1 General Time Table. Dress, and attend to household matters. Breakfast. Dinner, except on Tuesdays and Thursday, on which days dinner is at 12.30. From October 1st, to April 1st, morning prayers are one quarter of an hour later, and the hour for rising half an hour later. TIME TABLE. SUNDAY.-Attend the Sunday-school morning and afternoon in rotation. All attend divine service morning and afternoon; those not in the Sunday-school at the church; those in the Sunday-school attend at the St. Nicholas' with the scholars. Prepare divinity for Monday. Hours of study, 2. MONDAY.-8 to 12, Model School; 12 to 1, General History (by the VicePrincipal); 2 to 3, the Articles (by the Principal); 4 to 5, 6 to 7, prepare Mathematics for Tuesday; 7 to 9, Music. Hours of study, 91. TUESDAY.-8 to 11, prepare Divinity and History for Wednesday; 11 to 12, Geography; 1 to 4, Model School; 7 to 9, Mathematics. Hours of study, 8. WEDNESDAY.-8 to 12, Model School: 12 to 1, Paley's Evidences, and Barnes' Exposition of Scripture; 2 to 3, English History; 6 to 9, prepare Grammar and Mathematics for Thursday. Hours of study, 8. THURSDAY.-Prepare Divinity for Friday; 11 to 12, English Grammar, Recitation of English verse, and Etymology; 1 to 4, Model School; 7 to 9, Mathematics. Hours of study, 84. FRIDAY.-8 to 12, prepare Geography, Divinity, and Mathematics for Saturday; 12 to 1, Ecclesiastical History; 2 to 3, Beren's History of Prayer Book, or Liturgy and Catechism; 7 to 9, Music. Hours of study, 7}. SATURDAY.-9 to 11, Mathematics; 11 to 12, Geography and Writing from Dictation; 12 to 1, Scripture History. Evening.-Prepare History for Monday, and Geography for Tuesday. Hours of study, 74. Total number of hours occupied during the week. 58, The foregoing details have been extracted from a report of the institution, and from other documents with which I was furnished by the Principal. Result of the Examination.-The subjects of the examination were-Scripture History, Catechism and Liturgy, Church History, Geography, Grammar, Popular Astronomy, English History, Method, Algebra, Mechanics, Geometry, Mensuration, Arithmetic. To these subjects the candidates might add higher branches of Mathematics, Trigonometry, Physics, Music, Latin and Greek, Drawing, Modern Languages, History of English Language. They were also required to give a lesson to a class, in order that their skill and power in teaching might be tested. The number under examination was twenty; of these, five were masters of elementary Schools, and had been trained in the institution; seven were students who had been resident one year and upwards; twelve therefore were candidates for certificates of merit; the rest, eight in number, were not eligible for certificates, not having resided one year in the training school, but they were examined at the same time, and with the same series of examination papers as the others. The amount of scriptural knowledge possessed by the masters and students who were candidates for certificates was, upon the whole, respectable; the others, who, it must be remembered, had been but a short time in the institution, were deficient in their knowledge of Scripture; their papers were very imperfect, and might almost be characterized as complete failures. The answers to the questions on the Catechism and Liturgy indicated a very slight acquaintance with these subjects; four only of the papers were above mediocrity, the rest were imperfect and unsatisfactory. Considerable pains have been taken in regard to the instruction in Church History, and although the answers were far from indicating anything like an extensive knowledge on this subject, yet there were portions with which the majority were fairly acquainted, and acquitted themselves creditably. The papers on English History and Geography were by no means satisfactory; the amount of historical knowledge was very scanty, the answers to the questions being loose, meagre, and imperfect; nor can I report more favourably as to the candidates knowledge of Geography; the character of their attainments in this respect was very disproportionate to its importance, as being one of those subjects which they will be constantly called upon to teach. In reference to the papers on Grammar, one only is above mediocrity; of the remainder, twelve were imperfect, and seven were complete failures. Some ingenuity was exhibited in the solutions of the questions in Arithmetic; the attainments of the majority in this subject were satisfactory. Several of the papers on Algebra show mathematical power, and some considerable reading; but they were all characterized by a defective arrangement, and written out in an unpractised manner. In geometry few succeeded in demonstrating any proposition beyond the first book of Euclid, nor has mensuration been studied with that care which its importance demands; scarcely any acquaintance was shown with the principles on which the operations in this subject are founded. Only one of the candidates seemed to have any knowledge whatever of Industrial Mechanics. Five sent in papers on Trigonometry; one did well in it, and another fairly, but generally the methods of demonstration were defect in clearness and arrangement. Several of the papers afforded evidence of a familiarity with the elements of Experimental Philosophy, and Agricultural Chemistry. The students have had the advantage of attending lectures on the latter subject by Professor Johnston. Eight showed a fair proficiency in Music. The examination paper on this subject extended over a wide range; and to answer the questions well required a considerable amount of scientific knowledge. It is only fair to remark that, although the scientific study of Music must greatly increase the power any person may possess of making it profitable for educational purposes, yet many masters, being imperfectly acquainted with it as a science, do possess considerable power in applying their knowledge on this subject to all real and practical purposes of education. Instruction is regularly given on this subject, the importance of which, as an element of national education, cannot be exaggerated. Few of the candidates gave evidence of power in communicating knowledge, or in keeping up the attention of a class. No order nor arrangement was observed in the delivery of the lesson; and words were constantly used which the children could not understand. The twenty minutes allowed to each candidate for this portion of the examination were generally spent in asking the class a series of questions, the greater part of which had little or no connection with the subject of the lessons; the countenance of the children all the time presenting that dull and listless appearance which too clearly showed on the part of their teacher a want of skill to interest them in the subject which he had chosen for instruction. Their spelling, though not good, was, upon the whole, better than I expected. The penmanship was moderate; composition careless and faulty; reading monotonous, without any attempt at expression, and in many instances incorrect. Of the twelve candidates who presented themselves for their certificates of merit, the two following have been successful. Second Class.