Appendix C]

E.—2.

the minds of the scholars to the exclusion of school work. We are constrained to give this warning, as there are signs that in some of our city schools, football, an excellent game in its proper place, has lately been engaging too much of the attention of many of our boys. Singing.—School music has such an important bearing on the cultivation of taste, the appreciation of rhythmic values, perfect obedience to control and the corporate life of the school, that -we submit some lines along which we feel it might be improved : (1) As with physical drill, the substitution of several short intervals in place of the weekly longer lesson; (2) the wiser selection of school music {vide Appendix VI, Suggestions to Teachers); (3) the closer correlation with poetry, the masterpieces of prose literature, and great events of history; (4) the continual necessity for demanding sweetness and purity of tone. We are fortunate in securing for the instruction of our teachers the services of such an expert in music as Mr. Parker. In reporting on this subject he says, " I have given two courses of lessons to teachers and pupil-teachers; one in Wellington and one in the Wairarapa. The lessons included all the points comprised in an adequate treatment of the subject of school-singing, breathing, voice and ear training, time, tune and enunciation, all of which were dealt with as thoroughly as time would allow. The attendance and the work done at the Wellington class was, on the whole, satisfactory, but the Wairarapa class was one of the best I have held. In spite of variable and sometimes very unfavourable weather, some thirty-five teachers from all parts of the district assembled every Saturday and followed the lessons with the keenest interest." Mr. Parker visited several schools during the year, and he adds, " These visits have convinced me of the great improvement which is being made in this branch of school work. Naturally, the results — depending, as they do, so much upon the personality of the teacher —are not of uniform excellence, but I can safely say that the worst singing I heard in these schools was at least equal to the best of a few years ago. Increased attention is now being paid to the important matters of breathing and voice training, both of which have, apart from immediate pleasurable results, far-reaching effects in after life." Drawing and Handwork. —Steady progress is being made in handwork and in such branches of drawing as freehand, free-arm, and brush work. In object and nature drawing the improvement, however, is slow. While the number of teachers who are using natural objects instead of flat copies only is increasing, a want of the correct knowledge of the underlying principles of drawing is often responsible for a badly graded selection of objects. During her engagement as art instructor to teachers and students, Miss Lee did much to supply this knowledge, and we hope the Board will appoint a successor to continue the work she began so well two years ago. In only a few schools—mainly those where drawing is carefully correlated with such subjects as woodwork, cardboard modelling, physical measurements, and arithmetic —is instrumental drawing effectively taught. In many schools it is a negligible quantity, and in others very little is done. There is no excuse for this neglect of a branch of drawing most important for all children, and in the higher branches more especially for boys. The appointment of an additional instructor in woodwork enabled the number of classes to be increased. In the practical work of cookery and dressmaking a steady advance is being made, and when the lady selected in England for the purpose of supervising the subjects of a domestic course takes up her duties, we look forward to a considerable improvement in the instruction of such subjects as physiology, domestic economy, and hygiene, and we hope to see laundry work added to the programme. When handwork was added to the syllabus it was given a separate place in the work and programme of the school, and treated as an isolated subject introduced for the purpose of forming " a counter-irritant to bookwork." But as teachers gradually perceived that, by correlating different branches of handwork with other subjects of the syllabus, the general work made a steady advance, manual instruction gradually came to be looked upon more as a method than as a subject, and as a method of applying educational principles it has certainly justified its existence. In giving grants for manual instruction certain restrictions as to the time given to practical work have been laid down. These limitations were probably justified while the work was new, but the time has now come when some of them might well be dispensed with. Their retention tends to make a teacher treat the subject as isolated, and hampers him to some extent in applying the methods of manual instruction to other subjects. We are not suggesting a lessening of the time given to practical work, but in cases where handwork has been correlated with such subjects as, say, geography or arithmetic, these restrictions are apt,to encourage the teacher to subordinate the interests of the main subject-to a lesson on handwork. Teachers' Classes. —At Wellington and Masterton instruction classes for teachers, pupilteachers, and probationers were held in freehand, model, blackboard, and geometrical drawing, brushwork, design, woodwork, cardboard modelling, cookery, physiology, physical measurements, singing, and drill, and towards the end of the year Mr. Cumming gave a course of lectures in elementary agriculture at Pahiatua. Those teachers who attended were greatly interested, and improved work in elementary agriculture and nature-study may confidently be expected in their schools. The unfavourable weather-conditions which prevail in the Pahiatua County interfere considerably with the attendance at such a class, but as there are many teachers in this district whose school work would be greatly benefited by these lectures, we hope to see a larger number taking advantage of them this year. Twenty-one teachers, representing fourteen schools, attended at Greytown for two weeks during the month of September for the purpose of receiving instruction in elementary agriculture and nature-study from Mr. Davies and Mr. Cumming. In reporting on the work, the instructors say, " We desire to express our appreciation of the excellent working spirit displayed by the class as a whole, and especially by those teachers in residence who returned to the laboratory night after night, evidently bent on making the most of their opportunity." An inspection visit paid to the school confirmed the good opinion of the work as given by the instructors. During the year the Department made a grant for the purpose of assisting

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