Karori 20Th December 1933: List of Head Teachers of Karori School Included the Following Have, Been Head, Teachers at the Karori Main School: — 1857, Mrs
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Karori 20th December 1933: List of Head Teachers of Karori School included The following have, been head, teachers at the Karori Main School: — 1857, Mrs. Taunton; 1863, Mr. Jacks; 1866, Mr. Allington; 1872, Mr. John Strudwick; 1873, Mr. Wilson; 1878, Mr. William Marten; [Possibly incorrect as it was difficult to find accurate references:] 1874-1877 8th September 1874 Education Board: RESIGNATION. A letter was read from Mr. Wilson, resigning his appointment as teacher at Karori school. The resignation was accepted. 5th December 1874 A letter from the settlers of Karori complained of the closing of the district school, and requested the Board to appoint Miss Stevens, of the Johnsonville school, to the charge of the Karori school until the Board could appoint a master. Mr. Toomath objected to the removal of Miss Stevens, on the ground that the people of Johnsonville had already been subjected to considerable inconvenience. He would propose that Miss Devereux be removed from the Lower Hutt to Karori, and that Miss Sinclair, of the Taita, be requested to fill the vacancy at the Lower Hutt. The motion was agreed to 7th January 1875 Sir,—l have just received a copy of the report of the Inspector of your province, and as Mr. Lee has made remarks about the Karori school which I consider at the least unjust, I trust you will allow me space for a few comments upon them. He says : "There is much room for improvement in the tone, discipline, and attendance.. Writing and arithmetic were poorly taught. The lower classes show little improvement." What Mr Lee means by the tone of the school I am at a loss to imagine. Of the discipline I have no doubt he formed his conclusions from the following:—One of the candidates for Standard III. appeared to fall under Mr. Lee's displeasure. Being called up for the oral part of the examination, she did not happen to stand just in the position he wished her—did not look him in the face, or some similar trifle . For this she was treated to several refined (?) remarks, such as, " Dear me, what a rude girl you are;"' and " How sadly you require to be taught good manners," &c, &c. Is it to be wondered at that, after such remarks as these, she refused to open her lips, and failed in the standard ? The number of marks she required for a pass were live, if I remember rightly. If the query Is asked, why I did not report the matter J I may say that as I was about to leave, I thought my action might be misconstrued. I, therefore, resolved to allow the matter to pass. I did mention it in a conversation to Mr. Reading, one of the local committee, but not officially. With regard to the writing, I recollect Mr. Lee remarking of one (J. Gooder's), " You don't often see writing like that in a school." For the arithmetic, &c, of this poorly taught school, compared with others, we have only to turn to the tabulated statement to find Mr. Lee flatly contradicted. There we find the average for the whole district for Standard 1 to be 42 ; the Karori school gives 42. For Standard II the average is 13; the Karori school gives 22. For Standard III, we find, out of 16 schools in the whole district, only II children passed, two of which are credited to the inferior school aforesaid ; while in the town of Wellington, neither the largest nor the best conducted school, passed a single candidate. (Vide report.) The lower classes showing little improvement, is accounted for by two reasons. The first, that I implicitly followed Mr. Lee's directions in their instruction : the second, the extreme severity of the weather (April to August) preventing them from attending, coupled with fact recorded by Mr. Lee that on a wet day the rain came down the chimney in sufficient quantities to drown the fire. Having thus shown the extreme value of the report lately published, I am, &c, Henry Wilson, Late Master of Karori School. Canterbury, December 29, 1874. 11th December 1875 I HEREBY offer Mr EDWARD TOOMATH my sincere apologies for haying, at the Nomination of Candidates for the representation of the Education Board, at Ngahauranga, on the 8th of August , made use of statements affecting his honor as a gentleman and a public servant, particularly with reference to his endeavoring to get the old Karori School as a training school for his own purposes and taking materials therefrom - also, as to his obtaining payment from the Education Board, while in the Wairarapa, all of which I hereby retract. (Signed) PATRICK MONAGHAN. 