Sessional_Paper_1905 — Page 619

541

(8).-Diocesan School for Boys,

Staff-G. PIERCEY (Headmaster), 3 English Assistant Masters, English Mistresses, 2 Chinese Masters.

Discipline and Organization.-Very good. The requirements of the Code have been carefully carried out. The boys are well mannered and attentive, and the instruction is well imparted.

Sanitation.-Very satisfactory.

Floor space.-Sufficient for 588 scholars.

Apparatus. Has been considerably increased during the past year, and is now all that can be required.

English.-A large proportion of the boys are boarders, and many are English- speaking, so that the usual difficulty experienced in getting the Chinese boys to speak English does not seem to occur, and special colloquial classes do not seem needed. In the lower Forms the boys read in a loud voice, but the pronunciation of the Chinese boys leaves much to be desired. Composition in the higher Forms is good, though Form VII was not so strong as last year. The essays might have been neater.

Geography.-In Form II the old tendency was seen, of relying too much on definitions learned by heart, and the map of the Island was by no means well understood. The subject was very well taught in all the other lower Forms. The teaching in the upper Forms is very sound; and their map-drawing is ex- cellent.

History. Not nearly so strong a subject. To the higher Forms, I set paper which included questions set on the work done in previous years. as I see no use in studying the subject on the water-tight compartment principle. On the whole I obtained fair results: but general tendencies should rec ive more atten- tion. A question on, the philanthropic movement in the 18th and 19th centuries obtained no replies worth mentioning. Great ignorance was displayed also as to the date of acquisition of our Colonies. It is noteworthy that of 21 boys presented for the Oxford Local Examination, 100 per cent. passed in Geography and 44 per cent. in History.

Shorthand.-Form V11 has made a very small beginning of the subject.

Book-keeping.-Fair. The explanation of current business terms was satis- factory. No boy succeeded in working out a correct balance-sheet. Assets and Liabilities should be summarized before entering them into the balance-sheet.

Arithmetic and Algebra.-Mental Arithmetic is being taught in all the lower Forms; but more attention might be paid to the subject, especially to fractions. Such a question as "What is the fifth part of 20" made boys besitate even in Form V. In the upper Forms the Algebra was good throughout, but the Arith-

31.2 × 2-45 × 23-8 metic in Form V was weak. In a long decimal suin e.g.,

1.92

it is possible and advisable to guess an approximation of the answer (ie., to treat 31x2x2). If this had been done mentally, many mistakes in the position

it as

2

of the decimal point in the answer would have been avoided. In Forms VI and VII it was satisfactory to note that in working a long sum in multiplication of decimals the boys start with the integers, as this shows that they have grasped the principle of approximating. Graphs were not well done. The principle of graphs would be better understood, if the results of statistics and observations were graphed, and then the same principle were applied in the case of algebraic functions. It is difficult for boys to recognize that there is a connection between Geometry and Algebra, between lines and figures.

Euclid.-Forms VI and VII did fairly. Form V was distinctly weak, the failure being apparently due to the fact that Euclid's proofs have been studied without any preliminary knowledge of practical geometry. Even in Form VI and VII much more experimental work is advisable. Though most boys attempted Prop. i 47 none succeeded in making a square equal in area to the sum of 2 squares.