Sidebilder
PDF
ePub
[blocks in formation]

Aggregate Annual Income, as stated by Managers, of 275 of the Schools

enumerated in Summary A.

[blocks in formation]

Newcastleon-Tyne.

General Report, for the Year 1854, by Her Majesty's Inspector of Schools, the Rev. D. J. STEWART, M.A., &c., on the Schools inspected by him in the Counties of Northumberland, Durham, Cumberland, and Westmoreland.

MY LORDS,

Durham, 1854.

IN drawing up my report to your Lordships for the year ending 31 August 1853, the object I had in view was to bring under your notice the impressions I had derived from comparing the statistical returns of the Registrar-General with my own actual experience of the condition of elementary education in this part of England. The observations made during another year have certainly strengthened the opinions I then ventured to express. The most gratifying confirmation of these views is to be found in the educational movement in certain parts of this district, which it is my duty now to mention.

The present Vicar of Newcastle-on-Tyne, the Rev. Clement Moody, has had considerable success in calling the attention of his people to the deficiencies which have so long oppressed the educational progress of that important borough. In the month of June last a public meeting was held, under the presidency of the Mayor, in the Music Hall, to enable the Vicar to lay before the inhabitants of the town certain statements with respect to the education of the industrial classes, with the view of building additional schools in connexion with the Church of England." The motions proposed and adopted on this occasion, with the unanimous consent of a very large meeting, show how completely and fully the wants of the borough were admitted without question, and how comprehensive are the measures proposed in order to meet them. It was determined,

"I. That a subscription be opened immediately, in order to raise the sum of 12,000l. for the purpose of building ten schools in connexion with the Church of England.

"II. That the proposed schools be placed under Government inspection, and that the committee of management be constituted according to the directions of the Privy Council in their clauses of management.

"III. That a committee be appointed to carry out the proposed scheme. The committee to consist of the mayor, the vicar, the incumbent of each parish, and one layman from each parish, the master of St. Thomas' Hospital, and one layman of the congregation."

A letter addressed to the Vicar by Mr. Sopwith, and read at this meeting, contained a valuable testimony to the sound

*

* *

ness of the opinions which had led to the adoption of these
resolutions. "Some thirty years ago Newcastle was in
advance of most provincial cities and towns in respect of
general education, both as regards rich and poor.
Since that period it cannot be said that education has advanced
in Newcastle in proportion to its increasing wealth and popu-
lation." There is one most encouraging feature to be re-
marked in all the meetings which have been held in Newcastle-
on-Tyne for the furtherance of this movement, namely, the
cordial support which its promoters have received from very
different classes of the inhabitants. There are few objects more
gratifying to an interested spectator than the prospect of one
of the most influential commercial communities in England
diverting for a time its wealth and power from the absorbing
operations of trade, acknowledging that there is a higher
relation between man and man than a mercenary one, and
determining to wipe out, by one resolve, the moral darkness
that has been gathering for nearly half a century.

All Saints'.

The foundation stone of a school for the parish of All Saints' Parish of has been laid already, and I learn from the Vicar that he hopes to commence building two more in the spring, and two in the autumn of 1855. The scheme which has been begun under such favourable circumstances has reference to the needs of the poor working classes only; but the spirit which carries it out with success will, I hope, scarcely rest till an educational provision has been made for other classes, which, without any claim to be called wealthy, are yet far removed from the ragged poverty which too often marks the labouring poor.

St. Andrew's

I stated in my report for 1852 that it was proposed to build Parish of new schools for the parish of St. Andrew's. I am happy to say that these buildings are now in progress.

