June 1, 1907.
VICTORIA PUBLIC SCHOOL.
ANNUAL PRIZE DISTRIBUTION.
The annual prize distribution at Victoria Pablic School was held on the 27th May, when Mrs. F. H. May presented the prizes won by pupils in the school and on the field of sport. She was supported on the platform at the herd of the school room by Mr. E. U. C Wolfe, acting Inspector of Schools and Mr. W. H. Williams, the head master.
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CHINA OVERLAND TRADE RÉPORT.
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335.
Mrs. May was then asked to present the prizes, which she uid, the list being as under:
Algebra"
UPPE SCHOOL.
13 boys were formed into a Cadet Corps thought there could be no ba te taining for attached to the Hongkong Volunteer Corps. fulare volunta tis the oidet, quite apart Col. Sergt. Bullock attended weekly giving from the fact that su h trai ing was benefio al instruction in Infantry Drill and Semaphore. to health The present thirtien m mbers of In October, nine of the cadets qualified to the Victoria Sobol Corps would be able t receive their uniforms and attended the Volun render exellent ser ios in the way of semi- teer Camp for 10 days. They were inspected ploce signa'ling. which was of he utmost by the General Officer Commanding the Troops, importance. He thought all would agree w th and be warmly congratulated them ou their him and be plea-ed to see the school had done so krenes and progress particularly in signalling, well at athletics. The report on the work of the and Cadets Hoskins and Friend received special school was a very good one, everything being prizes for proficiency. The Corps, though well done except arithmetic. This subject small, will, I believe, be a useful addition to our deserved 巍 certain amount of atteut on, Volunteers. What they lack in numbers they especially in a place like Hongkong where make up in keenness and thorough ess, and we had the wily natives to contend with, apart from the merits of an early military raining the physical exercise afford-d the boys is for their own benefit. I am able to announce that the Government have promis.d to erect a miniature rifle range and to supply the cadets, with rifles d ted with Morris abs and 5,000 rounds of ammunition. Both boys aud gir s continue to take a keen interest in games, and there is a healthy tone in play around. The football team again entered for the Schools' League, going four rangs up the ladder, wh r as last year w finished at the bottom. No difficulty was experienced in obtaining entries for our Athletic Sports and erery pupil in the school took ao ire part The physical and mili ary training of boys may well .19 considered 08 a schoolmaster's and parent's duty provided that such is not permitt-d to interfere with the primry object of education. Daring the year seven boys obtained Pitman's Blementary ceruficate for shorthand. In the competitive examination held by the Trustees of the Balilios Fuud No. 2, three of the 12 awards were credited to the Victoria School, A. Martin, G. Stokes, and Winifred McNeill being the successful candidates. R, N. Robson, entered for, aud passed. the Oxford Local Preliminary Examination.
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One boy,
wing to the carrying out of urgent repairs at the schol we were obliged to close for the whole f F-bruary, and this unexpected holiday follwing so e ose upon the Christmas vaca'iou rendered the work for the year biekward, and I exeuded the last term from the 31st March to the 30th April to enable the years' syllabus to be competed. Duri g the third and fourth weeks of April I examined each class in every subject. Each pupil's results have been sen with the term reports for the information of pareals
“General Intelligence"
'En lish I story
Elem. Mithem it ca" "General Progress"
Special Prizes" "Special Prizes"
*
Melville Silverstone
Geo, Hoskin. Templar Edward B Friend Geo Witchell Mathematics Belilios Prize, M. McNeill
LOWER SCHOOL
"General Profici-voy" General Profici-ncy"
、ttendanc "Attendance
After a number of pleasing songs and recitations by the pupils, Mr. Williams, before reading his annual port thanked Mis. May for attending, and welcomed Mr. Wolfe, their inspector. He then read the report in which it Was stated that there were no changes in the staff, Mrs. Wilkinson being in obarge of the Infants and Lower School, Mrs. Morris with Standards III. and IV. and the boys of the Upper School under my tuition. The Inspector of Schools reported in December that the discipline was very good. In order to allow the curriculum of the Upper School to specialise in the education of the older boys, no girls are now admited to the Upper School. The school was opened 1 4 times during the year. While the average attendance shows an increase over the previous year, the regularity in individual ttendances shows falling off, the excuses for absence being for the greater part of a trifling nature like birthday parties. When there are so many olidays in the year and school closing at 3 p.m. each day, and the means of transport so easy, no excuse but that of illness should preve t parents from sending their children to school regularly and punctually. The attendance po rer in the summer than in the winter months as might be expected in tropical climate. ย