-Third Division.-HORACE ST. PAUL ARMSTRONG. The former is master of the Trinity National School in Darlington. The latter is now a student in the training college, but has had charge of a school, which he left on returning to the college for further improvement. It will be seen from the foregoing remarks, and from the general result of the examination, that the attainments of the masters who have been trained in this institution, as well as of the resident students, are very limited; that both are far from possessing that amount of information which it is absolutely necessary for them to possess, in order to be even moderately efficient teachers in our national schools. At the same time it must be remembered that the training institution is still in its infancy, and that this was the first occasion on which the students had undergone the ordeal of an examination, sufficiently hard in itself, and rendered still more so by its very novelty. Moreover there is a great deficiency of proper text books and apparatus, the supply of which is extremely inadequate to the wants of the institution. The time allowed to the pupils for the preparation of their lessons is too long; and this also, I think, has operated disadvantageously. The majority of those who enter the training school are, from their humble attainments, ill prepared to master the numerous difficulties which they must encounter at every step in their new and unaccustomed path. They required constant oral instruction, which does not appear to occupy a sufficiently prominent place in the methods adopted in the institution. When, therefore, the very imperfect knowledge possessed by the students on their admission, and the short time they continue in residence, are taken into consideration, I am disposed to think that they acquitted themselves better than could be expected; and although they signally failed in exhibiting that amount of proficiency to which it is desirable that masters of elementary schools should attain, yet that this failure by no means implied a deficiency of energy in the students themselves, and still less any want of zeal and activity on the part of those whose duty it is to superintend their studies. It is not reasonable to expect that the Durham Training School should all at once exhibit that degree of efficiency to which it may hereafter attain. A remark has been already made in reference to the want of information exhibited by the majority of the students upon their entering the training school. Before they are admitted they are subjected to an examination, which embraces Reading, Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation, Scripture history, general religious knowledge, and Arithmetic as far as simple proportion. An examination in these subjects might of course be made sufficiently stringent to ensure the rejection of those applicants who do not afford evidence of some antecedent fitness for the office of a schoolmaster, but in reality the standard of admission is even lower than that prescribed for the qualifications of boys, of thirteen years of age, who are candidates for apprenticeship pupil teachers under the Minutes of Council. This low standard operates disadvantageously in more ways than one. A grant is made in aid of the funds of all training schools under Inspection, for every student who passes the requisite annual examination, and who has been in residence one year; but it is obvious that if the present low standard of admission to the Durham Training School be continued, the Committee of Management cannot avail themselves, to any extent, of this pecuniary aid, of which the institution stands greatly in need. Few of the students remain in the training 1 school more than one year; and during that period a great part of their time must necessarily be occupied in acquiring a knowledge of those subjects with which they ought to be familiar before entering; it is not, therefore, very probable that they will succeed at the end of one year in passing an examination in subjects of which far more than a superficial knowledge is required. The efficiency of this institution as a training school would be increased, and consequently the cause of education promoted thereby, if a more rigid and searching investigation were made into the qualifications and fitness of those who present themselves for admission. In a report with which I have been favored by the Principal, it is observed, "Nor will the efficiency of this institution be fully developed until more exertions be made to send to it prepared pupils. Many of those who present themselves for admission are very imperfectly informed; and were the standard of examination to be raised, it might be difficult to supply our vacancies. We would therefore, with much earnestness, again respectfully press upon the attention of all, but perhaps more particularly of the parochial clergy, the wisdom, and even the duty, of searching in their parishes for the persons best qualified for the profession of schoolmaster, and recommending them to this institution. We should thus obtain a certain succession of well-prepared candidates, and should consequently be justified in raising the standard of the preliminary examination, and admitting such only as would be capable of reaping the full benefit of the course of education provided." The necessity of having well-prepared pupils is here distinctly recognised, and it is wisely suggested that the parochial clergy should search for such, in order to recommend them to the institution. But it is reversing the order of things to make the preliminary examination depend upon the qualifications of the applicants. The standard of admission should not be measured by their attainments; the training school should not let itself down to their level, but by prescribing a certain standard, and in ordinary cases abiding by it, it should oblige the applicants to qualify themselves for that preliminary examination, which they must pass with some degree of credit before they can be admitted to the benefits to be derived from the institution. It may be said that many would be deterred from seeking admission were the standard to be thus raised. No doubt this would be the case, but it is scarcely a question whether the real interests of education would be injured by lessening the facility now afforded to men of entering a profession, and undertaking an office for which they are manifestly incompetent. At the request of the Committee of Management I examined the Model school, which the pupils in the Training school attend four times in the course of the week. It is a large school, on the monitorial system, with an average attendance of two hun |