WELLINGTON COLLEGE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4293, 23 December 1874, Page 2

WELLINGTON COLLEGE.

The annual distribution of prizes to the scholars attending the Wellington Collpge took place yesterday in the hall of the new building on the Adelaide-road. The afternoon was damp and unpleasant, and the attendance was therefore less numerous than would have been the case but for the unpleasant change in the weather. A considerable number of carriages and cabs were, however, pressed into the service, and by three o'clock there was a very fair gathering of parents and friends of the pupils, whose numbers were added to by the presence of other ladies and gentlemen interested in the welfare of the institution. The College Governors present were—His Honor the Superintendent, his AVorship the Mayor, W. Gisborne, Esq., E. Pearce, Esq., W. T. L. Travers, Esq., W. W. Johnston, Esq., and A. de B. Brandon, Esq., who, with th 3 Principal and Masters of the College, received his Excellency the Govprnor and Lady Normanby on their arrival. His Honor the Superintendent led the way to the hall, and his Excellency having taken the chair, the business of the day was proceeded with. His Honor the Superintendent said he desired to take advantage of the occasion, on behalf of the governors of the college, to thank his Excellency for his kindness and courtesy in accepting the position of official visitor to the institution. He had also been requested to express the deep sense of gratitude which the governors entertained in regard to an act of unusual liberality on the part of a gentleman in Wellington, who had by deed of gift presented the governors of the college with | £IOOO for the purpose of inducing greater ! competition amongst the scholars. He had great pleasure in handing the declaration of trust to Mr. -W. W. Taylor, on behalf of Mr. Turnbull, who, he regretted to say, was not present. * examiner's report. Mr. C. C. Graham, Secretary to the Board of Governors, then read the following report of the Rev. W. M. H. Elwyn, the Examiner for the year : . Gentlemen, —In compliance with your request conveyed to me on the 9th of this month, I have to the best of my ability examined the "Wellington College, and I have now the honor to submit to you the result of my examination. I may, however, preface my report by remarking that my ignorance of the result of other examinations renders it impossible for me to express any opinion upon the. progress which the boys have made in comparison with former years, while the short time at my disposal for the preparation of papers, as well as for the examination itself, has tended to make that examination less thorough than I could have desired it to be. With these preliminary remarks I now present to you my report, together with papers annexed showing —lst, the subjects of instruction in the college upon which I was requested to examine the boys; 2nd, the actual printed questions, by means of which the examination was principally conducted: and 3rd, the general result of the examination in the number of marks gained by the boys in the several subjects, together with my opinion as to the proper distribution of the prizes. With reference to the subject of languages, which stands first in the annexed list of subjects, as it undoubtedly stands first as an object of study, I remark that Greek has been taken up by only a small number of boys, and by them it has been studied on only two or three days of the week: but the few boys examined did their work remarkably well, and in a manner that indicated great care and pains on the part of their teachers. Latin is taught throughout the school; and, while the general average of attainment is very fair, there are in each form boys who have passed the examination with great credit to themselves, as is shown by the number of marks attached to their names in the examination lists appended. Passing from ancient languages to modern. I come first to English, in which I find a greatly improved grammar in use, as compared with those of a few year back, and the grammar itself learned and applied intelligently. In French, the lower division is undoubtedly backward, on account of the difficulty that has been.found in procuring an adequate supply of books; but the upper divisions have made as good progress as could reasonably have been expected. Of German, I could undertake no examination, from my own ignorance of the language: but I understand that it is a subject of quite recent introduction into the college, and has hardly reached a stage in which any examination could possess real value.

