is the case any one who has been observant of elementary schools will know well. ment from other cansos. I may observe that in my last Report (1851-52), the Ineffective changes of teachers amounted to thirty-eight per cent. in manageschools inspected during the year. The changes of managers change and were not nearly so numerous, but sufficiently so to produce effects, such as I have mentioned, in several places. In the last year the changes of teachers have reached thirty per cent. in the schools inspected by me. If, then, there were only the evils consequent on such frequent changes, and on the introduction of a new system with every new teacher, great would seem the importance of endeavouring to remedy them. But when we take into consideration the additional evils and hindrances to progress caused by insufficient, unintelligent, or one-sided school-management, any or all of which individual management is liable to become, and is certainly more likely to become, than the management of several persons who are all equally interested in the success of the school, and have equal understanding of the objects to be attained by it, then, indeed, the necessity is apparent that, in all schools which receive any of the public money, due provision should be made, not only for convenient buildings, and fitting furniture, for well qualified teachers, and suitable books and sufficient apparatus, but also, as a necessary part and parcel of the school-establishment, for its vigorous, intelligent, and thoughtful management by men who will neither be unable nor unwilling to act boldly for its best interests. There are, indeed, very many places,-the great majority of country villages,—where such a constitution is impossible for lack of material; and in these places generally the schools are small, and the interests of the population are simple, so that the management of the school is an easy affair, and may without much hindrance, if not to the greatest advantage, be entrusted to one person. But even in these cases it would be more advantageous to the school-(the remark has often been made to me by clergymen who are not amongst the least intelligent and experienced of the many now working earnestly in the schools of our Church)-that the 'squire and any intelligent inhabitants of the place, who subscribe a certain amount to the funds of the school, being bonâ fide Churchmen, should have equal voice and authority with the clergyman in its management, with the sole exception of the religious instruction, which should be entirely, without any reserve or hindrance whatever, committed, as a most solemn duty, to the minister of religion. It is unfair to say that the laity of the Church are uninterested in the management of her schools till their right position has been assigned to them therein. It is idle to assert that they are not qualified to take their part there with the clergyman; such an assertion might have suited the times of the Plantagenets, but is foolish now-a-days. Conclusion. I have laboured now for nine years in the cause of education, devoting the whole of my time to the schools of my district; and I seem to see more clearly every year that three things are necessary before the education of the country be at all equal to the wants of the country: 1st. That the school children remain long enough in the school to be fair objects of its teaching. 2nd. That the parents of the children and the homes of the children be such as do not contradict the whole tone and discipline of the school. 3rd. That the laity of the Church take their right position, and do their bounden duty with the clergyman, in the schools of the Church. To the Right Honorable I have the honor to be, &c. The Lords of the Committee of Council on Education. APPENDIX. EXTRACT from the Sixth Annual Report of the Lower Slaithwaite Cottage and School Gardens, by Mr. JOHN MELLOR, Schoolmaster. "In the management of the land (24 acres), I have been assisted by thirty free boys, who have gone to work in squadrons, according to the demands of labour. On the whole they have conducted themselves very well, and, with one exception, have always been ready to go at the command. It has been my plan to do as much of the work as possible during noonhours, and after the duties of the school-day, thereby depriving them as little as possible of the advantages of the school-hours, though I have never yet found an instance of one of these children being inferior to the others in consequence of out-door labour, but rather, on the other hand, in the higher classes, they are invariably at or about the head. During the year these children have been engaged five hundred and fifty-two days (reckoning two hours to the day), or an average of eighteen and two fifths days, or thirtysix and four fifths hours, per child. For this they receive their education free of expense, an education which has fitted many a poor lad for a better paid employment than that of a loom or factory." From the Report of the Upper Slaithwaite School and Field Garden, by Mr. JOSEPH RADCLIFFE, Schoolmaster. "The labour required in the garden (nearly an acre) has been performed by the school children, hired labourers, and myself. I find that my account book stands as below. I have been highly gratified in my vocation as cultivator of the school field garden; the children have willingly gone to work whenever they have been called upon, looking so full of energy that they have had the appearance of men seen labouring in the distance. Beyond a question it would do well for schoolmasters and school-children generally, had they each and all plots (of