OAMARU SCHOOL COMMITTEE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 207, 19 December 1876, Page 2

OAMARU SCHOOL COMMITTEE.

The adjourned meeting of the Committee. to take into consideration the Subcommittee's report with regard to the working of the North School, was held last evening at the Secretary's office. When the meeting was opened the Chairman had not arrived, and Mr. N. Fleming presided ; but shortly afterwards Mr. Sunzpter, accompanied by M ssrs. Meek and H. Aitken, pat in an appearance—having been under a misconception as to the hour of meeting—and the first-named gentleman took the chair. There were also present Messrs. Falconer, Fairley, and Headland. The report of the Sub-Committee on the complaints made by Mr. Fleming against Sir. Todd, puolished by us in proceedings of last meeting, was again read and adopted. A letter, received from Mr. Fereus, containing cer'aiu accusations of neglect oi duties against Mr. Fleming, tiie headmaster of the North School—and whicli iias been held over from last meeting—was t:ien produced, and as the Committee were of opinion that in a measure it was connected witii t.ie object of t!>e Sub-Com-mittee in visiting the North School, it was decided to have t.ie letter read before proceeding to take steps on the report. Mr. F_rens' letter was as follows : " To the Chairman of the Oamaru Sc.iool Committee. " Sir, —I would respectfully call the attention of the Committee.to my daugiiter Sophia's position, as pupil teacher in t!ie North Scuool. Sue obtained tlie sanction of the Committee as pupil teacher, and as such [wasj gazetted. Site lias regularly discharged lier duties at the scuool for eighteen months, for which she has not received any salary, though the syllabus allows, if I mistake not, that unqualified pupil teachers have a certain claim for services rendered. The first sue months may be put down to that position, having failed on her first examination. - She has passed the examination this year, which justly entitles her to the year's salary. " I complain that she has not had the I ordinary daily attention given which the syllabus allows, during tiie time she has been teaching, let not receiving explanation to itules, when asked for, on suojects wliic.i she iias had to study. " Suice her examination s:ie has not had any set lessons for studies, preparatory to her next examination. I would not have written, had net the neglect and indiiierence paid to her been so glaring. " I remain, &c., " Thomas Ferbns. "Oamaru, Dec. 11. " P.S.—Personal requests have been made fur the salary to Sir. D. Fleming." Mr. Headland, without expressing an opinion on tiie allegations made in the letter, was decidedly averse to untrained teachers having the charge and training of pupil teachers. It was simply unreasonable to expect the latter could have justice done them; as well might it be expected

' to turn out a good blacksmith or printer : if an ai»ateur in either trad .2 were tiie in- ; strnetor. i Mr. Fairlbt asked if any letter or com- ; munication had been received from t le ! North School Mistar sine 3 last mejtin t, : wit'i respect to the withdrawal of his first letter containing the insinuations against Mr. Todd. The Secretary stated that he had that day received a telegram froiii Mr. Fleming inquiring if it were necessary he s tould be in attendance at the meeting, but further than that he ha I no com man .cation. At tiiis stags of the Mr. Fleming entered t'le room and handed the , C lairinan the following letter,- which was read to the meeting : " To the Chairman of the Scao„l Committee." i "Sir.—As the letter recently laid by me before the Committee was written while feeling aggrieved by what I considered an unn cjssarily severe report on the state of the North School, and may therefore have contained some expressions whic 1, on calm consideration, I would not have used, I beg to withdraw that portion which was left unpublished, as my only ' object in writing was to promote the in- ' terests of the School.