3682

THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

[No. 89

Anything in this clause notwithstanding, any visit of inspection may, unless the Education Board otherwise direct, be omitted for a period not exceeding one year in the case of a school with whose general efficiency the Inspector is thoroughly satisfied.

In these regulations a “year” means a year beginning with the 1st January.

2. For purposes of instruction the pupils of every public school shall be divided into three divisions—namely, the Preparatory Division, the Junior Division, and the Senior Division; and the syllabus of work for each division shall be as defined in clauses 23 to 39 below.

The Preparatory Division will in general include those children who have been under instruction at school or elsewhere for not more than two years.

The Preparatory Division may be divided into two classes, the lower class being called P1 and the upper P2; if necessary these classes may be further subdivided—e.g., into P1 lower and P1 upper, P2 lower and P2 upper. Generally speaking, P1 will not contain any children who have been for a year or more under instruction.

The Junior Division will in general consist of those children who have been under instruction at school or elsewhere for more than two years, but not more than four years.

The Junior Division may be divided into two classes—those of the first year (Standard I) and those of the second year (Standard II)—which may be termed S1 and S2 respectively.

The Senior Division will in general consist of those children who have been under instruction at school or elsewhere for four years or more and have not yet gained a certificate of proficiency. The time spent in the Senior Division will for the average boy or girl be four years, and this division may be subdivided into four classes accordingly, which may be termed S3, S4, S5, and S6, corresponding to Standards III, IV, V, and VI respectively. Whether the division be so subdivided or be arranged in two classes only, the terms so used shall be taken to represent the standard of work in any subject corresponding to the work of the four respective years spent by the average boy or girl in the Senior Division.

The classes S3 and S4, English, will include all the children doing the work in English prescribed for the first and second years of the Senior Division; S5 and S6, English, will include those doing similarly the work prescribed for the third and fourth years of that division. In like manner, S3 and S4, arithmetic, will include those children who are doing the work in arithmetic prescribed for the first and second years of the Senior Division; and S5 and S6, arithmetic, those doing similarly the work prescribed for the third and fourth years of that division; and so on for other subjects, although it will not in general be necessary to make more than two classifications—namely, that for English and that for arithmetic respectively.

S7.—Pupils who have gained a certificate of proficiency or have reached the standard of education indicated thereby may be classified as belonging to Class S7.

Nothing in these regulations shall be so interpreted as to prevent pupils ordinarily classified as of the Junior Division, second year (S2), and of the Senior Division, first year (S3), respectively from being instructed together in a common class, if convenience so dictates, and in a program of work suitably modified accordingly to meet the circumstances.

3. The classification of a school shall be made by the head teacher, who shall have full discretion to arrange his pupils in different classes for different subjects according to their ability and proficiency with respect to the several subjects, and to group two or more classes for instruction in one subject. This discretion he must exercise to the satisfaction of the Inspector, who will regard as an element of weakness any undue complexity in the classification of pupils. As a general rule, pupils should be classified according to their capacity and attainment in English and arithmetic respectively—classification in English being determined by proficiency in English, and classification in arithmetic by proficiency in arithmetic.

4. In general, the classification of a school shall be determined at the beginning of the year; but, if necessary, promotion of individual pupils from class to class may be made at any other time by the head teacher. In the Preparatory Division, especially where it contains three or more classes, it will generally be necessary to make promotions of pupils at other times besides the beginning of the year.

No part of these regulations is to be read in such a way as to discourage or prevent the more rapid promotion of children who exhibit more than average mental capacity or intelligence as compared with other children of the same age.