4. Instruction and Discipline. 5. Methods.

6. Master and Mistress.

TABULATED REPORTS, in detail, for 1851-2, on Schools inspected by Her Majesty's Inspector of Schools, J. D. MORELL, Esq.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

3 Nov. 280 273 417 282

130

190

6 Nov. 226 201 211 250

"

1. Good. 2. Good. 3. On the Glasgow training system. 4. Fair. 6. The master is a teacher of some natural
ability, and gives a fair promise of instructing his pupil-teachers satisfactorily. He has great energy, and
has worked his school hitherto with little aid very vigorously. 7. The school is divided into two portions,
one of which is taught by a master, the other by a mistress. The children throughout the whole are
classified according to advancement, boys and girls being mixed in the classes. Monitors have been but
little used, except amongst the junior drafts, so that the instruction has been almost wholly collective. As
a specimen of collective teaching, however, the plans pursued appear to me generally successful, and many
of the children (indeed the majority in the upper room) could read easy class-books very readily and with
considerable emphasis. Writing is taught first on ruled slates, the children copying from a large board
similarly ruled so as to show the proportions of each letter. The elementary rules of arithmetic are pretty
well done, but very few have gone beyond them. The children attend only three hours per day. The
general result of the whole plan pursued is to ground them well in the elements of reading, writing, and
arithmetic, without attempting to go at present much further.
1. Good. 2. Good. 4. Pretty good. 6. Efficient. 7. All the remarks on the boys school apply here, making
allowance for the difference of ages.

1. Fair. 2. Good. 7. The master has laboured most unweariedly during the last year in the improvement
of his school, and has got it now into as efficient a state as the circumstances appear to me to admit of.
Considering the numbers passing through the school in one year, and the multitude of children who have
to be taught by a comparatively small staff of teachers, it is surprising to see how great efficiency has been
obtained in every department. All through the school the reading is excellent, and the arithmetic equally
good. The sections are now necessarily very large, but owing to the command which the pupil-teachers
have obtained at the galleries, the collective teaching in geography, grammar, and history is decidedly
effective. I have every reason to believe that the moral and religious influence is equally good. The
discipline of the school, though strict, is by no means too severe. The whole result very satisfactory.

54 157 247 75 1. Very fair. 2. Very fair. 4. Pretty fair. 7. The school is but thinly attended, and greatly deficient in
spirit and vitality, A few of the elder children read nicely; but in all other respects the amount of know-
ledge displayed by the scholars is far below the average, N.B.This applies to November 1851 A change
has since been made, the result of which will appony in the next year's report.

Infants 11 Nov. 154

The mistre

5. Wavertree, British, 12 Nov. 88 89 84 90
Infants

siderable improvements indeed have been made, particularly in arithmetic. The general tone of the school
is healthy, orderly, and active. The character of the instruction is practical rather than intellectual.
Somewhat more might, perhaps, be accomplished by a little extra effort in stimulating the understanding of
fit them for their probable duties in after life.
the girls in the elder division; but the process they go through is on the whole extremely well adapted to

1. Very fair. 2. Very fair. 7. This school is still very well attended, and conducted with the same good
order and moral carefulness as before. Though the majority of the children are infants, yet a great
number are far from coming under that description. The instruction provided for these elder classes
by the mistress and the managers is very appropriate and valuable. In addition to Scripture knowledge
they have made good progress in the elements of geography, grammar, and especially history. The part singing
also is excellent, and the general discipline of the school decidedly efficient and healthy. When the
teachers in their place.
indentures of the stipendiary monitors have expired the school will be quite in a position to have pupil-

13 Nov. 170 223 203 169 1. Good. 2. Good. 4. Good. 5, Sectional. 6. An efficient teacher, formerly a pupil-teacher in the same
school. 7. This school has been put under the care of a new mistress during the last year. The order of
the school and the general character of the instruction has been well sustained. A new infants school-room
organization of the whole institution.
for the younger scholars is to be opened after Christmas, when various alterations are to take place in the
been carried out for nine months.
November 1852.-The alteration in the plans of these schools have
There is now a tripartite division, boys and girls being mixed
throughout. The master reports a decided improvement in the moral tone in consequence of this arrange-
ment. Time has hardly sufficed at present to pronounce decidedly upon the intellectual results. The
infant department is a great improvement, and very well conducted.

