THE
PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF NORFOLK
REPORT OF H. FRANK COOK,
Inspector of Public Schools
Simcoe, 6 Jun 1910
To the Warden and County
Council of Norfolk:
Gentlemen, -- I have the
honour to submit herewith for your consideration my 5th
annual report on the Public Schools of the county.
Preamble
Heretofore this report has
been submitted at the January meeting of your body. It was found
very difficult to make it as complete as it should be so early in
the year since very many of the annual reports from the school
sections did not come to hand before the end of January.
In my last report the
statistics given were entirely for the calendar year 1908. In this
report some paragraphs will refer entirely to the calendar year
1909 and some other portions will relate to the whole of 1909 and
the first half of 1910. Because the school year begins in August
of one year and end on the 29th of June of the next, there is good
reason for bringing some of the details and facts down to the end
of this present month.
Moreover, since the only
supply of new qualified teachers becomes available at the close of the Normal
Schools in June of each year, the greatest
number of changes among teachers new takes place at midsummer.
Hopefully all
School Boards will remember this fact when engaging a teacher, and
that every reasonable effort will be made to avoid a change of
teacher at the Christmas vacation.
Since the High School
Entrance examination and the Uniform Promotion examinations are
held at the end of June, we have another good reason for trying to
keep our schools in charge of the same teachers from midsummer to
midsummer.
Since the conditions are
slightly different in Rural and Urban schools the two classes of
schools will be kept separate and distinct in the following
statements.
Teachers
The work in our schools
during the year and a half from 1 Jan 1909 to 30 Jun 1910, has not
been as satisfactory as we should desire.
One of the reasons for
this has been the more than usual number of shiftings on the part
of teachers from one school to another.
There has been a decided
shortage in the supply of qualified teachers, which has caused a
sharp increase in the salaries paid. Naturally, a teacher will
move from one school to another for a material advance in salary;
and some of our best have been drawn away by increases that in
some cases exceed $100.
These too numerous changes work in the
majority of cases as a hindrance and a serious handicap in the
best interest of the pupils. The schools that
suffered most in this regard during the year and a half just
ending were the rural schools.
At the present time there
are in the county 25 teachers in Urban schools, 104 in Rural
schools, and I Kindergarten Director, making a total of 180.
Sixty-six of these schools retained one teacher during the year
and a half;
40 schools have had two teachers,
15 had three different teachers;
six had four different teachers;
one school had five; and
two schools had six.
Many Boards and sections
have done everything within reason to keep a well qualified
teacher engaged. Salaries have been increased steadily and in many
cases markedly, and the higher salaries have in the majority of
cases produced the desired result.
Prior to 1 Jan 1907, only
two Rural school teachers received an annual salary of $500. By
the School Act of 1906, salaries had to be paid according to the
assessment of the sections. This made it compulsory upon four
Rural schools to pay $500; the remaining 100 teachers received
salaries between $475 and $800.
Today there are 19
teachers receiving $500,
three receiving $525, two receiving $550,
one receiving $600, one receiving $675, and
one receiving $750.
The average salary for all
Rural schools in the county for 1908 was $402. For 1909 it was
$422.
It is the policy of the
Department of Education to gradually withdraw the grants on
Interim Second Class teaching certificates to encourage Boards
to engage teachers with Permanent Second and First Class
certificates.
In Norfolk, the percentage
of teachers with Second and First Class certificates is still low,
as can be seen in the following table:
|
1907 |
1908 |
1909 |
1st Class |
2 |
5 |
5 |
2nd Class |
35 |
31 |
38 |
3rd Class |
62 |
64 |
54 |
Temporary |
5 |
5 |
7 |
Attendance
Another very serious
hindrance to the satisfactory advancement of the pupils in too
many schools is the lack of regularity of attendance.
This is a matter in which
teachers, boards of trustees, and all ratepayers should take
particular interest. We are wasting money, scores of children are
allowed to waste time, and the next generation is not being fully
equipped and prepared for the responsibilities of life by
receiving even a "common school education."
It is not too much to
expect that the average attendance at any school for a year should
be from 70 to 80 per cent, and sometimes above 80 per cent
under favorable conditions as to the roads in winter months, the
lack of epidemics among the children, etc.
In this connection it is
gratifying to be able to report that several sections have
appointed a truant officer since 1908, and the results have been
quite satisfactory. Splendid work is also being done by the
Children's Aid Society in looking after neglected children
throughout the county. The C.A.S. has such power by law as enables
its agents to deal very effectively with cases of persistent and
willful truancy.
Attendance by Township
(percentage)
|
Low |
High |
Charlotteville |
40 |
72 |
Houghton |
33 |
81 |
Middleton |
36 |
61 |
Townsend |
40 |
62 |
N. Walsingham |
39 |
63 |
S. Walsingham |
40 |
55 |
Windham |
31 |
70 |
Woodhouse |
44 |
71 |
Attendance in Urban
schools (percentage):
Port Dover |
66 |
Simcoe |
63 |
Waterford |
62 |
Port Rowan |
61 |
Delhi |
57 |
Property
The equipment of the
schools is being steadily improved. At the end of 1909 there
remained only three schools without a library, today there is only
one. At the end of the year there were 6,699
volumes in the libraries, with a total value of $2811.
During the year, four fine
new school houses were built:
Houghton S.S. No. 4
Houghton S.S. No. 8
Houghton S.S. No. 10
Middleton S.S. No. 12,
at a cost of $1300 to $1800.
North Walsingham S.S. 9
(Silver Hill) was so thoroughly renovated that it is practically
as good as one of the new ones.
There are still some
school houses that are so inferior in accommodations and
suitability to the requirements either of the comfort and welfare
of the children or the regulations of the Department of Educations
that they should be replaced very soon by new buildings.
Every school was inspected
at least twice during the year; a very few were visited three
times.