STSATFORD DISTRICT SCHOOL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXIX, Issue 110, 30 June 1911, Page 5

STSATFORD DISTRICT SCHOOL.

.AN INSPECTION REPORT. The Assistant-Inspoctor-General of schools, Dr Anderson, has forwarded lO the Education Board a report, by Mr T. H. Gill, inspector, on the' secondary classes of the Stratford District High School. The school was inspected on 31st March last, when the staff was as follows: Mr F. Ty- • er, Dl, headmaster j Mr R. McSpor.'.in, B.A. (acting); Miss E. Bollinger,M.A., Mr F. Bowler, 8.A., and Miss Jumberworth, C 5. Roll: Boys 59, girls 59; present: hoys 57; girls 48. Of that number 15 pupils held senior free places, 98 junior tree places, and . j paid fees, lour of the fee paying pupils had been admitted on the lower jualilication, viz., a certificate of competency in Standard VI. Eleven pupils held Education Board senior scholarships, eight Education Board junior, three junior National, and mo Queen’s. No fewer than cightyono pupils came from outside the district; 19 from Inglewood (14 miles), 18 fyom Midhirst (4 miles), 7 from A'aitara (26 miles), 7 from Eltham ;7 miles), 6 from Cardiff (4 miles), i from Tariki (8 miles), 5 from Ngaito (4 miles), 4 from Xeppertbn (22 niles), 4 from Durham Road (13 niles), 3 from Te Roti (11 . miles), J from Norfolk Road (11 miles), 1 .roru Hawera (19 miles). Sixty-nino >f these pupils travelled to and from school daily by train, six travelled by horse or bicycle, and the remainder boarded in Stratford. The general course aimed at meeting the requirements of the Civil Service, matriculation and university junior scholarship examinations. All the pupils taking this course included both Latin and French in their list if subjects. This course was'taken >y 66 pupils. Ho would recommend :uc advisability of -teaching only one language other than the mother tongue to pupils until they liayq suf’iciont linguistic ability to justify their learning two foreign languages. Acquiring a knowledge of one foreign , language presents difficulties enough .'or the average pupils, and only those ,vith more than ordinary facility in learning languages should attempt to learn more than one foreign language. Most of the remaining pupils take their rural course, a few only taking the commercial course. The lastmentioned course synchronises with tlie Latin period; the non-Latin pupils substituting book-keeping and commercial work for Latin. There are four - divisions, corresponding approximately to first, second. third, and fourth years, and consisting of 54, 40, 16, and 8 pupils respectively. Mr Tyrer teaches history and geography, Mr Bowler the oupils of the third and fourth years, Mr McSporran those of the second year, and Miss Bollinger the juniors. In addition to tlie regular teaching staff a number of visiting teachers are employed, especially for the rural md domestic courses. Dairying is taught by Mr Heatloy, M.A., M.Sc., woodwork and ironwork by Messrs Sandford and Gollop, cookery and domestic economy by Miss McDonald, dressmaking by Miss Dempsey, and drawing by Mr Hutton. , Major Young, M.R.G.V.S., has also given some interesting “talks” to the boys of the rural course on the horse and the cow. Although the construction of time-tal.des for the three definite courses is a work of some difficulty, a very satisfactory time-table has been drawn.up. Notwithstanding the frequent changes in the staff/ and the initial difficulty of adjusting the work of the various courses, this secondary department is carried on with much entlmsiasm and not a little success, and while the standard of attainments reached by the pupils in the upper division of the general course is high, the pupils of the rural course exhibit praiseworthy diligence and interest in their work. The general and commercial courses are taugnt in two rooms of the main school, end rural course in the technical school. This arrangement is quite satisfactory, but the number of pupils in the junior division is rather large for one teacher. _____