14 Nov. 183 150 164 167 1. Very fair. 2. Very fair. 3. Tripartite. 4. Discipline very fair. 7. The school being now divided into three
main sections, the lessons are so arranged amongst them, that each division is engaged on a different
subject at the same time. In this way more quietude is secured. During the past year one pupil-teacher
has died, and another has left the country, so that the whole labour has fallen on the master and his two
assistants. These have all worked most steadily and efficiently, and in no respect does the school present
any deficiency in comparison with last year. Indeed, as far as I can judge from the past, there has been a
steady improvement going on, and the master appears determined that it shall still go on, as far as
opportunities offer for further improvement.

17 Nov. 156 198 169 175

rather than far advanced. 5. Chiefly sectional.
1. Fair. 2. Sufficient. 3. On the Glasgow system. 4. Discipline good; instruction careful and healthy,
7. A large quantity of new material has entered the
upper classes since last November, on which very considerable labour has been expended by the master.
By dint of constant effort he has sustained the general character of the school, and the usual amount of
instruction. In this he has been well seconded by the pupil-teachers, particularly the three elder ones.
The school is in good order, and on most of the different subjects shows a very creditable amount of vigour
and progress.

1. Fair. 2. Fair. 4. Discipline very fair. 5. Chiefly monitorial, but partly sectional.

7. In this school the reading was always pretty good and still remains satisfactory. Last year there was a great deficiency in the general intelligence of the children, as shown by their imperfect answers in geography, grammar, and other subjects. I find this year some amount of improvement in this respect. The arithmetic is, however, still behind-hand. The school is not numerously attended; there being only ninety-six children present in a room well capable of accommodating above 200. A more vigorous and stimulating system would be better adapted to increase both the attendance and the efficiency of the school. November 1852.A change of plans has since taken place, and better results begin to appear, though very gradually.

Tabulated Reports on Schools inspected by J. D. Morell, Esq.-continued.

1851.

Infants

18 Nov. 90

45 59 102

21Nov. 132 212 217 220

61 113

1. Fair. 2. Sufficient. 3. On the ordinary infant system. 4. Good. 6. Good. 7. The infants school has im-
proved very much under the present mistress, and promises to be very flourishing. The children are
evidently well disciplined, and a fair amount of positive instruction has been already imparted to them.
(This will also apply to Nov. 1852.)

1. Very fair. 2. Very fair. 3. On the British system. 4. Good. 5. Sectional and monitorial. 7. I have rarely
had occasion to record so decided and universal improvement as has taken place in this school since the
last year; the average attendance then was considerably under one hundred, it is now above two hundred
and fifty. The cause of the increase is not owing to any artificial means, but simply to the unwearied
industry and energy with which the present master has performed his duties. Every point on which the
efficiency of a school depends has been attended to. Beside the care which has been bestowed upon the
teaching within the school, a two-monthly report is furnished of every scholar to the parents, who are also
regularly visited to urge upon them the importance of aiding the children in their home tasks. I am happy
to be able to speak with unqualified approbation, at once of the organization, the instruction, and the disci-
pline of the school. See also 28th Sept. 1852.

1. Fair. 2. Fair. 3. Partly on the British system. 4. Fair. 5. Sectional and monitorial. 7. In estimating
the efficiency of this school it must be first stated that a great many of the children are only half-time
attendants, and that the others are mostly very young. Judged by the average state of factory schools, it
holds undoubtedly a fair position. All the ordinary branches of primary school instruction are more or
less taught, and some of them show a tolerable amount of efficiency. The pupil-teachers are now becoming
useful and active, so as to give the hope of decided improvement in the school from year to year. More order
and quietude in the school would be an improvement. (Oct. 1852.-The school has not been by any means
progressing since this report was given. I found the whole system this year more slovenly and imperfect
than before. With a new teacher just appointed I trust to find better results next time.)

