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work should be adopted under an efficient infant-school mistress, assisted by teachers who understand the former system ; and that no pupils be allowed to enter the school under five years of age. Many of the children who are at present attending the Kindergarten School are under four years of age —an age when infants should rather be under the charge of their parents than under that of a teacher. I am convinced that six, or even seven, years of age is young enough for commencing school life; and experience has shown me that children who commence school work at even the later period are more advanced in a true educational sense at the age of twelve or thirteen than those who began at an earlier period. Many parents seem to send their little ones to school more for the purpose of being out of the way than anything else. This is a terrible mistake on their part; but, seeing that the school age has been fixed at five, of course it will be necessary to admit all those of that age who apply for admission. I would, however, strongly recommend that the youngest pupils should be detained in school no longer than four hours a day at the most. I have even found that three hours a day is quite long enough for those of very tender years, and that their progress is as rapid under such an arrangement as when they are confined for a longer period. I have, &c, John Inglis, Esq., W. Malcolm, Principal. Chairman, Board of Education, .North, Canterbury.

Normal School Staff. Training Department. —William Malcolm, Principal; Edwin Watkins, 8.A,, First Tutor; Alfred Coombes-Newton, 8.A., Second Tutor. Practising Department. —Boys' School: Edwin Rayner, Headmaster; Assistants, James R. Thornton, M.A., J. J. Patterson, J. Grant, James Mayne, and one pupil-teacher. —Girls' School: Mrs. Patterson, Headmistress; Assistants, Eliza Kitchinginan, Jane Barlow, Elizabeth Spensley, Mary E. Jenkins, and one pupil-teacher.—lnfant School and Kindergarten : Mrs. Crowley, Headmistress; Assistants, Ada E. Foster, Florence R. Williams, A. Radcliffe, and four pupil-teachers.

Regulations foe tub Organization and Conduct of the Normal School, Christchurch. _I. Staff and their Duties.—The staff shall consist of four officers whose status, salaries, and duties shall be as follows: The Principal, who shall have charge of both the training and the practising departments, and shall teach the students the theory and practice of school management in addition to other subjects required to obtain a certificate. Upon him shall devolve the responsibility of the educational status of both divisions of the Normal School, and his salary shall be not more than £600 per annum. The First Tutor, who, besides assisting the Principal in preparing the students, shall also (when not so engaged) assist in the practising school. His salary shall be not more than £350 per annum. The Second Tutor, who shall also assist in teaching the students, and when required shall do duty in the practising school. His salary shall be not more than £250 per annum. The Kindergarten Mistress, who shall train the students in the theory and practice of the kindergarten system, and undertake the teaching and management of the younger children in the Infant School. Her salary shall not be more than £200 per annum, The two Tutors and the Kindergarten Mistress shall receive in addition to salary the same bonus on account of classification as is granted to other teachers, and £50 per annum each as an allowance in lieu of house accommodation. 11. Terms of Admission, etc., to the Training School.—The students of this Normal School may be persons of either sex who shall be approved of by the Board of Education. Applicants for entrance as students must be at least seventeen years of age, of moral character, of sound constitution, and free from any detect or infirmity that might impair their efficiency as teachers. No person shall bo admitted as a regular student who has not passed an examination in the various subjects required of pupil-teachers at the end of their fourth year, the Principal being one of the examiners ; but pupil-teachers who have passed the examination at the end of their fourth year's course shall be eligible for admission without further examination. Thero will be an annual examination for six junior scholarships of the annual value of £50, and tenable for two years, the subjects of examination being the same as those for pupil-teachers at the end of their fourth year; and to the two pupilteachers who matriculate at the University of New Zealand with greatest credit will be awarded two senior scholarships of the annual value of £60 and tenable for three years. Students who have by examination proved their ability to take advantage of the lectures of Canterbury College will be permitted to do so, and their fees will be paid by the Board unless a scholarship is hold; but they shall be expected to pass the Canterbury College annual examinations in the subjects of the lectures which they have respectively attended. They must also attend the classes of the Normal School in all other subjects taught there, unless they have a special exemption, and must give at least one hour a day in the practising school. Students who obtain the senior scholarships will be required to attend all the classes at Canterbury College necessary for taking the degree of 8.A., provided that they shall attend the Normal School for instruction in school management, and that they teach for at least one hour a clay in the practising school. While Canterbury College is not in session they must submit themselves to any regulations in regard to attendance at the Normal School made by the Board of Education from time to time. Holders of the junior scholarships must at the first examination, after a full year's attendance at the Normal School, pass the examination for the E certificate, and at the end of the second year the examination for the D certificate ; and holders of the senior scholarships must pass the annual examination at the end of their first year, and enter I'cr the first section of the B.A. degree, or for certificate C examination, at the end of their second year. If these examinations be not successfully passed in each case the scholarship will be withdrawn, unless a satisfactory reason be given to the Board. The time during which a student shall remain in training shall be not less than one year. Students shall on entering sign an agreement, with approved security, engaging to spend in public primary-school teaching two of the first three years after leaving the Normal School, failing which they,