11

E.—lβ

arid of the relations of words and phrases to one another in the sentence must be retained. A fault in the essays in many schools was the misspelling of common words—words which in the course of a school year are used over and over again. Common articles of furniture and clothing; common objects in and around school or home; days of the week and months of the year —the names of which pupils use almost every day in their speech, and not infrequently in their compositions — should not be misspelt so frequently as they are. It is somewhat absurd that children should be able to spell words -tfhich they seldom or never use, and of whose meaning they have but the vaguest idea, and yet be tripped up by simple words of every-day use. A great deal of trouble would be saved if two or three words such as we have mentioned were thrown in with every spelling lesson. In country schools especially, and in all schools more or less, the transcription lesson might frequently be made to aid the work in composition. If, instead of always being asked to transcribe from their books, the pupils were occasionally asked to write simple sentences of their own composing, or if they were asked to embody work in sentences of their own construction, a distinct gain would be made in composition, while at the same time the ends aimed at in transcription would also be secured. " A correct original sentence is worth more from an educational point of view than a page of copied sentences." To sum up, we would emphasize these points: (1) The need of more oral composition in every class; (2) insistence upon accurate sentence-construction; (3) attention to the spelling of words of every-day use; (4) the better employment of some of the time allotted to transcription. Other Subjects. —Of the remaining subjects, the only ones that call for special comment are geography and history. The teaching of these by many teachers is entirely unsatisfactory. When the new syllabus comes into force, the latter will be simply part of the reading course, and this undoubtedly is the place for it. Lack of intelligence and thoroughness characterized only too much of the , geography. In many cases physical geography had received but scant attention; the knowledge possessed of our own land and of our own district was too often of the most meagre description; definitions in Standard 11. were memorised without being applied to concrete examples in the district and in the world. The results of our examinations in all standards— especially in Standards V. and VI. —were very disappointing. Drawing, writing, drill, and sewing continue to be well taught. Singing is finding a place in an increasing number of schools. In several of them it is well taught. The teaching of science and of object lessons is becoming more concrete. All teachers who have the opportunity should attend one of the science classes established in our district, and so further equip themselves for doing justice to one of the most important subjects in the curriculum. Not until they know how to conduct experiments themselves can teachers hope for much success with their scholars. It is amazing with what tenacity teachers of the lower classes cling to such subjects for object lessons as leather, glass, glue, &c, and ignore the sun, moon, stars, birds, &c, as being unsuitable for their purpose. We strongly recommend that all old lists of object lessons be burned, and that new ones be prepared embodying the outstanding facts of nature, and the prominent features of animal and plant life seen in the neighbourhood of the school. Here are specimens of the kind of subjects which should appear on every list: "The Sun," "The Moon," "The Sky," "The Clouds," "A Rainy Day," "Spring-time," "Seed-time," "The Wind." At the end of the lesson pupils should be encouraged to give in their own language all the information they can about the subject. In every school where there is a mistress short conversational lessons, lasting for about fifteen minutes, should be given almost every day. Pupil-teachers. —At the close of the year there were 52 pupil-teachers in the service of the Board, 13 of whom were males and 39 females. At the annual examination, held in June, 12 passed the first class, 11 the second, and 8 the third; 9 failed in all classes, i were absent, and 4 were exempted. Of the 12 who passed their last pupil-teachers' examination, 11 have already been appointed to positions as assistants or sole teachers, and, as the demand for teachers still continues, the list of second-class pupil-teachers will have to be drawn upon. We would add a word of encouragement to pupil-teachers one and all, and it is this : Make the best use of all your opportunities, and qualify yourselves in as many ways as you possibly can; in the near future the best positions will open only to those who can show a good all-round equipment, including a high certificate and a sufficient knowledge of some of those extra subjects which are beginning to find their way into our school curriculum. Candidates for Teaching. —The usual examination of those offering themselves as candidates for the teaching profession was held in December. Fifty-seven in all entered, fourteen of whom were males. Twenty-eight were successful, and of these fourteen have already received appointments. A great many of the candidates were from our district high schools, where they had been studying for one or two years, and had covered a good deal of the work required for their pupilteacher and higher examinations. Not a few have matriculated. This is just as it should be. The bane of our present pupil-teacher system is that the dual burden of teaching and studying imposes upon the pupil-teacher too heavy a strain, and it is, therefore, impossible for him to do anything like justice to either. The pupil-teacher of the future will have done the whole or a large portion of the study required for his certificate before he begins to teach; so that when he does begin he will be able to throw into it all his energy, and to devote his spare time to general reading and to reading bearing directly upon methods of teaching. Training College.. —Before next year it is likely that a fully equipped training college will have been established at Wellington. The conditions of entry to this will be (1) that the candidate shall have completed a full course as pupil-teacher under a Board, and (2) that he shall have passed the Matriculation Examination of the New Zealand University. The allowances made to those who attend will be the same as are made to fourth-year pupil-teachers, with the addition of fees to those , who take University classes. We trust that every pupil-teacher in the service of the Board will make it his aim to get the benefit of at least a year's training at this college. We should like to see our present pupil-teacher system abolished and some such as the following substituted: (1) a