From languages I pass, to mathematics, includingarithmetic; the latter was decidedly good, and many of the questions, to which I expected answers from the elder boys alone, were readily solved by boys much their juniors in age and standing. The algebra, too, was very creditable; hut the Euclid was less satisfactory. In reference to Euclid I may remark that, in my opinion, it is scarcely desirable to teach it to such young boys as are usually found attempting to learn it in schools. The elucidation of geometrical theorems in Euclid involves a closeness and accuracy of reasoning which requires a more matured intellect, and I am strongly impressed with the conviction that it should be reserved for forms in which no boys are under the age of fifteen years. Of the remaining subjects of geographyand English history, I regret that I cannot say much that is favorable. In each form generally one or two boys have acquitted themselves creditably; hut in most instances the answers to my questions were nothing better than random guesses. It is with pain that I feel myself constrained to speak thus strongly upon these subjects, for in other respects the result of my examination has been almost uniformly satisfactory: but I believe that I rightly interpret your wishes in laying before you the defective points of the college education, as well as those in which the instruction has been more successful. I have only, in conclusion, to call your attention to the general "good tone which appears to animate the school, and which has made all my intercourse with the boys very pleasant. I need not remind you how much the tone of any school depends upon the personal character and efficiency of its masters; and I trust that I may be allowed to congratulate you on having secured the services of gentlemen so well able to maintain and to raise the character of Wellington College. HEAD JfASTER*S REPORT. The Principal (Kenneth Wilson, Esq.) read the following report upon the general condition of the college, and the progress made by the scholars : Gentlemen, —I have the honor to lay before you the following report of the condition of the Wellington College, when I took- charge of it in August last, and of the work that has been done since that time. Up to the time of the removal of the college to the new building no alteration was made in. the curriculum, and immediately before the removal I examined the boys in all their subjects, and the conclusions I arrived at from that examination, and from my previous observation of the work were, that the boys showed unmistakeable signs of having been carefully and intelligently taught, and that the knowledge of elementary subjects was sound and good, but that the standard of work was'rather low both in classics and mathematics compared with what might fairly be expected from an institution of the kind. This arises, I think, mainly from two reasons. First, that the hoys as a rule leave school far too early, and secondly, that the boys have been to a most excessive degree irregular and unpunctual in their attendance. I find that during the quarter from June to September last, the daily average of boys who were either late or absent was 23 per cent, of the whole : and under those circumstances it is obvious that the progress made must bo either superficial or slow : and I think that those in charge of the school acted most wisely in choosing the former alternative. Doubtless this irregularity was to a certain extent due to the badness of the weather ; but if rain is to be admitted -as a sufficient reason for keeping a boy from school, the chances of anything like systematic education in \VeUmgton seem to me, from my limited experience of the climate, exceedingly small. There has, I am glad to say, been a very marked alteration for the better in this respect during this quarter, the percentage of irregularity having decreased from 23 to 3J-. But the question seems to me of such vital importance to the welfare of the college, that I have determined for the future to admit of no plea for absence without leave except illness, and I hope that the governors and. the parents will support me in carrying that rule out. In other respects, the conduct and discipline of the boys has been good ; and the condition in which they have left the new buildings after nearly three months constant occupation is decidedly to their credit. The total number of boys on the books for last quarter was forty-two ; for this quarter it has been sixty, of whom four are boarders, and four more boarders are already entered for next term ; so that the progress in that respect has been decidedly satisfactory. The buildings have proved as far as they go entirely satisfactory, and well adapted to their purpose. The' museum is now being furnished with the fittings already authorised by the Board ; and I have appended to this report a memorandum from Mr. Kirk of what will be required in addition in order to make it capable of satisfactorily holding the collections, which are either now ready or are on their way from England. , Mr. Kirk's memorandum contains also particulars' of fittings that will be rcqiiircd before next term to render the lecture hall available for teaching purposes. I shall have also to ask the governors to provide some more desks, and some more accommodation for boarders. Mr. Travers having given the handsome subscription of £25 towards the library, the first order for books will be sent to England by the next mail; and it is much to be hoped that others will shortly follow so good an example, as a collection of books of reference is almost an essential for the elder pupils, and a good general library most desirable for all. The next most pressing want, and one which will, I fear, be somewhat severely felt when the rainy season returns, $s some kind of covered shed, which might be gradually fitted up as a gymnasium, for the use of the boys during their play hours. The greater portion of the boys remain at the college during the day, and consequently in wet weather the class rooms are the only places available for their use, an arrangement which is conducive neither to health nor comfort. On tho re-opening of the college the following" alter ations were made in the curriculum. French is now taught throughout, instead of being confined to the upper forms : drawing and drilling are made a part of the regular course for all, instead of being extras and optional; and in the two highest forms tho study of either Greek or German has been made a necessity. The object of these alterations has been to render tho training of the boys as thorough as possible, both physically and mentally, and at the same time to ensure the regularity and uniformity in tho teaching bo essential to the success of a large school.