9th December 1876 The annual treat to the children attending the Karori school will take place in that school - house on Thursday next, the 14th inst, when great festivities have been arranged in honor of the occasion. The programme is intended to be somewhat as follows: — First tea for the children ; then the same for their parents and friends ; next the distribution of prizes, with recitations, &c, by the pupils; finally a soiree and dance, when excellent music will be provided (including violin and piccolo), and refreshments of the best quality. Extensive preparations are being made for the festivities, which are expected to prove a great success 9th February 1877 Inspector Lee’s report to Education Board included: Of the Karori School it is reported "that the master teaches reading and writing satisfactorily, but he is an incompetent teacher of arithmetic and oral subjects. He failed himself to work the sums set for Standard III. All Standard III. candidates, and all but two of the Standard II. candidates, failed miserably, especially in arithmetic." 20th February 1877 THE INSPECTOR OF SCHOOLS AND THE KARORI LOCAL SCHOOL COMMITTEE. At a meeting of the Karori School Committee, on Friday evening, the Inspector's report was taken into consideration, and it was resolved to ask Mr. Marten, the master, to attend the meeting, so that questions might be asked him with reference to the late examination and Mr. Lee's report. Mr. Marten having been called, the following questions were put and the accompanying answers given : — The Chairman (Rev. W. Ballachey)— We notice that the report states that the school has fallen off from 61 to 52. To what do you attribute this ? Mr. Marten — First, to the migration of three families, and secondly to a prevailing influenza. At the present time there are about 68 children. The Chairman — The Inspector says that the master himself "failed to work the sums set for Standard III." How was it that you attempted to work these sums ? Mr. Marten— l objected altogether to work them, deeming it derogatory to be treated in the presence of my pupils as a school boy. The Chairman — You say you did not attempt to work them ; this does not agree with Mr. Lee's report, for he states you "failed," which evidently implies that you made the attempt. Is there any way in which you can reconcile these conflicting facts? Mr. Marten — I cannot; for the facts are these. I took up the slate to work them, and then feeling it must be an intended insult, I declined doing them. The Chairman —You have not been a schoolmaster all your life ? Mr. Marten. Have you ever been engaged in any business or pursuit where a knowledge or arithmetic was necessary ? Mr. Marten — Yes; I was for 20 years a merchant in London and a private banker. The Chairman — If you did not, as you assert, attempt to work these third standard sums at Mr. Lee's request, have you attempted them since ? Mr. Marten— Yes. The Chairman — Were you able to work them? Mr. Marten— Of course. Mr. Lancaster Were any of the sums set by Mr. Lee in the rules of practice and proportion ? Mr. Marten — Yes. Mr. Lancaster— Was it stated by which rule they were to be worked? Mr. Marten — It was not stated ; neither were they told by what rule they should be worked; and were informed that they were not to ask questions. The Chairman— Have you given any of these sums to your pupils since the inspection, in order to see if any of the children could work them? Mr. Marten— Yes ; I gave them to the 3rd candidates the next day. The Chairman— What was the result? Mr. Marten— Most of them worked them all but one without assistance. The Chairman— To what do you attribute their failure upon the day of inspection ? Mr. Marten— The time given (46 minutes) was not sufficient for even an experienced arithmetician to do them in. Many of the sums were done correctly but marked incorrect because of not being done in the way that Mr. Lee approved. They were rendered nervous by being told beforehand that unless they passed in arithmetic they would fail to pass the Standard. Mr. Lancaster — Has any complaint been made by the children that they could not read the figures on the black board ? Mr. Marten— There was, and they were told to hold their tongues. Mr. Lancaster— Was there any feeling of fear or nervousness throughout the school at the time of the examination ? Mr. Marten— Very great; owing to Mr. Lee's manner. The Chairman — If the committee should think it desirable, have you any objection to these questions and answers appearing in the daily papers ? Mr. Marten — Not the least ; on the contrary ; I court it. Mr. Marten was thanked for his attendance, and withdrew, after which it was resolved that the Chairman send a copy of these questions and answers to each of the daily papers, with the request that they will kindly publish them.