Page image

E.—6

Into the various outdoor pursuits plenty of life lias been infused, both cricket and football having had a large measure of success. The Cadets have had a strenuous year. The camp in the first term with its ambitious programme of work, gave the recruits a good start, and the subsequent steady work of Captain Farthing, Mr. Lambie, and Mr. Lang has produced a very efficient set of young soldiers. The only big improvement this year is the addition of a new fives-court, the cost of which is being defrayed by the Rhodes Fund. This will be specially reserved for the use of smaller boys. The question of roofing the fives-courts has been postponed, as funds are not available. The proposed inspection of the school by the Education Department was not carried out for obvious reasons, but we were visited by the Inspector-General, who examined the work of the Sixth Form more particularly. As a, result of this two pupils were awarded higher leaving certificates, which carry with I hem University bursaries, and are accepted in lieu of entrance and other examinations by various Universities and associations. Two others well qualified, otherwise could not obtain them as they do Greek instead of science. Amongst other visitors during the year were Sir Hartmann Just, Professor Dixon, Sir Ernest Rutherford, and Professor Herring, one of our old. boys. During the year His Excellency the Governor honoured the school by asking no less than three of its members to assist him as A.D.C. During the year the Regulations for Junior Somes and Entrance Scholarships have been extended to meet altered conditions, and the result, especially of the latter, has proved the wisdom of the change. With regard to the particular branches of the sehoolwork, 1 would call attention to the following :— Mathematics. —At the beginning of the year alterations were made in the organization of the mathematical, teaching of the school with a view to increased efficiency in this subject, but tho results which should have followed have been only partially achieved, owing to the changes of masters which had to be made during the year, and to the lack of experience in mathematical teaching of some of those to whom the new sets were entrusted ; still, much good work has been done, and the recent examinations have shown that the school possesses many boys of promise on the mathematical side who may be • expected to do very creditably later on. English. --The school was examined throughout at the midyear examination, and showed fairly satisfactory work in English. Certain weaknesses in geography and history text-books were made evident, and steps were taken to remedy these faults and to improve the composition. During the final examinations of this month all forms below the Matriculation Class have been examined in composition, grammar, history, and geography. Composition and grammar have made satisfactory improvement, but the several, changes of the staff and in the time-table have materially affected some of the lower forms. Tho science work was perhaps cut up more than any other subject but it is beginning to make headway again. French. —There has been really satisfactory progress in the two bottom forms of the upper school. In the rest of the school, owing to unexpected changes that were made in th - organization of the forms in the first term of the year, the improvement which had begun to be apparent was swept out of existence, and since then we have been struggling on under conditions which render progress almost impossible. Our greatest difficulty at the present time is that there are no less than five forms in the school to which beginners in French may have to be posted. The changes mentioned did not affect the third forms, and hence the satisfactory improvement ; at any rate, it is an improvement in the right place, and will in time be felt all the way up the School. Latin.- —ln this work the normal rate of progress has been maintained, but the absence, of special •* facilities for assisting new-comers in Latin has handicapped much of the work in the lower forms. Greek. —Steady work has been done, but rendered difficult by the fact that boys begin at all ages. The erection of the much-delayed Hare Memorial Building will lie proceeded with before long. The Old Boys' Association have taken definitive steps in the matter, and I hope to see a brisk building programme initiated early next year to provide the much-needed class-rooms and laboratories. No report at this time would be complete without a reference to the war. Any doubts as to whether this school is doing its duty in turning out true citizens should be set at rest when we look at the last pages of the Register, and find that, as far as we know at present, at least one hundred and fifty of our old boys have taken up arms for their country. There must be many more, and there are several already in the Army and Navy who are doubtless near the front, but we have no direct news of them as yet. Wo have amongst them a captain of the "Dreadnought," J. E. T. Harper; the colonel in command of the troops at Samoa, C. Harcoui-t Turner ; many captains and lieutenants in the Regular Forces; and majors, captains, and lieutenants in the Expeditionary Forces; and last, but not least, there are non-coms, and privates in dozens. [, who know them all, can safely say that this school has given of her very best. We are all now looking forward to a long period of prosperity under our new headmaster. With his ripe experience to guide us, and the very suitable raw material that I see at the back to work on we, shall mould it into a finished product as good, and. perhaps better, than we have in the past. A. E. Flower, Acting-Headmaster. 2. Work of the Highest and Lowest Classes. Highest. —Latin —Horace, Odes, Book IV ; Cicero, Pro Milone, Chapter 26 to end ; 2nd Philippic Oration ; selected passages for prose composition and unseen translation ; Stedman's Latin Exami-nation-papers ; Roman history, literature, and antiquities. Greek—Plato, Crito ; Euripides, Medea; selected passages for unseen translation ; Sidgwick's Greek Prose Composition ; Stedman's Greek Examination-papers. French—Siepmann's French Grammar; selected passages for composition and translation; Cinq Mars; Tartaric de Tarascon. Mathematics- -Arithmetic, Longmans' Senior Arithmetic ; algebra, Hall and Knight's, Chapters I to XXXVTT ; geometry, Hall and Stevens, Parts I

48

Log in or create a Papers Past website account

Use your Papers Past website account to correct newspaper text.

By creating and using this account you agree to our terms of use.

Log in with RealMe®

If you’ve used a RealMe login somewhere else, you can use it here too. If you don’t already have a username and password, just click Log in and you can choose to create one.


Log in again to continue your work

Your session has expired.

Log in again with RealMe®


Alert