—l am, &e., ' " D. Fleming. ■ " Oamaru, Dscember 18." Mr. Ferens' letter was then read again in the presence of Mr. D. Fleming, and i he was asked to reply to the c large of neglect preferred against him by Miss Ferens. In reply, Mr. Fleming said that the letter had taken hiin completely by surprise, as Mr. Ferens J.ad nevtr made any c niiplaint to him, eit.ier personally or by writing, of the neglect now stated, and trie only answer he could give t;ie Com- • mittee was that lie had conscientiously carried out the ordinance with regard to that young lady, and given her every attendance and instruc;ion. Both Mi.;s Ferens and himself had been Very hard worked prior to t.ie examinations, and his o>vii health, and no doubt taat of Miss Ferens also, had suJ'eivd considerably thtreb} r , and it was necessary some relax ition should be made after the hard studies sue l.ad gone through. B-side, the time he had expended in coaching up Miss Ferens for ner examinations had thrown other work in the background, and he was not able to pay that attention since September, she had received prior to that time. It was quite possible, therefore, the same amount of attention had not been paid her since the examination as before. Before she had passed, he had not only given her tae instruction set down by tue Board, but he iiad also, five nights out of the six, given her from one hour and a half to two hours'.instruction, besides attending at the school for the same purpose on Saturdays. He would not say t.»at this lasted for a month ; not quite so long, perhajjs. It might have Oeen for a fortnight. YVit.i regard to the statement about salary, lie had sent Miss Ferens' claim to the Board, but had not had a reply, yet he presumed it would arrive at the same time as tnose of the other teachers. In reply to a question from Mr. Neil Fleming, as to whether he would distinctly state that he had given Miss Ferens the one hour's instruction he was bound to give in the school each day, the Master said that, generally speaking, iie could say he had. He would not undertake to saythat he had never missed a day ; but he did not consider that even if he had neglected a day's instruction, that he had infringed the regulation of the Board with regard to pupil teachers. Beside giving her instructions he had also given Miss Ferens exercises to take home with her, but she frequently returned next day without tliein being worked out, and a3 he :tad been led to believe that s .e had done so with tae knowledge and consent of iier father, he did not press the matter. In reply to the same gentleman, Mr. Fleming further said that lie did not consider a master was responsible for the passing of candidate for pupil tea.c:ier, and t .ac if she did.not work out her ex jrc.ses that was not the master s fault. Mr. Ferens statement that his daughter had not received set lessons was grossly incorrect, and it was cruel, considering ne had done his utmost for her advancement, alcaouga he had received nothing for it from the Board. Mr. N. Fleming : But you expect it. Mr. I). Fleming : Yes, I expect it. Mr. N. Fleming : Did you—yes or no—give Mis 3 Ferens the set hours required uy the Education Board rrom tne tune sae passed her-examinations until the breaking up of the school. Mr. D. Fleming : Generally speaking, I did. On some occasions Miss Ferens did not write out the exercises which I gave her; but as I was awslre that she needed relaxation, I did not press for a strict performance. Mr. Neil Fleming : That is not an answer to my question. Mr. Ferens distinctly states that the time demanded for the benefit of tue pupil teacher has not been bestowed. Is he correct m his charge, yes or no. At the suggestion of the Chairman the . letter of Mr. Ferens was handed to Mr. | Fleming, and it was intimated that the better course would be for that gentleman to put his reply thereto in writing. Mr. Fleming then withdrew, and tne Committee, after waiting for more than an hour for his return, on the motion of Mr. Fal- . coner, proceeded to consider the SubCommittee's report on the North School, ; in connection wherewith both of the master's letters were read. The Chairman said that before proceeding to take definite action he would just point put that Mr. Tetrie's was the first, report adverse school as a . whole. - i ' - A general discussion then ;tbok' ; place as } to the responsibility of the head master j i

' and his capability for the position, Mr. ■ Neil Fleming" expressing a most decided opinion fiat while possibly making an - j admirable assistant teactsr, Mr. Fleming > was totally nnSfc to be plaajd.at its head, f the prevailing opinion of members also ; being that public confidence in the school, ; as at presant managed, ha 1 been shaken. Mr. Fleming here returned and handed ; in the following letter : r , "To the Chairman of the School Coms mittee." " Sir.