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agency [compulsion] we should lose all trace of thousands of the very children it is our duty to gather into school."

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The London school board divides the subjects of instruction into " sential" and "discretionary." The former for junior and senior schools are the Bible and the principles of religion and morality,' reading, writing, and arithmetic, English grammar and composition, and the principles. of book-keeping in senior schools, with mensuration in senior boys' schools; systematized object lessons, embracing elementary instruction in physical science, history of England, elementary geography, elementary social economy, elementary drawing, music and drill. In girls' schools, plain needlework and cutting out are added. The discretionary branches are domestic economy, algebra, and geometry.

For infant schools, instruction must be given in the Bible and the principles of religion and morality, reading, writing, and arithmetic, object lessons of a simple character, singing, physical exercises, and sewing.

One or more mistresses in every girls' school must be competent to teach cookery. The school management committee says in regard to this instruction:

The number of pupils in the different cookery classes, March 25, 1878, was as follows: Sleaford street centre...

Chalton street centre.

Blackheath road centre......

Cambridge Heath road centre.

Total........

46

50

42

63

201

A great number of applicants had to be refused on account of want of space. The teachers' interest in cookery has steadily increased, and many of them have expressed a great wish to teach it in their schools.

In every department of a school there must be at least one teacher with a full drawing certificate. Two hours a week in all boys' schools and one and a half hours a week in every girls' school must be devoted to drawing. Drill is taught in every school during the regular school hours, and it is expected that every head teacher will be competent to give this instruction.

The London school board regards with great favor the effort to make swimming lessons a part of the course in physical training in the schools under its control. The many recent accidents on water have given a new impetus to this important movement. Hitherto the London Swimming Club has taught the art to a large number of children of the board schools. The number of pupils and teachers who have already learned to swim is 7,577.

The board has greatly stimulated a spirit of temperance and thrift

1 This religious instruction, however, is to be given either before or after (or before and after) the regular session of the school, and any child may be withdrawn during its continuance; if withdrawn, the child must receive instruction in secular subjects during that time.

among the children by furnishing lectures on this subject and by giving facility for the deposit of money with the National Penny Savings Bank. The number of depositors in 1877 was 9,601, and the amount deposited by forty schools was 3,1121. 18. 10d.

The board also takes care of the deaf-mute and blind children within its jurisdiction. The number of institutions for these unfortunates is five and the number of inmates 134.

52

ADDRESS OF SIR CHARLES REED.

The first meeting of the London school board after the autumnal recess was held on Wednesday, October 2, 1878, Sir Charles Reed, chairman, presiding. The chairman said:

I again avail myself of the opportunity afforded by our reassembling after the recess to present a brief review of the work of the board for the past year, mainly for the information of our fellow citizens, whose representatives we are and at whose expense, in chief part, the education of the poorer children of the metropolis is carried on. They may justly desire to be satisfied on the following points: 1. That school accommodation is sufficient, but not excessive; 2. That the proper class of children is found in our schools, and that their attendance is regular; 3. That the teaching staff is adequate; 4. That the education given is plain, yet thorough; and, under each head, that the results have been attained at a reasonable cost.

SCHOOL ACCOMMODATION.

At the present time the board has under its control 278 schools, with 704 departments; of these, 187 are permanent schools, 43 are held in temporary buildings, and 48 have been transferred to the board. These schools give accommodation for 192,000 children. This is an increase upon my last report of 36 schools, 112 departments, and 29,092 places. Till recently we have followed our enumeration of 1871, which showed the number of children in the metropolis requiring elementary education to be 574,693. This year we have for greater accuracy rescheduled the various districts, and estimate the number at 614,857. These figures, however, are subject to correction, and are probably considerably below the real number. Of these, the voluntary schools provided at midsum mer last for 278,923 and the board for 186,468, so that the entire provision at that time amounted to 465,391 school places. When we have completed works now in progress we shall have raised our share of the supply to 240,000, thus securing a total provision for 518,000 children. Meantime it is a solid gain that London has 203,132 efficient school places more than it had seven years ago, the increase being 77.4 per cent. While in 46 cases during the past twelve months we have had to enlarge schools, in no instance has the migration of the people left us with excessive accommodation; a fact that speaks well for the care with which the sites have been selected and the moderation with which requirements have been estimated. The cost of sites has of course de

pended on whether they were purchased in advance of general building or whether the ground had to be cleared of houses. Sites and buildings together have averaged 15l. 48. per child, a cost which the Education Department recently informed one of the vestries it could not regard as excessive. The buildings are well adapted for their purpose, although, for the sake of economy, constructed in several stories. One of Her Majesty's inspectors says: "I did not realize how defective the lighting of many voluntary schools was until I came to compare them with the airy, brightly lit chambers of the board schools. This has led to the improvement of the light in several voluntary schools."

