E.—lb

14

The following table gives particulars regarding the attendance in the secondary departments of the district high schools: —

This table shows that during the year 265 pupils were on the roll of the secondary departments Of these only 106 had spent more than one year in the classes. In 1906 there were 139 pupils in their first year; of these, therefore, only 37 per cent, stayed the second year; in other words, 63 per cent, of the pupils remain not more than one year in the secondary department. Practical, Work. —In our district the practical phases of education bulk very largely. In all schools more or less handwork is taken. Country schools with any pretence to progressiveness take school agriculture, or dairying, or both, and the town schools take, in addition to the ordinary forms of handwork, woodwork and cookery, as well as physical measurements. Were it not that a great deal of this practical work is interwoven with the other school subjects, one would be inclined to predict that, by its amount and variety, it would lead to mental obsession rather than to the rescue of schoolwork from the blight of bookishness and unreality. And, in truth, we have perhaps sufficiently yielded to the demand for the practical in education. It remains that we should develope, systematize, as well as bring into accord those parts that lead mainly to practical ends and those that make for mental training and enrichment. The Teaching of the Teachers. —In our retrospect of the year's work we should include as advancing the cause of education the following: First, the summer school, conducted by Dr. Marshall, whose lectures on the physical geography of the district will be memorable as well for their revelation of scientific method as for their revelation of nature. (2.) The winter school, for uncertificated teachers and teachers of remote schools, which was marked by spirit and success. (3.) A number of our teachers visited the Training College with a view to acquiring a knowledge of recent educational aims and methods. Judging from the notes and impressions presented to the Board, one is assured that the teachers returned to their schools animated by a spirit of progressiveness and of love toward their work and their children. (4.) As in former years, Saturday classes —some of them entirely successful classes —were held for the instruction of teachers in agricultural and dairy science, woodwork, cookery, physiography, and handwork. (5.) The competition for the travelling scholarships produced some very thoughtful papers. (6.) The head teachers of the observation schools deserve the thanks of the Board for the trouble they have taken with visiting teachers. These schools play no mean part in increasing the educational efficiency of the district, and it is a matter for regret that more teachers do not avail themselves of the facilities for training which they afford. (7.) Educational periodicals were regularly sent out to different centres during the year. The result of this experiment has not, so far, been so gratifying as might have been expected. Moral and Physical Training.—Hitherto we have dealt with the work of the schools as directed towards the production of manual and mental capacity. Were we to say nothing of physical and moral development our review would Be sadly incomplete. The organization of the schools in most cases fortunately permits a large amount of corporate life, which manifests itself not less in the school garden and the school library, than in school games. It is thus that our pupils acquire habits of spending their leisure hours rationally, and so is fulfilled one of the great purposes of every system of education worth the name. It is thus, too, that they find physical and moral healing and invigoration. The health of our pupils will not be assured by the advent of the doctor in school, unless both it and its environments are pervaded by healthy conditions. Abundance of fresh air, scrupulous cleanliness, spacious play-ground, and a Buoyant social atmos-

Board's Senior. Board's Junior. Queen's. Junior National. Senior Free Place. Civil Service », , . ... Junior. Matriculation. Bltham ... Hawera . . Patea Wanganui Marton Feilding ... 2 i 1 1 5 7 10 2 6 7 10 5 2 2 3 3 5 "1 i "3

Admitted at Beginning of Year. Number of Pupil were si i who dur: lending ing 1907 Average Roll of Secondary Department for 1907. From From Town Schools. , other Schools. First Year. Second Year. Third Year. Fourth Year. Eltham Hawera ... Patea Wangauui Marton Feilding ... ... 22 36-8 21-2 604 29-6 42-8 19 20 19 20 8 22 5 3 2 11 10 6 25 25 27 31 23 28 h 8 4 22 7 6 2 11 7 3 18 2 4 "7 Totals 212-8 108 37 159 52 41 13