ground) for their own recreation and profit.' From the Report of the Tarnley Tyas School Farm, by "I have great pleasure in bringing before the meeting my third annual report. Our school farm is divided into two portions; one portion is cultivated by the boys at leisure hours, the other by the master on his own account. A regular debtor and creditor account kept by each one of the boys is now presented to you, from which it will appear that the net gain varies from about 2s. to 4s. per scholar; and what gives the greater satisfaction to the school authorities is to know that the parents of the boys are very highly satisfied with what they have done. This gardenlabour having been applied out of school-hours cannot, in the slightest degree, have interfered with their instruction in book learning; and I beg to remark that the labour has been voluntarily undertaken by them, and most eagerly entered upon. On my own portion of the garden the expenditure was, in paid labour to the boys, &c., (with my own labour,) lime, manure, &c., 67. 18s. 4d., and the produce amount was 77. 12s., leaving a profit in favour of the two-rood plot of 13s. 8d., in addition to paying for my own labour and that of others, 5l. 9s. 10d." From the Report of the Almondbury Central National School Allotments, by Mr. G. JARMAIN, Schoolmaster. "In employing the boys in this school garden it is so arranged that there shall be no interference with school hours; their hours of labor being in the morning before school-time, in the evening after school hours, and on Saturdays and other holidays. We have had during the past year forty-one under industrial instruction. They are employed in this way: each boy has his separate plot of ground; the larger boys occupy a plot of sixty square yards, the smaller boys one of forty square yards; paying no rent, and finding their own manure and seeds. They take the produce, and it is to us a most gratifying fact that in some cases the parents have the good sense to encourage this industrial habit in their children, by becoming purchasers of the produce raised by their little hands. The cropping of these little spots is very various, but the best cultivators are generally imitated. The produce this year has, in general, consisted of the ordinary garden vegetables. With two or three exceptions they had excellent crops; onions and carrots, in common with others in the neighbourhood, were only moderate. It is intended in future to have a plot of ground cultivated in common, devoted to the growth of corn, so that the boys may be taught cereal cropping in addition. While the boys are thus taught to raise the vegetable substantials for food; to refine the taste and to cultivate habits of neatness and order, it will perhaps be advisable to try the cultivation of flowers. A small bed of flowers it is thought will considerably enhance the delight the boys already take in their little plots; for children are almost always fond of flowers, and there seems to be no reason why the beautiful and sublime in nature should not form a subject of study in our schools, especially in these manufacturing parts where the study of what is elegant and beautiful is so essential to the prosperity of our trade. A small portion of each allotment will therefore be devoted to this object. An account is kept of the cost of seeds, manure, &c., and the produce not sold is valued at a market price. The expenditure for the past year, including cost of £ s. d. The receipts, being the value of produce of allotments, amount to Balance 10 2 3 18 4 4 8 21 The managers paid 21. 2s. 6d. of the expenditure for tools and rent; therefore the true balance in favour of boys is 19. 4s. 7d., or an average of 4s. 11 d. each. When we consider the age of the children, together with their inexperience in, and in most cases, I may say, total ignorance of, spade labour, their irregular attendance at school and consequent neglect of allotment, it becomes a matter of surprise that the amount of net profit is so large. Last year we received from the Committee of Council on Education a grant of 19s. 3d. towards the purchase of tools, and another of 31. for the superintendence of allotments. The Rev. F. Watkins, Her Majesty's Inspector, visited our schools on the 18th instant, and expressed himself satisfied with the cultivation of our school plots. The object that our managers have in view is the instruction of the children of handloom weavers and others in the cultivation of the land, to promote hereafter in this manufacturing district an alliance between the spade and the loom, to infuse a taste for the simple pleasures of a delightful art, and thus to withdraw the cottager from the beerhouse to the garden in those hours when his loom is unoccupied; that, while deriving recruited strength from the fresh air, he may by the healthiest exercise almost unconsciously find that he has stored up two or three months provision from a simple rood-garden, in potatoes and other vegetables; and thus teach the next generation habits of self-reliance, and keep them away from the parish officer." 34.48 447 44 6 27.73 57 63 32.91 34.2 35.75 13 56 12.9 12.35 10 44 8 16 4.23 2.61 The amount of accommodation in square feet divided by 8 will give the number of children who can be properly accommodated. Calculations of area in school-rooms, as compared with the average attendance of scholars, should be made upon this basis. The space of six square feet has been found, in practice, to be insufficient for the accommodation of each child. At the date of closing this return. Per-centage taken on number of children present at examination. |