SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16902, 29 November 1922, Page 4

SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF.

IMPORTANT WORK. j An educational work of importance J which is being carried on unostenta- | tiously, but none the less diligently, j lies to the credit of the Sumner School for the Deaf. The patience and care in ! training the young people to speak is immediately realised when the visitor is given an opportunity of seeing the classes at work. The pupils necessarily have to be coached to catch the movements of the lips iu producing speech, and the in-

structors make the lesson as natural as possible by bringing into use the scholars’ faculty of sight. For instance, when they are asked to pronounce the name of a. town they are also taught to point it out on" the map, or, after they have run over a sentence with the teacher they may write it down on their slates. Simple questions, such as “ What is the weather like?” “ What is the colour of the ribbon?” “What is on the desk?” make a groundwork for progressive lessons. Pupils at the school had Mr T. M. Wiiford, leader of the Opposition, as a visitor yesterday. He was accompanied by the Mayor (Dr Thacker) and Mrs Thacker. A call on the various classes made a very interesting round, while the work was explained by the* director (Mr J. E. Stevens). The pupils showed alertness and intelligence in their efforts to progress with ‘ ‘ the three R’s,” and a visit to the school,, the young people’s handicap in life, where the training aims at removing the young people’s handicap in life cannot but fail to make a deep im- ' nrpesinn