TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCIV, Issue 14483, 3 July 1911, Page 6

TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.

ANNUAL MEETING. A SATISFACTORY YEAR. lie animal meeting of the South. ■ Canterbury branch <;i the New Zea- : land Educational Institute was held ; in the Technical School on Saturday, wien abou- twenty teachers pressi> and Mr the President, . ooscpied the chair.' 'An apology lor ; tbsei.co was received from Mr ilea- j eies. ' 'i'lio Honorary Secretary (Mr J. A. j •Valentine) presented a lengthy report on rho -work of the past year, and also a detailed balance sheet. The report stated thai; the citings uad been, generally well attended, aaid no ' very important question had come up for discussion. Some very interesting: papers had been read during the year, j .The annual meeting of the parent body ; was referred to, and it was said that '■ a para of the policy of the Institute > "this year was to secure, if possible, | st Dominion, scheme of promotion for j teaoiers.- Thanhs were recorded to ! the. householders' meetings and to the 1 Pres3 for assisting to push, on this ' peberae. In December 1910 the mem- j barship. cf the Institute was 131, and j this branch had mere members than j cny oilier kindred branch of "the In- j etirute in New Zealand. The_ young- [ er tethers coming iu were heartdy i supporting the Institute. Again and | agin the -Secretary had been_ of service to members in difficulties' con- j r.ected with, tbsir wcrk. Ir- w-as hoped j than; ail members who needed help 1 cr sdvice at any time in their | would freely seek it from the officers j of tie- branch. An attempt had be3"a made to form Saturday classes affiliated to Canterbury College. but j the proposal was found to bo imprao | ticable. A crass in agriculture, how- j ©tot, h?d been formed by the Board, and under the auspices of the Timaru | Technical Classes Association, classes in Latin nnd mathematics were established. Oiic-a again they had to acknowledge the amicable nature of-their reiaiions with the Education Board fced its officers, the utmost harmony prevailing. During- the year "the, bo nth Canterbury Chamber of Commerce had set,aside £5 5s to be devoted to the encouragement of writr ihg in the primary schools of South Canterbury, and applied to the Institute for suggestions. These were forwarded, but nothing more had been Sieard of matter since: In conclusion thanks were recorded to members for the steady and effective support they had given to the Instituto. Thanks were also given to the j?ress. In future it was proposed to Turnkey the first meeting in each yea»r take "the form of a social gathering, si> Which pleasure and profit could be combinad. The meeting for 1911 ■would be held on July 23. Th? balance skoired the receipt- £G'l lis iM fincledmg a credit balance cf £l3 lE-; ".';! brougt forwards and esvsndit'jre £'4o 14s Pd. leaving a credit balance of -£l4 17s 6d. The report and balance sheet wer-e unanimously adopted. Officials for the ensuing year were eket-d as follows: —President, Mr G. Pair,:-.- 31.A. Tier-President Mr G-. Dalglifh B.A. and Mr Ferguson M.A. of Management—Messrs A. Goodaii and Mcnzirs. and Miss Avisos. Secretary and Treasurer —-Mr .T. ■ A. Valentine (re-e'ected amidst applause. ) , A hearty vote of thanks was passed to the out-going committee GENKRAI,. General business t,-;.< then taken. On r*e motion of Mr remits we-'? axmroved that Treasurer.-- of District Institutes should p=y the to ih~ New Zealand Institute on their complete membership list, instead-of ns hitherto on those members who had already paid op their subserhrtions. A 10-jg circular loiter was wired froaj_ti-.p Executive or the Institute in T"e:iii:rton, stating it had bf*en decided to send the district Institutes a circular giving information of cur-

rent affairs connected with the work of tno institute. lnioruiaxion was forwarded relative 10 tho x>rouiotion ■seheino ;uid honorary members, and It was intimated, taut tho executive liad been ask-jd to arrange lor suiuc form of recognition cf'tho services to teachers ana to education generally, of Air iiliam Davidson.

Cordial approval of this proposal was expressed. ALrs D. E. \ Mathcson, of Asliwiek Flat, tendered her resignation as a member, as she was leaving to settle in the Xorth Island.- Mrs Mathe-jon added a complimentary reference* to ilr Valentine, who she considered .vas a secretary second to none.

The .Xorth Canterbury branch advised that they intended to nominate Mr K. M. .fust for the vacancy on the superannuation Board caused' l>y the retirement' of Mr Thomas Houles, B.A. Mr Just had the unanimous support of their branch ,and support cf his candidature was solicited. Mr Valentine spoke in the ' ijihest terms of praise of Mr Hughes, and expressed the regret of the Institute at his retirement through ill-health. He moved n motion expressing appreciation of the services of Mr Hughes, and of regret at his retirement. The motion was carried unanimously.

I The president referred in glowing j terms to the services rendered by Mr l Valentine, and said that his keen in- ] j terest in educational matters, his i energy, and his very intimate knowi ledge of the Snperanuuation Act, j should fit him admirably for a ~ent ■on the Superannuation Bourd. He j moved that the- branch of the Institute nominate Mr Valentine for the vacancy. (Applause.) j Other members spoke in similar ! terms, and it was unanimously r>- | solved to nominate Jtr Valentino for j the vacancy, it being said thai it would scarcely be possible to get a man more fitted for the position. Mr Ferguson said he thought seme statement should come from the Boinl of Education, through the Institute, as to the time and place that apparatus or information of any sort intended for teachers would be available. He ■ ■ spoke in *he interest of countrv teachers, over whom he conside/ed town teachers lmcl a groat advantage I in getting such information or appar- ; atus. Personally ho had no fault j whatever to find, but he knew .of some I other teachers who were not ao fjr- | tunatoly situated. . I Mr Valentino said that if teachers wanted anything at any time, they

could always get it by applving to tuo j Education Board's office; Mr Cell :nd Mr Gow werehoth always ready to assis* teaclicrs in every possible "wav. : Mr Ferguaon said he knew that, but !he thought a notification should be .given to teachers in general so ' i.at thev would all be on the same footing. Half a dozen new members v,tre j elected. i Eemarks on the multiplication of ' country schools and the position of I tr-nchers in regard to religious instruc. i tion are reported under separata i cad-