CLASS OF CHILDREN AND ATTENDANCE.

It is often asserted that we are educating children who ought to be in schools of a higher grade, whereas a reference to the occupations of the parents of our scholars and their inability in most cases to pay higher fees would prove that the great bulk of our children are of the class for whose benefit the board was established. The attendance shows an improvement on previous years. The average number on the roll for the half year ending at midsummer was 192,425, and the average daily attendance 153,819, or 79.9 per cent., the percentage of the voluntary schools of the metropolis for the same period being 77.5.

Taking the first quarter of the year, which is generally the best, we find in the board schools a steady advance. Thus in 1874 the daily average attendance was 70.1; in 1875, 72.7; in 1876, 78.3; in 1877, 80.1; and in 1878, 81.1. Mr. Stokes, Her Majesty's inspector for the Southwark district, says: "Costly as the provision of new board schools may be deemed, justification is found in the large and ready attendance of children. In nearly all cases the new schools have been filled with children quite as speedily as is desirable. And where temporary schools have acted as preparatory feeders for the permanent schools, a full attendance has been secured from the day of opening." At the same time we are far from regarding the present rate of attendance as a goal at which we can rest satisfied; for, while numbers of our children are models of regularity, there are many who cannot be got to school more than two or three times a week. One of our own inspectors says: "I believe one of the hardest problems the board has before it is to get each child to attend regularly in the same school, for at present I fear that very many of the Arabs of the street become only Arabs of the schools." Another speaks more hopefully: "Very few of the scholars now lose the scripture lesson through unpunctuality." In fact, in many schools it commences now at 9.5 instead of 9.15, as allowed by the rules of the board.

This attendance is secured in various ways. The board makes its masters and mistresses responsible for the regularity of their pupils and has empowered them, as an experiment, to send elder scholars to look up absentees. Where parents appreciate the advantages enjoyed by

their children they take an interest in their attendance and send them punctually to school. At the same time the number of apathetic and neglectful parents is such as to render most necessary the labors of our 11 superintendents and 208 visitors, who form our machinery for applying that compulsion in favor of which the country has declared. Addressing ourselves to all but those who have earned by proficiency certificates of exemption and those who have been absent with sufficient cause, these visitors procure the information on which the board proceeds. A caution to parents was issued in the first half of this year to 32,529 parents, with the effect of securing the improved attendance of 24,497 children. A further notice requiring parents to attend divisional committees and explain was issued in 22,738 cases, and in 18,046 of those with good result. The number of summonses we were compelled to take out was 3,705; in 2,340 instances a small fine was imposed; three charges only were dismissed out of the whole number; the rest were dealt with by reference to factory inspectors, industrial schools committees, and other authorities. For the illegitimate employment of children we were called on to serve 183 notices upon employers, or parents as employers. Of these, 153 were complied with and 21 had to be followed up by a summons; in every case the action of the board was sustained by the magistrates. It will be a matter for the early consideration of the by-laws committee what steps should be taken in order to carry out the provisions of the canal boats act, section 6 of which charges the local authority of the place to which they are registered as belonging with seeing that the children on board these boats are being educated.

The process of enforcing the compulsory by-laws is very costly, but it should be remembered that, while the whole expense falls upon the board, the voluntary schools share equally with our own in the benefit. Yet without an agency of the kind described we should lose all trace of thousands of the very children it is our duty to gather into school. Certainly without it we should not be able to report the daily average attendance at all efficient elementary schools in London as increased from the 174,301 of 1871 to the 339,344 of the present year, a growth of 94.6 per cent.

The introduction by the department of the Child's School Book is of undoubted advantage in providing a record of the school life of each child, but considerable expense and labor have been involved in procuring the required certificate of age. Under section 26 of the new act the board was empowered to obtain from the registrars returns of all births in their districts for the current year, but not for previous years; the consequence being that the board was not in a position to obtain these returns, and decided that it must be left to parents to furnish the certificates. This course, however, was found to be beset by many difficulties; and in the end the department has yielded to the representations of the principal school boards in the country, and now permits the

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