PATUTAHI SCHOOL.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 7130, 12 November 1894, Page 4

PATUTAHI SCHOOL.

School examined Uctober j.oy*.— Staff and distribution : Mr J. C. Wood ward, Stds. X, VI, V, IV, and 111 for seTeral lessons each morning) Miss feadler, pupil teacher, renders assistance in the instruction of Std. 11l : Miss Moore, mistress, Stds. 11, I, nnd preparatory (with the exception named above Miss Sadler instructs the preparatory.)— Number of pupils attending school 104, in standards S3, examined 75, passed 48, plus 1 examined Std. VI. Class subjects. — Grammar : To be improved Stds. 111, iV, V; more inflectional prepared. History : Fairly good. Geography: Std II only ; this subject must receive more intelligent preparation ; the children should be made fully acquainted with the m;ip of the world. Elementary science, object lessons etc. : Fair, but arrangements >nust be made for girls to receive instruction. Mental arithmetic : Upper standards very fair ; lower, more attention desirable. Additional subjects : Repetition and recitation : In upper standards very good; Stds. I and II a better selection should be made, and attention given to modulation and emphasis. Drill and exercises : This subject is very fairly taught, and the girls receive instruction in elementary calisthenic exercises. Singing : This is poorly taught ; the infants sing out o\ time in fact neither time nor tune are taught, and it would bo better to neglect the°subject than teach it as at present Needlework : Fair. Comprehension of the language of reading lessons: This aspect of school instruction must receive more attention during the coming year ; word meauing should not be overlooked, as the testa will be based upon a knowledge of the meanings. REMARKS. Standards VI, K. — Although I have marked the presentation in this standard as " passes," the results are not of a high quality, writing and arithmetic being below a fair standard. In style, general neatness and quality, much improvement is desirable, and another year passes will not be allowed unless these aspects of school work 6how a much higher standard of efficiency. In class and additional subjects fair results were obtained except in grammar. Conjugation of verbs and inflectional grammar should receive more attention. Exercise and copy books showed careful training and supervision. Standard V.— lv this standard writing and" arithmetic are somewhat below the requirements, although the work in exercise books and copy books is well and carefully done. The style and arrangement of the paper work is not good, and the shape of the figures is poor. These aspects of class work need ad ditional attention. As in standard VI., grammar as a class subject is below the average of the other class and additional subjects. Standard IV. — The same remarks apply as in standard V. Arithmetic is of poor quality, and only four pupils gained pass marks. In other subjects the results are very fair. The copy books and exercise books are well and neatly done, and satisfactory progress has been made in class and additional subjects, except grammar and mental arithmetic. Standard lll.— This is an uneven standard, and the failures are somewhat numerous. Those who have pas6ed the requirements are fairly good pupils, and should give a good account of themselves next year. More attention should be paid to reading, composition and geography in this standard, as these subjects show serious defects in too many instances. A diflerent system of instruction should be adopted, and the mode of correcting the composition exercises clearly needs revision. As a class subject grammar is badly prepared, and increased attention should be paid to the preparation of the tables, and to mental arithmetic. The exercise books and copy books are carefully done, and in each standard above the third the children have prepared some capital maps and specimens of freehand, giving evidence of considerable skill and taste on the part of the pupils. Standards 11. and I. were examined by the master under the new regulations. The failures are somewhat numerous, but this will tend to strengthen the school in the future, as the children are not hindered by being kept in a lower class for

Instruction of X and P. — Comparatively littlo advance towards a good Std. I has been made by Preparatory 11, whilst Preparatory I is very backward. A higher standard should be aimed at, otherwise the standard work must fail when the the children roach Std. 111. Preparatory II should prepare tiro or three simple readers, and their work should approximate to the requirements of a first standard. Thoroughness in all tha elementary work should be insisted on. Although the failures for the whole school are many, it is pleasing to find so nmny children actually being prepared in standards, more than 80 per cent, of those attending being; actually presented iv one or other of the standards. This is very high, and shows that with regularity high results would ;ittend tho instruction at this school. I cannot conclude this report without expressing my admiration of tho excellent manner in which the school grounds are kept. The arrangements are in every way satisfactory, as far as the work of the committee is concerned. The registration is satisfactory. On the arrival of the s.s. Manapouri a Auckland from Sydney, it was reported to the police that a saloon passenger named William Symouds, had died of cancer whilst the steamer was passing North Cape at 2.15 yesterday afternoon. As far as we can learn, the deceased gentleman belouged to Wellington, and was returning from Sydney in company with his wife. He was 55 years of age, and had been an invalid for the last eight years. >