Appendix C]

E.—2.

of expression is to be of value in enabling the pupil to see truly and to express his ideas clearly, it is essential that some definite instruction in the technique of the several branches of handwork should be given in the early stages. Now that all schools are furnished with handwork materials it is imperative that tho provisions of tho handwork syllabus bo fully complied with. Singing. —Although in a few schools the educational value of this subject is not fully recognized, on the whole we are pleased to bo able to record a distinct advance in regard both to treatment and. to the results accruing from the teaching. This is in Some measure due to the excellent training our young teachers have received in their " student " years, and to tho enthusiasm displayed by them in regard to this important subject. Another contributing factor, particularly in the larger schools, is the foundation laid in our infant departments ; almost without exception ttie instruction is on the right lines, the voices of the children aro carefully trained, and swoot, tuneful, and expressive singing, together with attention given to gesture and dramatic action, is a distinctive feature of the work at this stage. We wish to emphasize the importance of voice and breathing exercises ; where these are regularly practised a marked improvement is soon effected in the quality of the tone and in the enunciation of the pupils. When, as is frequently tho case, tho school staff includes teachers possessing exceptional qualifications in this subject, full use should be made of their musical ability. We again find it. necessary to stress the value of singing as a means of relieving the tedium of the daily routine. Physical Instruction. —Physical instruction is carried out in all our schools, and the good quality of tho work in most of thorn reflects credit on the instruction and help given by the physical instructors. Of the 548 teachers visited by them during the year, they report 40 as excellent, 190 very good, 219 good, 88 very fair, and only 11 as fair. Of the unsatisfactory teachers most were inexperienced country teachers. In their report tho instructors say : " The teachers as a whole show a keen and practical interest in this work. Those teachers who have left college are doing very good work as a rule, and the majority of the older teachers express a keen desire for a further course of instruction in the subject, in practically all the largo schools, and in a large proportion of the smaller ones, a special period ii set apart for organized games. This period is generally one hour, during which games and competitions are organized m Rugby, soccer, hockey, cricket, basketball, rounders, and the various group games that are found suitable when dealing with large numbers under the conditions prevailing. On Saturdays competitions are carried on in the various towns in the different season's activities, and the teachers in charge devote a great deal of time to their teams, fn addition they spend hours during tho week out of school time coaching the children for their sports." The majority of our teachers are to be commended for the interest taken in the games of the children generally. In the early part of the year swimming sports were organized ana successfully carried out. At the latter end of the year the annual championship athletic meeting was held, at which there were nearly one thousand entries. At this mooting a display of physical exercises was given by two thousand children, and the manner in which these exorcises were carried out reflected great credit on both teachers and physical instructors. From the 20th February to the 2nd March the pupil-teachers, probationers, and Training College students were given the usual course of instruction. The men were taken at the drill-hail under the usual arrangements with the Defence Department, and the women were taken at various halls in the city. The Otago physical instructors received valuable assistance from Miss Blackburn, Mr. Mountford, and Mr. Reid. A fine spirit was shown m all classes, and a display given at the end of the course showed that the instruction given by the various instructors had been of excellent quality. These classes arc of great benefit to the younger teachers, and it would be a mistake to discontinue them. Afternoon classes were held for a fortnight for tho female junior teachers both at Dunedin and Oamaru. Both headmasters and physical instructors affirm that such classes as the above prove more useful in training junior teachers than Saturday classes held throughout tho year. District High Schools. —Of tho 387 pupils in the secondary departments of nine district high schools at the dates of the Inspectors' visits, 176 were in the junior division, 109 in the intermediate, and 102 in the senior division. With one exception all schools presented candidates for the public examinations, the programmes of work being designed mainly for that purpose. For the first two years the requirements of the rural or scientihe course are met, and during tho third and fourth years the matriculation programme is covered. In most departments the latter programme is covered in the third year. The anxiety of parents and the zeal of the teachers probably account for this hastening of a programme which the University Senate designed to be covered in four years. A threeyears course tends to make the work too bookish, and does not prepare tho average pupil thoroughly enough to enable him to benefit from a course of lectures at the Umversity. Sixty-one of the seniors, most of them in their third year only, sat for the Matriculation Examination, and of these forty-one obtained either a full or a partial pass, sixteen failing in one subject only. Eighteen obtained success in some groups of the examination for D, two completed the certificate, and two others obtained success in some subjects for the C Certificate Examination. For the various Intermediate Examinations 50 per cent, of the 107 candidates presented succeeded in passing. This is not as high a percentage as usual. The falling-off, however, may be accounted for partly by the changes in the staffing of a number of tho secondary departments, and partly by negfoct to take notice of a now regulation of the Public Service Examination requiring the candidates to obtain 50 per cent, in writing as a necessary condition for passing. It was in this examination that the highest number of failures occurred. In most of the secondary departments the work in the senior division is particularly sound, both in English and mathematics ; and the science work, generally, is on good lines, the work in both laboratory and garden being carefully supervised by the agricultural instructors. The notebooks are well kept, some of them being well illustrated, in a fow cases, mostly junior pupils, wo have to report that an improvement was desirable in the setting-out of the work, in most of those departments, however, a considerable improvement in the writing and sctting-out of the class work generally is very desirable. There is a tendency for the writing to become too small and to lose its legibility.

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