1. Good. 2. Good. 4. Instruction stimulating and active, but discipling still only moderate. Too much under talking. 5, Sectional. 6. A superior teacher. 7. Now and very handsome school-rooms in the oth What in nod every convenience, have beeg grooted during the last year They were only upon

with

11. Runcorn, Wesleyan,

Mixed 27 Nov. 91

70 145

12. Tintwistle, British,

94

Mixed 28 Nov. 119

76

13. Altrincham, British,

steadily increased, and the entire plans or operation have become more
girls and infants departments is now perfect, and the instruction has been recommenced de novo on a more
thoroughly grounding principle. In the boys school the order and quietude have much improved under the
very convenient arrangements now supplied by the principal school-room, and the class-rooms. There are
now at hand all the elements for a very efficient and complete establishment for primary education, which
each year, under judicious and vigorous guidance, may render more explicit.)

99 The present master undertook the school a year ago, under very unfavourable circumstances, the numbers being
reduced to about forty; they have now risen to about 100, and the school is going on prosperously. Owing
to the greater part being new scholars, the instruction is not in any of the branches very far advanced, but
the foundations appear to me to have been laid solidly and judiciously. The pupil-teachers now throw a
very considerable amount of vigour into their instruction, and the master is evidently painstaking as well as
intelligent.

74 130 A large proportion of the children in this school are very young. The junior department, however, appears to
be judiciously conducted. In the juvenile school the arrangement of desks has hitherto been very
inconvenient, except for the monitorial system. The managers readily agreed to follow my recommendation
in re-arranging them. The order of the school is, on the whole, good, and the lessons are conducted with
quietude, and some degree of activity. The reading is rather too hurried, and indistinct; the arithmetic
fair, the writing pretty good, but the dictation very moderate. A fair amount of geography and grammar
appears to have been imparted to a few of the elder scholars, but there is need of a more stimulating mode
of teaching these branches in proper sections to produce any really good results. The re-arrangement of
the desks will much facilitate improvement in this respect. The master appears very industrious, and
anxious to use all the means in his power to improve the school.

Boy's 1 Dec. 102 119 160 104 The shifting character of this school has hitherto been so great that the instruction has been confined almost

79

69

entirely to very elementary branches. The school-room needs re-arranging, and a class-room to be added, so
that the pupil-teachers (who are already somewhat quick and apt in managing their classes) may have their
scholars better placed before them, and teach them with greater facility. The committee are anxious to
purchase a new site, and to give more opportunities for carrying out their plans of usefulness for the neigh-
bourhood. There is evidently the nucleus of a good school here, and will only need developing to be very
beneficial to the population around.

The school is not very numerously attended for the size of the room, and the premises appear somewhat out of
repair. The master, however, applies himself very diligently to his duties within the school, and the amount
of instruction he has conveyed to the children is very creditable. I may particularly mention the department
of grammar as deserving commendation. See 20th Sept. 1852.

200 Both departments of this school are now put under the care of the master, the infant room being com-
mitted to the supervision of one of the pupil-teachers. This has seriously lessened the teaching power in
the upper school, each division of which must either be too large, or committed to the care of monitors.
There is a certain amount of force and vigour thrown into the school by the master, but order and quietude
are not sufficiently consulted. The general range of instruction is in consequence somewhat low. The read-
reading too hurried and indistinct; the arithmetic, though very fair in the lower classes, very imperfect in
the higher. The geography and grammar somewhat better, particularly the latter. I should mention, how-
ever, that one of the pupil-teachers has been ill, and absent for some time, which has still further diminished
the already insufficient number of teachers in the school. See 8th Oct. 1852.

Tabulated Reports on Schools inspected by J. D. Morell, Esq.-continued.

1851.

16. Over Lane, Wesleyan, Mixed

4 Dec.

81

The school is in excellent order. Every part of the school plan appears to have been carefully arranged, and
is carried out with great exactitude. The progress of the children is to a great extent commensurate with
these efforts. The rough material with which the master has had to work has now become far more pliant,
and a general intelligence begins to manifest itself very clearly amongst the whole mass of the scholars.
Great credit is due to the master for his care and industry in making the school what it now is. See 21st Sept.

1832.