Wear

A group of three school-rooms, with requisite class-rooms, Bishops and accommodation for teachers, has been built and brought mouth. into use during the past year, for the parish of Bishops Wearmouth. The buildings are well placed, the offices carefully constructed, and proper playgrounds attached to each school-room. Before the erection of these buildings, the parochial school accommodation was limited to a large infant school and two old-fashioned rooms, one above the other, situated in a portion of the churchyard. It is, I believe, the intention of the Rector, the Rev. J. P. Eden, to make such additions to the old buildings as are necessary for their conversion into convenient school-rooms. The provision for the education of the parish may, therefore, be said to consist, at present, of one infants' school, two girls' schools, and three boys' schools. This is another case where it has been found necessary to

provide additional accommodation for the wants created by rapid increase of population. There is a feature in the arrangements adopted by the Rector and Committee for the new schools which, to the best of my belief, is new to this district. The two boys' rooms in the new buildings are intended for an upper and lower school. The subjects of instruction in both departments, and the proposed fees, are detailed in the following extracts from Mr. Eden's circular :

:

BOYS' DEPARTMENT.

1. The General Course of Education will include Reading-WritingEnglish Grammar-History-Geography-The Elements of GeologyArithmetic (Pure and Commercial)-Principles of Book-keeping-Geometry -Mechanics and Mechanism-Elements of Chemistry-Vocal Music.

2. The Higher Course (for which extra fees will be charged) will include The higher branches of Mathematics, viz., Algebra - Trigonometry — Hydrostatics-Hydraulics, &c.-Navigation-Astronomy.

Latin-German-French-Drawing.

The fees to be paid quarterly and in advance.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

These payments will be regulated according to the social condition of the parents, and will in each case be decided solely by the committee.

[blocks in formation]

The fees for the higher course are quite within the income of a very large proportion of artisans in this district. Indeed the rates of wages for workmen in several branches of trade peculiar to this locality are such evidences of the worldly prosperity within the reach of the artisan that I hesitate to give them without having authority to add the names of the firms by whom they are paid. The Bishops Wearmouth school can therefore scarcely be called a middle school, in the strict sense of that term, inasmuch as the children of artisans are excluded neither by its fees nor by its constitution. Practically, however, it is very likely to become a school for one section of the middle class. The high state of commercial activity which I have alluded to, while affording constant encouragement for the improvement of the physical resources of the workman, does not imply an equal improvement in the higher points of national virtue and national wisdom. High wages will not alone lift men one jot above the fever and selfishness of the world, nor give them higher and purer views of human life. Hence, in the

midst of their great prosperity, the working classes become less and less thoughtful, less and less anxious for a high state of comfort, and are seen to retain the habits of the very rudest state of social life, while in possession of ample means for improving both their intellectual and spiritual condition. It will be no surprise, therefore, to find that the upper departments in these schools will be frequented by very few children of artisans even of the highest grade; but at the same time it is satisfactory to know that for the few who, with forethought unusual to their class, are really anxious to educate their sons, an ample parochial provision has been brought into operation. However, while the term "middle class" is used to designate that great and most important section of English society, which is quite able to help itself in all that concerns education, it extends also to a large branch of it very little above the working class in wealth or intelligence. It is not so clear how a sound education is to be brought within reach of this latter class, except by such a school as that proposed in the parish of Bishops Wearmouth. There is much greater difficulty in mixing the children of different classes in town schools than there is in country schools. A gentleman's son may occasionally be seen preparing for a grammar school by passing through the routine of a good parochial school, and we have many schoolmasters perfectly competent to give the best instruction in subjects which the grammar school practically ignores. But the personal uncleanliness and the dirty clothes of the majority of the boys in town schools, in most districts, are quite sufficient to shut out children used to cleanly habits and well-ordered homes. These difficulties have been guarded against, and are not likely to hinder the success of the experiment which has led to these remarks, because separate rooms are provided for separate departments of the school. I am afraid that the great hindrance to success in carrying out the design of Mr. Eden's school, will be the difficulty of maintaining a sufficient number of teachers of equal efficiency.

It

appears to me unreasonable to expect the same master to teach equally well all the subjects incorporated in the timetable of an elementary school of ordinary pretensions. In a town school of a very high class all such difficulties are of course increased. It is proposed, as far as I know, to appoint a master, an assistant, and apprentices, under the regulations embraced in your Lordships' Minutes. If, however, the school meets with the support it is entitled to expect, a much more numerous staff might be required, in order to maintain a proper standard of instruction in the many and various subjects contemplated by the promoters. It must be admitted that the fewer

« ForrigeFortsett »