✨ School Inspection Reports
North Road School, ... March 28 ... Present, 16 ... Improving
Lyttelton Church School ... March 23 ... Present, 42 ... Improving.
The improvement since last examination is considerable. The clock has been set going, but does not as yet keep good time. It gains an hour a day. The School opened punctually at nine. The School-room had been properly cleaned, and was in good order. The good behaviour and orderly conduct of the children indicated better discipline. There is also some improvement in the attainments, but the School has only been open about eight weeks since the Christmas holidays, and the Assistant-Mistress has been ill nearly all the time. The Bible knowledge is creditable. The Reading is tolerable, but is wanting in fluency in even the earlier pages of the books. The Spelling is fair in the same pages. The Writing is improving. The Arithmetic of the lower classes, which formed more than three-fourths of the number present, is most meagre; they can’t work even easy examples in simple addition, and they do not know the earlier part of the Multiplication Table. The children in these classes are mostly from seven to eleven years of age, and some of them promoted from the Infant School. The Infant School does not seem to give effective help. It is not under inspection.
The organisation is defective in the following points:
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The School is split up into too many little classes, eight in all.
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The classification is injudicious, several dull and backward boys are in classes too difficult for them; also, some of the second class read and spell better than others in the first.
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The books in use are mostly too difficult, since only one or two in each class can read the earlier pages with any fluency.
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The supply of books is deficient, and many copies are worn out with either use or bad usage.
One source of disappointment in this School is the dearth of promising boys of nine or ten years of age, likely candidates for Scholarships; such boys are found in most Schools of the kind and even in others of inferior organization.
The following are recommendations for the improvement of the organization of the Lyttelton Church School.
I. The employment of two effective Pupil Teachers instead of an Assistant.
II. The reconstruction of the classes and the reduction of their number from eight to three.
III. A change of books — the introduction of a different, possibly of a better series, as the readiest way of curing stereotyped defects in reading.
IV. The use of only the easier books until fluency in them has been acquired.
V. Darnell’s copy-books.
VI. Half-quarterly examinations and promotions only at those times, until the School has increased in numbers and efficiency.
G. B. Ellman, candidate for the Mastership of the South Selwyn School, passed his examination very satisfactorily on the 22nd inst.
Several other candidates appeared, but withdrew without completing the examination. It would be preferable for the Committees to sift the applications, and only to send up the likely Candidates.
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
J. P. RESTELL,
Inspector of Schools.
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Canterbury Provincial Gazette 1869, No 6
✨ LLM interpretation of page content
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Inspector's Summary Report for the Month
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🎓 Education, Culture & ScienceSchool Inspection, Efficiency, North Road School, Lyttelton Church School, G. B. Ellman, Mastership, South Selwyn School
- G. B. Ellman, Candidate for Mastership of South Selwyn School
- J. P. Restell, Inspector of Schools