who attempted the four First Standards here did just as badly this year as those who took up the same work last year did well. The failures were chiefly in Arithmetic and Geography, the Handwriting being also of inferior quality. On the. other hand, the six scholars who tried the Sixth Standard passed most, creditably in every subject. It is noteworthy that the average age of this class was over fifteen. The Reading was, on the whole, better, the Science worse, than last year’s. Several specimens of Drawing were shown : one, by a girl, giving great promise. . riobro.l ' i FAIRHALL; Mr-A timer. (Present 31; on roll 36). This school again passed a creditable examination The best points were Arithmetic, in which there was only one failure. and letter writing, which was of more than average merit. The spelling was also good. Several matters, however, still require amending. The reading is pitched in so low a key as to be almost inaudible, and the copy-books of the younger children are carelessly written, and disfigured by blots. The scholars know next to nothing of Science. . KAITtfNA. " ‘ ;

Mr Beck. (Present, 25 ;on roll 28 ) Much could not be expected front a school which has changed its masters thrice within twelve months’; three months intervening between the second and ‘the third of these changes. The present master, who had been at work only two months when I examined the -school, appeared to be energetic and capable. The children, on the whole, did better than I had anticipated that they would, under the circumstances. This speaks well for the soundness of the former teaching. WAIRAU VALLEY. Miss Flower. (Present, 30 on roll, 39) The young mistress of this school has effected a marvellous improvement, during her eleven months’ rule. I found the scholars, formerly so dull and backward, bright and intelligent, all but. two very young children passing in every subject. The Reading, Geography, and Arithmetic were far beyond ray expectation. The discipline was all that could.be desired. Sewing is well taught. MARLBOROUGH TOWN. Mrs Cheesman. (Present, 26; on roll, 33.) The work here is quite of an elementary character, the children being, for the most part, very young. One scholar only attempted the third standard. The work, so far as it went, was of good quality, especially the Reading and spelling. The proportion of scholars brought forward for Standards, (only 12 out of the 26 present.) was absurdly small, the excuse being the irregularity of attendance. WAITOHI. Mr Everiss. (Present 59 ; on roll 69). There are more scholars here than ought, in fairness, to be placed under the charge of one teacher. By dint of extraordinary exertion, however, Mr Everiss has succeeded in passing all the 35 scholars presented. But although the Writing, Spelling, and Composition are of more than ordinary merit, the Arithmetic has already begun to suffer from the insufficiency of the time at the master’s disposal for explaining so imnortant a subject. The changes of (the scholars are unusually frequent, 47 new children having been admitted since last examination, 33 former scholars having left during the same period. The discipline is faultless. CANVASTOWN.

Mr Hurt. (Present, 25 ; on roll, 36). None of those presenter! for Standards found any difficulty in doing the work that they attempted. In point of age, however, all the scholars were a year, many two years, beyond the age at which the several standards are usually passed. I have no intention of depreciating the work of a zeal-: ous and competent teacher, hut simply wish to correct any erroneous inferences that might be drawn from the exceptionally high per centage of passes. KAIUMA. Mr Robertson. 15 ; on roll, 15). This school had been at work five months when I inspected it. The children, who seemed very apt, had made good progress during that short period. I have &c., - ‘ : i -- H. C. HODGSON. Inspector of (Schools.