The boys have just been examined by the lvev. Mr-. JJwyn, and you will no doubt receive from him a detailed statement of the results. I am sure that the governors are greatly indebted to Mr. TLlwyn as I feel that I am myself, for his kindness in undertaking the examination at such short notice, and for the great care and singular fairness with which he has conducted it. And I would call your attention to the accom--panying lists of the boys arranged on paper A, according to the marks of tie term : and on paper B, according to the results of Mr. Elwyn's examination, from a comparison of which you will see how remarkably Mr. Elwyn's estimate of the boys coincides with the results of thoir work during the term. In considering any remarks that Mr. Elwyn may make upon the general character of the work, 1 would ask you to bear in mind that, owing to the re-arrangement of the classes, the change of buildings, and the very large admixture of new boys, the work has been carried on under considerable disadvantages, which it may be hoped will not exist on any subsequent occasion. You will observe that there are two subjects of which no mention is made in Mr. Elwyn's report, namely, German and drawing: the reason of that is, that as they have neither of thein been taught, at any rate under the present system, for more than two months, it appeared to me hardly desirable to submit them for examination, or to express any decided opinion upon the success attending their study. With regard to the natural science, you will receive full information from the accompanying report of Mr. Kirk, and I also have pleasure in enclosing a note which 1 have received from Dr. Hector on the subject, to whom all the papers were submitted, before they were sent, in accordance with the regulation, to the authorities of the New Zealand University. I am glad to say that I shall be enabled, before the beginning of next term, to enter at least ten of the boys as matriculated students of the University, and consequently there is a reasonable prospect of there toon being considerable competition for the scholar•hips founded by the munificent gift of Mr. Turnbull, and I trust that those scholarships may have the greatly to be desired effect of keeping many of the boys longer at the college than they would otherwise have remained, and thereby of raising greatly the standard of education. And as Mr. TurnbuU's scholarships connect us at one end of our course with the University, so those, which you have yourselves established, connect us at the other with alt the primary schools of the province, and thus there is open to any boy in the province the prospect of gaining by his own exertions a free or almost free education, from the age of twelve until he graduates at tho University. The examination for the first of these primary scholarships is now going.on, and seven candidates have entered for it, of whom only one is from the city of Wellington itself. This appears to me tosbe a most important step in advance, and one which more than any other is likely to place the college in the "position which it ought to occupy, as the head of the educational system of the district. " : I cannot conclude this report without expressing my deep sense of the uniform kindness and consideration which I have experienced from the Board, collectively and individually, slncemy flrstlandlng in New Zealand, and of the prompt consideration which they have always accorded to every suggestion which I have felt called upon to make. I must also express my most hearty thanks to all my colleagues, for the unfailing readiness and zeal with which they have supported me in all things : and for the invaluable assistance they have given me in assuming what I cannot but feel to be a very heavy responsibility. Mr. Wilson said he might perhaps be allowed to remark upon one or two points in the report he had just read. In the first place he desired to say something with regard to'.the . subject of attendance. He.had heard since his arrival in Wellington that the winter just past had been a very exceptional one, and it certainly appeared to him that.it had beenfol-. lowed by a very exceptional spring; but at the same time he must Bay that unless those who had sons at the college would themselves make up their minds to the fact, and instil into their children the idea that work wa3 the thing that must be done before everything else, and at all hazards, it would be impossible to attain the satisfactory results they might fairly expect. If it were to be held as a fair excuse for