The total expenditure under salaries and other charges for the year amounted to $6.195, and the total amount received in school fees $1, +39. The average monthly attendance for the year under review being 43.2; the cost to the Govern. ment per child per annum works out at $110, approximately £11 sterling, a figure which is cons derably higher than the average cost per scholar in our Anglo-Chinese Schools. Bearing the e fizures in mind it is to be expected that British parents should obtain the maximum of benefit by sending their children to school regularly. The dilapidated condition of the floor, walls and roof of the school necessitated constant repairs by the Public Works Depart ment, the amount of expenditure incurred since the opening of the school being $1 742,18. The memorable typhoon of the 18th September caught us unprepared. The school being opened early, maps and diagrams and glass windows were scattered about ruthlessly. The older boys did their best to barricade, and on the whole we suffered little serious damage. New cement fors have been put down in the schoolrooms. During the summer months. I had to report on the insanitary surroundings of the school Malarial fever was prevalent and appreciably affected our attendance. Steps have since been taken to remove the swamps in the immediate vicinity and to prevent the dumping of refuse, while the drainage of the premises has been considerably improved by the Public Works Department. All the pupils of the Upper School contributed essays for the Empire Day Essay C mpetition between all Primary Schools of the British Empire. Last year's subject was The Chief Stages in the Growth of Greater Britain," and, to assist the reading of the pupils, I gave a series of lessons on the history of our Colonies, illustrated by lantern views of life and conditions in other countries of the Empire. Five of the essays banded in were authorized by the Inspector of Schools for dispatch to the Federal Council of the League. The results were very gratifying to the Victoria School as the following extract from Mrs. E. M. Ord Marshall's (Hoa. Sec. League of Empire) letter to the Hon. Colonial Secretary of Hongkong shows "The essays submitted by the Victoria Sobool, Hongkong, are considered by the judges to have merit. Will you permit us to offer our congratulations to the Victoria School as being one of thoseing done away alt gether. Concerning the selected as having obtained special merit in the Competition, securing the 4th place." Acting under i structions from H.E. our late Governor, Sir Matthew Nathan,
房屋
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15
J1
Jessie McNeill Jvan Gibson Juo Rodger
Geo. Rodger
Ernest Wilk inson H. Haynes
At endance "Attendance
On comp etion of her task one of the papils pressuted her with a baudsome bouquet of flowers, which she smilingly accept-d.
Three cheers were then raised for the lady, for the headmaster, and for the t anhers, after which the proceedings ended.
THE COMMISSION,
MEMORANDUM BY HON. MR. E. OSBORNE.
Incorporated with the Commission's report was the following memorandum :
1. Having been a Member of the Sanitary Bard when the Public Health Ordinance wis under discussion I am familiar with the controversy that took place coneeruing it, and for the reason that drastic measures seemed im- perative I, with o hers, agreed in the main with its provisions.
2. Ten years have intervened. The Ordia- ance has had fall and fair trial, its provisions have been enforced at a large sacrifice to the Colony's material welfare notwithstanding which plagus has not disappeared, and I doubt whether it has even diminished to any large extut.
The Government course in Hygiene has been supplemented by a course in Puysio- logy and First Aid' Principles, and, as I anticipated, our candidates did mub better at the Hygiene Competitive Examination in December 19 6 than in 1905, obtaining ore 80 per cent. of the possible number of 3. Under these circumstances the time has mars. Our thanks are due to the parents surely arrived for a revision of our methods, for the kind way in which they subscribed to unless evidence be forthcoming that the mes- our Sports Fund, to Major Chapman. Com-sures legalised by the Public Health Ordinance mandant B.K.V.C. and Captain Armstrong have resulted in more good than is apparent on for assisting the Cadets, and to Mr. D. the surface. Templeton who has very generously p omised
4. The abolition of cubicles renders it the sum of twenty-five dollars annually for impossible for a family of small means to live four years as a prize for the boy who stands in the Colony or it drives them to the use of highest at the School Examination in four curtains as partitions, which by reason of their branches of Mathematics.
filth are a worse evil that the old wooden onss,
I suggest a modified form of cubicle be allow. od, made of painted woodwork and glass (or iron and glas) raised from the floor and of such height as not to ex:lude light aud air.
Mr. WOLFE, before calling on Mrs. May to present the prizes, s id he hored it would not unduly lengthen the pro eedings if he made a few remarks on the report All would agree with him that it was certainly an excellent 5. The so calle 1 limewashing entails expendi report, though, of course, as in all reports, there ture by tenants (for tenauts pay in the were one or two points attention had to be long run) with no corresponding good, drawa to when certain things were not as they as the mixture slopped on to the walls should be. He wished to point out that this is valueless except to accentuate the Aur. sobool was now in its second year, and the number of pupils in attendanos certainly war- ranted the experiment the Government made in starting it. The Government were now, he understood, notwithstanding all the important public works to be carri d out, going to add another story to the school. This showed that they intended to help the school on as far as they cou'd, therefore he would appeal to the parents to help it in the matter of regular attendance of pupils. Es garding the malaria and unhealthiness of the place, parents would see that this was gradually
cadet corps, it seemed t› him that this wis a movement that should very much be encouraged They might thik him pa tial bec use h hap. paned to be a Volunteer, but he certainly
rounding dirt. It is, I believe, admitted to contain no disinfecting properties so that this expenditure, generally recognised as an ignorant mistake, is continued in violation of common sense.
Compulsory limewashing should be abolished, and in its place I suggest that more effort be directed towards the destruction of rats, and ordinary cleanliness. The most effective method of destroying rate is to starve them in their runs, involving the removal of ceilings and the effective closing of rans with cement mortar mixed with broken glass. There should by no openings in walls on ground floors for rats to enter from streets and lanes. Drains from ground floors should not be led through walls as now, but through the door cill so that when the door is closed the rat is excluded.
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