CHURCH OF ENGLAND EDUCATION SOCIETY.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VIII, Issue 697, 7 April 1852, Page 3

CHURCH OF ENGLAND EDUCATION SOCIETY.

A meeting of the members of this Society took place on Monday afternoon at the New School House, Thorndon. The Rev. T. B. Hutton was called to the Chair. The following report was submitted to the Meeting by the Committee ;— Second Report of the Committee. sth April, 1852. The Committee have great pleasure in again meeting those interested in the progress of Education, and in being able to state that since last assembled within these walls, for the purpose of furthering the interests of the Church of England Educatiou Society, success has attended their eflorts beyond their utmost expectations in all matters connected with the business operations of this School which is now opened, they conceive, with prospects of success so bright that nothing but some unforseen calamity can prevent this School becoming what it has been their aim to make it—a Model School for this settlement. The Members of the Society will recollect that on the visit of the Bishop of New Zealand to Wellington, last January, al'hough the School House was then in an unfinished state, his Lordship was requested, and most cordially consented, to open the School ; and the Committee cannot but feel, in all humility, that the aid of a Divine Providence, so forcibly asked for on that occasion, has been with them in their endeavours' to complete the work they were appointed to carry out. The great difficulty anticipated by the Committee was the selection of a suitable Master to whom to entrust the superintendence of the School : in order therefore to effect this object the day of election was extended to the 15th March : on that date there were eleven applications, three from Schoolmasters trained in the best English Schools. The choice of the Committee fell upon Mr. Wadsworth, who besides his high testimonials had been strongly recommended by Archdeacon Hadfield and the Rev. T. B. Hutton, who had tested his qualifications in the Schools under their superintendence at Otaki and the Hutt. The Committee would have been contented had they been able to obtain the services of a steady well conducted School-master, who had received a sound Education, and had had some practice in imparting the same to others. It was therefore with peculiar satisfaction that the appointment of Mr. Wadsworth was made; this gentleman is recently from England, he is thoroughly acquainted with the latest and most improved system of eduction carried on in the National Schools, and so far as the Committee have been able to judge, is most earnest in the good work, and peculiarly adapted from his kind and conciliatory manner to win the affections of the children committed to his care. The school is for children of both sexes ; the Schoolmaster will be assisted at present in the tuition of the girls by a Committee of Ladies, who have kindly undertaken the office, but so soon as a sufficient number of girls have been entered in the Books to warrant the Committee in doing so, the services of a will be obtained. The Terms of admission to the School will be as follows :— Entrance fee for each child .... 2s. Gd. For one child per week Is. Od. Two or more of the same family each Bd. These charges include all the requisite books, stationery, &c. The fees will be payable weekly, but every parent or guardian will be required to sign an agreement to keep the child at the school for three months. The Committee beg to assure the members of this Society that they have kept in view a School House for Te Aro, a site for which has been placed at their disposal by the Bishop of New Zealand, but they have deemed it more prudent to devote all their energies in the first instance to this School, and they cannot refrain from again congratulating all interested on the success which has attended their efforts ; a success for which they take little praise to themselves, but which must be attributed to the

blessing of Him “ who knows how to give better than «e to ask.”

Sir George Grey moved the adoption of the Report, which was seconded by Mr. Wakefield and carried unanimously. Mr. Wadsworth then read the Rules of the School, and said—- “ The system of Education sanctioned and taught in the Training College, and pursued and carried out with such good results connected with it at the School at Battersea, and now generally adopted in Church and National Schools in England and approved and recommended by her Majesty’s Inspectors of Schools, will be our model. This system cannot be carried out with any degree of success by the Master alone-—he will med the steady, active, and kind co-operation of the parents and guardians of the children.

“ It is a system that tends directly to the establishment of home education. Every father ought to be the teacher of his own offspring. Parents, in spite of themselves, feel an interest in that which occupies and interests their children ; and it has often happened that the very lessons and exercises of their children have brought a theme to their evening circle upon which aforetimes a syllable of utterance had never been heard ; and thus through the medium of natural affection have the thoughts of the parents been caught to the subject of Christianity. “ Let us entreat you then to second the efforts of the Committee and Schoolmaster by regular and systematic examinations of your children—by guiding them in their preparations for their Master and Teachers—by assisting to keep the rules of the School and by enforcing the regular attendance of your children. “Parents and guardians—remember that you are all answerable to Almighty God for the way in which you bring up the children entrusted to your care. It is, therefore, especially your duty to keep them in good order when at home ; to set them a good example by sober honest conduct in all things; using proper language, reading the holy Scriptures, and praying every night with your family, that the blessing of God may rest upon them in all their work and upon the instruction given to them at school; and thus to transmit the Christian wisdom and worth of this to the next generation.” The tea and cake to the children has been deferred to Easter Monday the 12th inst.