absence from scholastic duties that a boy was likely to get a little damp, he did not see how the parents could reasonably expect their sons to do their work with that energy and diligence which was absolutely necessary to ensure anything like success. There was too much of the idea that the main work of the school was to be done by the master, who was expected .to impart that amount of information necessary to enable the pupil to earn money in after life. He begged to protest against that theory, and to suggest that instead of it being the duty of the master to impart information it was rather the duty of the boys to learn. Any information which was to be of real use to them in after life must be gained by themselves by work honestly done. The duty of the master was to put them into the best way of doing that work, and to endeavor to lead them into a proper course of study, but the work must be done by them and not by the masters. If parents began by teaching their sons that they might neglect their work, either on account of weather or friends coming to see them—and these were not imaginary excuses, for they had been brought to him over and over, again—it was hopeless to expect the master to get them to do their work thoroughly. Their work should give way to nothing, and unless parents could make up .their minds to that they had better not send their boys to college at all. "With regard to what he had said in relation to scholarships, he desired to call particular attention to the fact that they had now established something like a complete system of education, which would be open to every boy in the province, almost entirely free of charge. There were now four exhibitions, and as their numbers increased he had no doubt there would be more. These four exhibitions were open to all boys of the age of twelve years or upwards who have .: ? attended any primary school in the province, 7 and were tenable up to the age of sixteen, and if a boy were not a resident of Wellington the scholarship would be supplemented by a grant of £2O towards his expenses. Thus, a boy who came to them at the age of twelvewould stay until he was sixteen, when he became eligible as a student for the University, under the scholarships established by Mr. Turnbull. There was, therefore, an opening for any boy to obtain a B.A. degree at the New Zealand University. HehopedthemduceinentwhiehMr. Turnbull so liberallyheld out, would have the effect of keeping a large number of boys at the college until they reached such an age that they would have a chance of obtaining something like a thorough education which would fit them for any sphere in life which they might afterwards adopt, instead of as was too often the case at present being taken away when they were fourteen or fifteen years old to fill some subordinate position in a Government or merchant's office. ■.-' ■ ''. .'!• ' His Excellency the Goveknob, whose rising was followed by great applause, said that before proceeding to the distribution of the prizes, he wished to express to the governors of the college the great gratification he felt at being called upon to accept the office of Visitor; to the institution, and also at being asked to attend upon,'that occasion, which he believed was the first time the prizes had been distributed in that building.-. He accepted the office of Visitor with the greatest pleasure, because he felt deeply sensible of <th% .necessity, and, advantage of education in a young and thriving colony. (Hear, hear.) It was not many years Bince the advantages of education were greatly disregarded, or if not 'disregarded, therefwere a great many people who were inclined to believe that there was nothing to be gained by giving a great amount of education to any but those who were likely to move in the higher ranks of society, or to devote their lives to one or other of the learned professions; s Happily this opinion had now vanished, and in England ttey say, that the system of competitive examination was the stepping-stone to almost all the Government offices in the country.. This uystem was one which he thought conduced largely to the advantage of the offices themselves ; though he did not believe that learning was the solo requisite in a Government officer. (Hear, hear.) At the same time, it did undoubtedly give an incentive to education in the country, and in that way it was of undoubted value to the population at large. But if educational progress proved of great advantage in an old country like England, he believed that it was equally, if not