Appendix B.J

8.—2.

XXIX

Drawing and Handwork. —Year by year drawing from objects is displacing drawing of copies from cards. Considering how inexhaustible is the supply of natural objects and the advantage of each pupil being supplied with one for his own use, it is surprising that more use is not made of them. In regard to fashioned objects, the list is often very badly graded. It gives one a shock, for example, to find a cup and saucer in the infant course of one school and in the S6 course of another. Colour and design work are in more general use than last year. The helpful correlation of drawing and handwork with other subjects of instruction — e.g., cartonwork and geometrical drawing with arithmetic —is not sufficiently recognized. Woodwork and cookery are taken with good results by a very considerable proportion of the upper standard pupils. By the moderation and discretion of the Board and its officers the objections of parents to the attendance of their children at centres for manual instruction have been almost overcome. In the case of schools remote from these centres cardboard-work has been taken with results ranging from fair to good. There was some difficulty in obtaining an adequate supply of material, with the result that the teaching of the subject suffered to some extent. The teachers' Saturday class in cardboard-work has been responsible for very considerable improvement in this subject. In the junior and preparatory divisions the handwork subjects mainly serve the purpose of providing variety in the day's occupations : their value as instruments of education is not fully recognized except in the best schools. Nature-study and Elementary Science. —With few exceptions the schools of this district have taken elementary agriculture as their science subject. Mr. Gibb's supervision of the schoolgarden work meets with our hearty approval. The answers to the paper on rural science at the proficiency examination were surprisingly good, and showed that habits of careful observation and reasoning were being successfully cultivated through the medium of the school-garden work. A gradual improvement is being manifested in the conception of nature-study as a school subject. Still, in too many instances the nature-study lessons are lessons in botany. In some schools it is gratifying to find practical nature-study associated with drawing, colour work, and composition. Geography. —The teaching of geography may, with some qualifications, be called satisfactory. The knowledge of maps and of map-reading is deficient in many ways. Even in the upper classes inaccuracies regarding the points of the compass are frequent. More use should be made of rough maps, and there is no reason why the elements of map-reading should not be thoroughly mastered. The practice of memorizing notes is quite common. Mathematical geography is still on the decline, as is also to some extent the concrete treatment of physical geography, the teaching of which tends more and more to rely upon text-books. Sand-trays, for example, are now more rarely in use than formerly, and outside observation is not used as fully as it should be. History. —The teaching of history has been steadily deteriorating, with the result that in a considerable number of schools it is now of little value. It is quite obvious that a considerable number of teachers have very slight knowleelge of history and little appreciation of its value as a school subject. The regulation that requires every head or sole teacher to draw up his own scheme of work in history has, except in the case of the most experienced, been a disadvantage rather than an advantage. The divisions of historical time and the idea of the growth of the present out of the past are generally ignored in these schemes. As a general rule the only events satisfactorily treated as a series in an evolution are the incidents in the material expansion of the British Empire. An earnest effort is required in order to restore history to its due place in our schools. Singing. —The tone of the singing- in our schools is improving year by year, and there is a slight, but not a quite satisfactory, increase in, the number of schools in which modulator work, ear-tests, &c, are professed. Much still requires to be done before singing can be said to receive the recognition it merits. Health. —Half an hour per week is usually devoted to instruction in the laws of health. In most schools useful precepts relating to health, disease, and injuries are inculcated. Although an effort, is made to teach in an elementary way the principles underlying such precepts, the instruction is mainly empirical. The material contained in the temperance wall-sheets is, by special instruction of the Board, being used in connection with lessons in health. Needlework. —The needlework done during the past year has been mainly for patriotic purposes. Very great zeal has been shown in this work. In this connection the art of knitting by hand has been revived, and has been found, very useful. In the light of the present situation it might be considered whether the syllabus ought not to be revised so as to include knitting. Physical Instruction. —The physical exercises are regularly practised in the schools. In a comparatively small number of schools the instruction is really good; but owing to the fact that many of the teachers themselves have had no training, there is a large number of schools in which the instruction is only fair. The visits of the Department's instructors have been productive of good in schools where the teachers have received a training. In our opinion it, is desirable that all schools of Grade 111 and upwards should be visited by the instructors. It is hoped that the teachers' classes held early in 1917 will give a much-needed stimulus to physical training in the schools of this district. Correct posture is the first essential of successful physical drill. Some teachers appear to think that when the physical exercises of the day are over the necessity for enforcing correct posture is over. So it is that during the lessons hunched backs, sprawling bodies, spread-eagled arms, and general physical relaxation are much too common in our schools. Persistent yet, unobtrusive supervision of posture throughout the day is necessary in the interests of health. It is encouraging to remember that correct posture in standing or sitting, if regularly practised, becomes easy and habitual; the same is, unfortunately, true of unhygienic posture.