E.—2.

[Appendix C

The following subjects were undertaken by the instructors named : Physical instruction (Sergeantmajor Routledge, of the Junior Cadet Staff); medical inspection of school children (Dr. Finch, Chief Hgalth Officer, Canterbury); dairy-work (Mr. F. J. Heatley, M.A., M.Sc, Technical Organizer, Taranaki); vocal music (Mr. Robert Parker, Wellington); book-keeping (Mr. H. Bolton, F.1.A., N.Z., head of the Commercial Department, Wellington Technical College); geometric drawing (Mr. •H.-Luks, Wellington Technical College); History of New Zealand (Mr. D. A. Strachan, M.A.). In all, ninety-three students were enrolled. Of these, fifty-three were enabled to have twenty hours' practical work in. dairying, the programme for the D certificate being covered. The total number of hours given to instruction of all kinds was fifty-two. Accompanying the summer school was an exhibition of» school-work, to which between thirty and forty schools contributed. Messrs. Whitcombe and Tombs also provided an exhibit of school books and appliances. Mr. Robert Parker delivered a stimulating address on " Shakespeare and Music," with illustrations by local vocalists. All teachers, male and female, were given an opportunity to practise on a Hazard target. Arrangements were also made for social intercourse and enjoyment. The teacher-students brought to the labours of the fortnight an excellent spirit and desire to make the most of the occasion. The school should have a distinctly reinvigorating effect on the education of the district. The Department kindly }'ielded all necessary facilities. Remarks on Special Subjects. English.—The suggestions contained in last year's report were applied with good effect by the teachers, who may nevertheless be again referred to them. The youngest teachers do not always know that the letters of the alphabet have both names and sounds; they teach the names laboriously, but omit the phonic values, and then wonder why the children are slow in learning to read. Properly, the names of the letters, although useful for identification, have only a remote connection with reading, whereas the sounds of the letters and letter-groups are fundamental. Although it is advisable for other purposes that the order of the letters in the alphabet should be known, it is not necessary that the youngest children should spend their first week in acquiring a " parrot " knowledge of them; they should know both the names and phonic values of all letters that come into their reading-lessons. In the schools referred to there is a considerable amount of defective utterance, nasality, &c, that careful training in phonics might cure, yet the work is not attempted. There are still about six schools where the ear is offended by- misuse of the aspirate, so prevalent as to be a reflection on the teaching. Reading is not by any means a mechanical art; head and heart enter into good reading. The mode in which such a word as " far " is uttered—short in spelling but long in utterance —tells whether the reader is in sympathy with the author; so, too, with many figured expressions—such as the descriptive sentence, the rhetorical question, and the exclamation —which give light and shade and variety to reading. During the past year several libraries have been established, and others have been increased. Collins and Co. have lately issued a fine set of books : " The Old Voyageurs," " Eminent Women," " Nineteenth Century Explorers," &c, which are well suited for young readers. The school library is not intended for adults; its object is to feed young people whose imagination is powerful, the sympathies unblunted and. easily aroused; they are anxious to know something of this world in which they have so lately found themselves; they desire information on history, geography, science, &c, but expect it in popular and interesting fashion as through tales of exploration and adventure. The books chosen should as far as possible have literary value : " Dot and the Kangaroo " (by Ethel Pedley, a gifted Australian authoress who died too young), " Little Lord Fauntleroy " (Barnett), and "Tropical Africa" (Drummond) are types which combine a cultured expression with valuable suggestions —geographic, scientific, ethic. In the larger schools class libraries should be established. An occasional half-hour given to discussion concerning books is a great incentive to reading them. By spelling, not only is a knowledge of literal sequence cultivated, but also a habit of close and accurate observation. It is satisfactory to find that sixty-three schools were efficient in this subject, twenty others were passable, and only seven classed as " weak." Word-building, unless combined with using the new words in sentences of the pupil's own construction, is a sterile and time-wasting subject. If, however, it is used to increase the pupil's vocabulary in use and his powers of flexible expression the subject becomes a vital and powerful instrument of educational progress. There are not wanting teachers of Fifth and Sixth Standards who leave word-building till they come to the end of the reading-book, where the roots and affixes are. A week's or a fortnight's drill in these is a pallid and bloodless compensation for the interesting symposia that might have accompanied the reading-lessons throughout the year. Although on principles of close correlation writing is classed with English, it is really a species of handwork. The greatest defect in writing is insufficient attention to the formation and junctioning of letters; some forms of junctioning facilitate the production of a rapid yet clear and easy hand; it is for the teacher to study the subject so as to make his teaching purposive. Ibo often the ends that ought to be kept in view are overlooked, and general neatness alone studied. The tablet pads used instead of slates are sometimes allowed to become the means of permitting the writing to degenerate into a scribble; where they are used it is necessary to insist on a high standard of general neatness. In some schools Standard VI has not advanced beyond copies ruled in double lines; at that stage they should not need such an aid to the maintenance of an even text. Other schools, fortunately few, do not provide well-ruled slates for Class P, where they are a necessity if the writing is to be more than a time-filling exercise. Composition in its double aspect of grammar and essay is a matter of perennial interest to the good teacher. Analytical grammar has improved considerably, but one still finds pupils in the higher classes with an imperfect knowledge of the requirements of the syllabus. In a larger school, where the work from standard to standard is not kept in perfect correlation by the head

XXX