more so, to a young and thriving colony, for ] in a colony any man, no matter what his position in life, had the power within himself to rise from the position he occupied to any other ho might choose to aspire to. They saw numerous instances—he had seen many himself — of men who had begun literally from nothing, and raised themselves to the highest offices in the Government of ,■ the country. Where there was a possibility, therefore, of tho young people of the colony rising to such influential positxons.it tho greatest importance that they onouM be satisfactorily and soundly Hk> had heard, and all those present muslj, also have heard with satisfaction, the report hi tho Rev. Mr. Elwyn upon the examination of the pupUs, and also the report of the/principal upon the prospects of the college. There were two points upon which Mr. Elwyn did not speak at all favorably; but he could easily under-

stand that from the introduction of a change of system, and tho change from one building to another, considerable interruption must have taken place in the course of teaching during the past few months. He trusted, therefore, that when it again became lus pleasing duty to appear before such an assemblage in another year for the of distributing prizes, they would find that the exceptions noted had been overcome. (Hear, hear, and cheers). There was one point which had been alluded to, and which he also wished to impress upon the attention of parents, and that was as to the attendance of the boys. To parents he would say, consider well the necessity of enforcing regular attendance on. the part of your children, and he would appeal to his young friends not to neglect present opportunities. The weather, he" was inclined to think, seldom prevented them engaging in any amusement they wished to indulge in. If they were going to play cricket and were told the weather was not promising, he had no doubt they would make numberless excuses, and endeavor to prove that it was going to be the best of weather ; in fact, they would be very much put out if they were not allowed to play their game out. Cricket was a very pleasant game, but it was not of such importance to their future welfare as education. They might depend upon it that if they neglected the opportunities now presented to them they would in after years constantly and bitterly regret the chances they had lost. The improvement in the attendance which had been alluded to by the Principal in his report was certainly very marked, and_ he hoped that on future occasions the complaints of non-attendance would not have to be repeated. He would not further occupy the time of the ladies and gentlemen present, but would proceed to present the prizes to those boys who, he had no doubt, well and sincerely deserved them. The prizes were then distributed by his Excellency as follows ; "CLASS prizes. . . (According to Marks of Term.) For English History, Latin, English Grammar, and Geography. sth Form.—C Brandon, prize ;E. Butts, honorable mention. 4th Form—H. B. Kirk, prize; C. Kainie and G. St. John, hon men. 3rd Form—Nil. 2nd Form—Johns, prize ; Crombie, jun., and Cook, hon. men. Ist Form—A. Crawford, prize. Lower Remove—Thirkell, prize ; Tonks, hon. men. CLASS PHIZES. (According to Marks of Examination). English History, Latin, English Grammar and ; • . Geography. sth Form—Brandon, prize; Butts, hon. men. 4th Form—Kirk, prize ; Eainie and St. John, hon. men. 3rd Form—Crombie, prize ; Nicholls, hon. men. 2nd Form—Johns, prize; Cook and Crombie, jun., hon. men. Ist Form—Gore, jun., prize -, Bishop, jun., hon. men. Lower Remove—Tonks and Thirkell, hon. men. MATHEMATICAL CLASSES. ': (In Order of;Examination.) First Division —Brandon, prize ; Lemon and Butts, honorable mention. Second Division—Bainie, prize ; J. Taylor, Smith, and Luxford, honorable mention. Third Division—Johns, prize ; Thirkell and Cook, honorable mention. Fourth Division— Crombie, jun., prize. Fifth Division--Vine, prize. FRENCH. (In Order of Examination.) First Class—C. Brandon, prize: S. Butts and E. Hammerton, honorable mention. Second Class—Kirk, prize; A. Martin, Smith, St. John, Knight, and Cook, honorable mention. Third Class—Johns, honorable mention. Fourth Class—Tonks, prize ; Crombie, jun., honorable mention. Fifth Class—Butts, jnn., honorable mention. .MR. LEVIN'S PRIZES. Prize, value £5, for best general examination- C. Brandon; prize, value £3 10s., for zoology—Kirk, prize, value £2 10s., for geology—Lemon. MR. WILSON'S PRIZE." Value £2 10s., for botany—Brandon, prize ; Butts, honorable mention.