Appendix D.

E.—2.

reasonable to throw the onus of training students on to teachers who have no connexion with the Training College, and who further, by the time given to students, actually reduce their own chances of raising their grading-marks, inasmuch as such time might have produced greater class efficiency had it been spent in class-work. At present the selected teachers do the trainingwork as an act of courtesy to the Board, but it would be far more satisfactory if the payment of an honorarium made it worth their while to undertake the work, and so indirectly give the Principal of the College a status as regards directing the students' course. This year for the first time all the students leaving the College were seen at work with a class by one of the Board's Inspectors, so that when the Principal's order-of-merit list was issued at the end of the year a comparison could be made with other teachers, and so grading-marks could be allocated. The innovation was a success, and the students of 1913 got better appointments than in any previous year. The usual special reports on ex-students seen in the schools have come in, and I am quite pleased with the general tone of them. With few exceptions the Inspectors speak well of the work the students are doing, and so the Training College bogey, that the work is apt to be too theoretical, seems to be temporarily laid. Were it possible to weed out those not suited for the profession on entering the College I might say that the bogey would be dead and buried too. During the year Dr. Cawkwell gave a course of ten lectures to the second-year students, and at the examination held by him at the conclusion of the series Miss N. Furze and Mr. H. Johnston were placed top of their respective lists, and received prizes given by the lecturer. The system of physical culture was inaugurated during the year, and Mr. S. Moore, one of the instructors, was appointed to take the drill with the male students. This comes as a relief to the Principal, who has been responsible for this branch of work since the College was opened. During the camp period of training for teachers, held in Auckland, the old students gave a welcome to the Director and his staff in the form of a social evening. Bouquets were presented to the women instructors, after a dance of welcome had been executed by some of the students who had been trained by Mrs. Heap. I am glad that the Board have made arrangements for continuing Mrs. Heap's services, as her work has been signally successful in the past, and she helps so willingly in the social side of the College life that her retirement would be little short of a calamity. During the winter season four hocke}' teams took part in the association matches. The senior-grade women's team won the banner for the third consecutive year, while the juniorgrade team won the Bernecker Cup. Of the men's teams the seniors were in the second-grade competition, and the juniors in the fourth grade. The former were runners up for the Coleman Cup, while the latter won the Bernecker Shield, so that we have three trophies adorning the College walls as the result of the season's play. In a non-residential college the opportunities for esprit de corps are not so numerous as in a residential one, and I regard the keen spirit for upholding the College name, as evinced by the willingness of the students to curtail their holidays by a week in some cases in order to be able to take part in matches, as one of the best indications I can have that all is well with the tone of the College. Besides the four hockey teams ue had two teams playing basket-ball. This game is eminently suited for those girls who find hockey too strenuous, and in addition is the most suitable game I have come across for children in country schools of Grades 11, 111, IV. For this reason all the students —men and women — learn the rules, so that when they commence school-work they may introduce it into their districts. There is too much loafing about by the children in schools at the play-hour, a particularly objectionable feature being the arm-in-arm stroll of the bigger girls. Basket-ball requires no preparations —the game can be commenced at once, and children of all sizes* and both sexes can take part in the same game, and as there are three portions to the playing-area, the children of the same size can be restricted to one particular portion, and so there is no danger of primers being overrun by the bigger ones. A brisk game during the play interval brightens up all who take part in it, and in the restricted playground of many city schools basket-ball is just the game that will give recreation to the largest number of children at one time. A school tournament has been organized, and on the last occasion twenty-four teams entered, the Normal School being the winners for the second time in succession. With hockey, basket-ball, football, and tennis I can account for 104 students out of 108 as playing some game —the other four are weakly, and in my opinion, though they have passed the medical inspection, should have been rejected. A student unable to take part in a game is not, in my opinion, suited for school-teaching : playing with your children is the surest help to influencing them that I know, and if the teacher is unable to do this he loses an opportunity he cannot get in any other way. All but three of the students leaving the College could swim. The bath was well used by the Normal School children, and at the annual swimming sports a large number of certificates were given by the Chairman of the Board to children who had qualified for competency (one length) or proficiency (four lengths and life-saving). Inter-school contests were held with the Mount Eden and Devonport Schools. These took the form of relay races, as many as possible from each standard competing. No pothunting is involved, as the honour of the school is all that is at stake, but the sceptic who hears the school " barracking " is compelled to admit that the all begins with a capital A. The teams are selected by the children themselves, and the way they manage affairs speaks well for their course of civics. The annual concert given by the glee club was held at the end of the second term. Besides musical items the humorous portions of Henry IV were done in costume. A profit of £4 resulted after expenses had been paid, and this was spent in providing athletic gear for the children of the Papatoetoe Orphan Home. ii—E. 2 (App. D).

IX