—ln reply to Mr. letter I beg to reply as follows : "1. To the btst of my recollection', s from the time of her failin t, to pass in her i first examination, to the time of her going up for her second (a period of about eight . months) she was without direct supervision for only one half hour. r "2; Previous to her second examinat tion, to render her greater assistance, I . have come back in the evenings, and also t on Saturday afternoons, r "3. As to ' not receiving explanations i to rnks,' I can only say, so far as I can ; understand the charge, that it is always a t pleasure to me to impart any information r desired. " 4. As to having no set lessons since her examination, these were given out as usual, but coming to school with them unprepared, and on enquiry finding it was , done with the knowledge of her, I did not i press the matter, as a temporary relaxa- ! tion coul I only prove beneficial after the previous strain, and the large amount of work to be done at the close of the session. ! " 5. As to her salary. I have already informed her that I have d"awn the a'ten- ! tion of tie Education Board to the matter. —lain, &c., ''D. tLEMTNG. L " Oamaru, December 13." After the letter ha i been read, Mr. Neil Fleming pointed out that fie very ' answer he had been so anxious to elicit uad been avoided, namely, a distinct ad--1 mission or denial to tho statement that Miss Ferens had received the instruction 1 demanded by the Ordinance, and Mr. 1 David F1 tilling was pressed to make this point clefr, which lie then did by the insertion in the fourth clause, after the word usual," and before the words, " but coming," the following explanation, 1 ",.viz., the ordinary lessons from three to four o'clock." It was now a question of letter against letter, and the Committee were of opinion that, before proceeding further, Mr. Ferens should be acquainted that a distinct denial had been given to his charges against the Head Master. It was resolved Tuat a copy of Mr. Fleming's letter be sent to Mr. Ferens, and that he ' be requested to furnish the < ommittee with a reply thereto, before Wednesday, the 20th inst., at eight p.m., at which time a meeting of the Committee will be held: Also, that the presence of Miss Ferens, if possible, is requisite. Further, tiiat a copy of t lis resolution be forwarded to Mr. Fleming." The further hearing of the case will therefore come up on Wednesday evening" A letter was handed in from the Rector, enclosing a bill for £l3 Bs. for repairs to the r. ctory. and asking the Committee to liquidate the same. Mr. Neil Fleming said Mr. Thornton had been present at some of the late meetings, and was consequently quite aware of the exhausted state of the funds at the disposal of the Committee,. and he certainly was surprised he should have incurred the expenses at the present time. Mr. Headland wished most distinctly to have the principle affirmed that, when the rectory was handed over in a state of repair, it should be incumbent on the Rector to keep the inside in that condition during his term of occupancy. No doubt, the keeping of boarders was a heavy cause of wear and tear, but the protits arising therefrom went into the Rector's pockets, and consequently it was out of placj to saddle the Committee wit. i any such c.iar^es. Mr. Falconer said that about £3O had already been expended upon the Rectory. He was of opinion that the Committee s ould sanction the expenditure, wliich should only be paid when funds were available for such a purpose, but that Mr. T .ornton should be informed that before taking such steps in future the Committee should be consulted. It was then resolved that the account sent iu by the Rector be passed for payment, to be liquidated when the Committee were in funds. The Treasurer reported that there was an overdraft of £6. He had received school fees for both schools to the amount of £240 14s. 4d; Against this there had been paid for salaries, £239 ss. There were due several other items, so that there would be a considerable. balance "to debit at the end of the year. There were some £lB fees of the Grammar School due. He did not know the amount outstanding for the North School. There had been a falling-off in the amount of fees received, although they had been raised sixpence all round. A lengthy discussion ensued upon the subject, and it was the general opinion that the. Committee had no other course open to it for meeting its liabilities than by an increase of the school fees. T.iey were quite aware of the opposition such a course would meet with, but it would be a matter of necessity, not choice,,and with the present state of the funds it was un-. avoidable. ! On the motion of Mr. Falconer, seconded by Mr. Headland, the Chairman, Secretary, and Treasurer, were appointed a Subcommittee to. draw, up the. =, Annual said report to be laid be- , fore the . Committee. for approval, at a j meeting .to be called for Friday, sth : - January, M'lo'a.m. ! . Messrs.. Locke and Falconer were ap- ; pointed auditors. ■ . This the business, and the ' meeting adjourned after a sitting of three 1 boon. ' 1