H.—it

34

larger schools. The large amount of office-work thus created —though, in many cases, coming fairly within the Inspector's duties —has prevented my devoting so much time as might he desired to the work of inspection, and some of the examinations and reports have been unavoidably delayed. With the exception, however, of those opened late in the year, all schools have been thoroughly examined, and most have received one or more visits of simple inspection. In compiling a summary of the results of the annual standard examinations it would be scarcely desirable to include the schools that have been recently started, all of which are doing good work, though the standard of attainment is necessarily very low. The following table shows the general results of the annual examinations in standards of those schools which have been in full work during the year : —

From this table it will be seen that, of the 2,193 scholars examined in these schools, 907, or 41*3 per cent., failed to satisfy the requirements of Standard I. ; 394, or 17*9 per cent., passed Standard I.; 468, or 213 per cent., passed Standard II.; 221, or 10 0 per cent., passed Standard 111. ; 133, or 6*2 per cent., passed Standard IV.; 57, or 26 per cent., passed Standard V. ;8, or o'3 per cent., passed Standard VI. And, further, that, for every 100 scholars examined, 9 passed in the fairly-advanced work of the three higher standards ; 50 passed in the preparatory work of the three lower standards ; and 41 in their attainments were classed as infants. These results in themselves cannot be considered satisfactory, but they must not be taken as showing the capabilities of our schools. The past year's examinations were the first series conducted under the new Government standards, which differ so essentially from those hitherto in force both in difficulty and range of subjects that teachers have found it no easy matter to conform to their requirements, and much time otherwise available for general advancement has been devoted to perfecting the new work. Taking into account the change of standards, and the many changes in the organization of the schools themselves, I consider the work produced satisfactory. Our schools are now in most respects well appointed, and I anticipate a great improvement in the results of the current year's work. In the following remarks on our school-work I purpose noticing only such matters as appear to call for some comment. To several schools 1113 remarks may not apply. A good number of our teachers possess a thorough knowledge of their profession, and are doing excellent work; but others have not had the advantage of special training, and may perhaps he benefited by having their attention drawn to common causes of failure. Reading in a few schools is well taught, but generally teachers appear to work from the commencement without, a just conception of its principles. They appear to aim at imparting an accurate knowledge of the sounds and meanings of words only. Personally, I attach little importance to teaching the meanings of words in reading. A thorough knowledge of the force and meaning of a word can only be obtained by a process of gradual approximation. What I desire in reading is that the sentences and phrases should be given in such a manner as to convey their meaning to the hearer. Thus, in the first stage, it is not unusual to hear a scholar repeat, " The - snow - lies - thick - upon - the - ground - and - the - poor - little - birds - hop - about, - seeking -in - vain - for - food." Or, what is worse still, " The snow lies - thick upon the - ground and the - poor - little birds hop - about seeking in - vain for - food." The child cannot possibly understand the meaning of what is being read until it has been taught to divide the matter intelligently, somewhat as follows : " The snow - lies thick upon the ground, - and - the poor little birds - hop about, - seeking in vain - for food." This plan, if perfected and extended in the higher standards, will imperceptibly lead to intelligent and expressive reading. Spelling, being a more mechanical process, and easily tested, is generally thoroughly good. The requirements in arithmetic have been considerably raised by the introduction of the new standards, and have caused a large proportion of failures, but I am well satisfied with the manner in which the subject is taught. With a few exceptions, the mechanical work is very accurate, and the scholars in the higher standards show an intelligent comprehension of principles, and readily apply them to the solution of simple problems,

School. o W a o o 1 6 I a <■- < fee h ■5 H "d § a OT O Classifit Pa nation at'ter Lssed in Bfca* Examination ndards. ■d I ll si S g ft" a CO Sid - E3 si * s s| S5 -« a 3 o --.^ a a,a O P*-J II fe bt.CG : bl' ?■■< 3 £ Pa o o 042 P4 ?-< IV. ! III. I 1 1 vi.; v. 1 11. i 1. 1 O. xeraldine ... ! 180 lunter ...I 26 look ... j 30 Gilford ... : 61 )taio ... 40 3areora ... I 56 -"leasant Point ... 163 feasant Valley ... 59 tangitata Island ... : 37 icotsburn ... 27 ?emuka ... 323 :imaru ... 1,019 Vaihi Bush ... 99 Vaimate ... 413 ViitohiFlat ... 68 Vashdyke ... 51 Vitichester ... 103 I 127 15 25 48 31 40 125 46 29 18 197 I 796 71 289 48 85 68 112 16 24 52 31 46 131 54 32 23 227 835 84 , 339 50 43 64 8 1 2 2 13 2 1 3 2 13 11 1 0 15 2 11 12 4 I 4 2 36 67 5 19 9 9 14 32 1 5 9 4 14 24 17 5 5 39 160 32 85 11 11 14 30 6 0 8 9 7 26 11 9 8 40 118 10 92 9 2 9 48 6 17 15 16 10 56 22 14 8 85 400 29 126 20 18 17 96 10 7 37 15 39 78 32 18 15 157 471 58 225 32 35 49 72 9 6 22 15 20 67 , 32 18 13 124 I 435 41 : 207 20 21 37 75 90 85*7 59*4 100 51*3 85*8 100 100 86 6 78'9 923 70*6 91*5 62*5 60 75*5 ! 15 12 8 10 8 10 51 50 21 61 48 70 47 59 56 65 51 41 56 58 58 51 58 34 88 71 29 52 22 43 41 44 35 87 48 34 37 40 42 26 "7 i 8 25 4 5 19 58 4 11 1 3 8 12 11 10 5 2 7 16 ! "2 Totals ... 2,758 2,003 2,193 8 57 138 221 468 394 907 1,374 1 ! 1,159 84*3 9 50 41