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found in the second half of the Magazine. After the reading of the Report for 1926, Miss Skinner spoke of her coming departure on leave and wished the girls a happy and successful year. Mr. Wood then gave away the prizes, which included the awards on the results of the Senior and Junior Local Examinations, the Government Free Scholarship Certificates, the English and Chinese class prizes and the certificates for First Aid and Home Nursing. A full list of prizes and prize- winners will be found at the end of the Head Mistress' Report. The second innovation came when Mr. Wood spoke to the students in Cantonese instead of in English. His speech was listened to with great attention and interest.
The pro- ceedings ended with a rote of thanks to Mr. Wood, proposed by Miss Lewis.
was
Special thanks must be given to those who contribute every year to the Prize Fund. The list of names published in the newspaper report of the day's proceedings, but it is perhaps not sufficiently understood that the list of prizes owes some of its length to the generosity of the donors to the Prize Fund.
REPORT FOR 1926.
Miss
STAFF. In 1926 the Staff was reduced by five. Munro, after a serious illness, has now gone home on leave. Mrs. Ng and Mrs. Wei resigned for reasons of health and Miss Fok and Miss To were transferred to King's College.
ÅTTENDANCE.—-The attendance during 1926 was satis- factory, the average daily attendance being four hundred and ninety-two, and it is gratifying to be able to report that the dwindling in numbers during the course of the year, so noticeable in the past, was much less pronounced. One class, 7c, had exactly the same numbers and names on the roll at the beginning of December as at the beginning of January, which for B.P.S. is an achievement, but which it is hoped will shortly be looked upon as the normal and not the excep- tional condition throughout the School.
I would here urge parents not to withdraw their daughters from the School during the year. The time for a girl to leave is at the close of the school year, in December. It has been found that premature withdrawals are very unsettling to the School, and sight must not be lost of the fact that a girl who fails to complete a session is indirectly responsible for depriving another of admission, as entries are not encouraged after the work of the year has begun. accommodation of the School is taxed to the utmost; each year applicants are perforce refused admission. This year one
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Lundred and forty-six applications had to be refused.
It is
to be regretted, therefore, that a girl should enter upon the school year without the intention of remaining until the end of it.
In
HEALTH.-The health of the School remains good. October Dr. Minett, the M.O. of Schools, medically examined one hundred and sixty-nine entrants. The report on eyes
and teeth was not satisfactory, out of the number examined there were fifty defects, mainly eyesight.
STUDIES.—Since the last report was submitted several changes of a progressive nature have been introduced, the chief being the extension of the study of English to the lower classess of the School.
In January, 1926, the Remove Class, which had previously had studies in the ratio of three hours Chinese to two of English, was included amongst the English Classes, and the hours were changed to one and four respectively. In this way pupils are afforded an opportunity of reaching the standard of English required for the Junior Local in the remaining four years.
This change has proved a success and has been appre- ciated by the girls. It is now possible to carry the English teaching down two years further, two divisions of Class 7 and one division of Class 8 now learning English in the ratio of three to six. An important result of this change is that girls are encouraged to pass from Class 7 to the Senior School, and to pursue their studies up to the Standard of the University Locals.
In 1925 the subject of Hygiene was introduced by means of informal health talks into the curriculum of the School. In the lower classes these are given in Chinese, in the English junior classes they form the subject of colloquial lessons and in the Senior Classes the subject is treated formally as Domestic Science. In 1926 Domestic Science replaced Needlework as a subject for the Senior and Junior Locals. Needlework is taught five years in the Junior and four years in the Senior School: it was therefore felt that it could be well discontinued in favour of a wider and more generally useful subject. The old cookery kitchen was small and inadequate, and it was found possible last year to fit out as kitchen a more suitable room. The subject of House- wifery has recently been introduced, and although it has not yet been possible to set apart a room for this purpose, it is hoped that certain structural alterations will render it possible to allocate the room above the kitchen to the service of this new and important branch. The girls are responsible for the entire cleanliness and freshness of the place, the washing of paint, curtains, cleaning of windows,
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