GENERAL REPORT for the year 1907 by A. R. ANDREW, Esq., M.A., one of His Majesty's Chief Inspectors, on the SCHOOLS in the WESTERN DIVISION OF SCOTLAND.

Glasgow,

January, 1908.

MY LORDS,

I have the honour to present a General Report on the educational condition of the Western Division during the past

year.

Some changes in the Inspectorial Staff of the Division have Changes of taken place during the Session. On the transference of H.M. Staff. Inspector Mr. J. C. Smith to the Fifeshire District, H.M Inspector Dr. A. D. Thomson took charge of the Glasgow District, and his place in the Dumfries District was taken by H.M. Inspector Mr. D. Thompson. At the same time H.M. Inspector Mr. R. Harvey took charge of the Govan and Dumbarton District, and, in the Lanarkshire District, from which he was transferred, he was succeeded by H.M. Inspector Mr. G. Andrew, who had been for some time associated with him in this District. Mr. Andrew has been assisted by Mr. T. B. M. Lamb, who has, in the course of the year, received well-merited promotion to the rank of H.M. Inspector.

After long and honourable service Mr. J. Binnie, I.S.O., SubInspector, has retired, and his place has been filled by the promotion of Mr. J. Wilson, Sub-Inspector, to the first class, and his transference from the Stirling District to Argyll and Renfrew.

SCHOOL SUPPLY.

In every part of the Western Division the past year has wit- Increased nessed a considerable increase in School accommodation by the accommoprovision of new buildings, and a series of improvements and reconstructions in the case of existing premises.

The ideas governing school architecture have shared in the general educational evolution, and the contrast, in point of convenience, rational arrangement and hygienic fitness, between a modern school and one built thirty years ago is a measure of the advance which has been made.

dation.

The type of building most in favour at present consists of a Modern central hall well lighted from the roof, with staircases at each Schoolbuildings. end leading to the railed galleries from which the classrooms open. The lower floor in many schools is devoted to the Infant

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School furniture.

Provision of

in urban areas.

and Lower Junior Classes, the middle floor to the rest of the Junior Division, and the upper floor to the Senior School. The Cloakrooms and Retiring-rooms are placed on each landing. Even in smaller schools a similar type is found to be most suitable. The new Infant School at Campbeltown is a good instance of such modification of the prevailing form, and the large new school at London Road, recently opened by the School Board of Glasgow, is a complete example of a fully and beautifully equipped modern school building. Under the Govan School Board a splendid new school, specially furnished and equipped for defective children, is nearing completion at Ibrox, and, when it is finished, it will be the best example of its kind, not only in the Western Division, but possibly in the whole of Scotland. The same School Board contemplate the erection of a new school to serve as a centre for Higher Grade work in Fairfield District. This school is specially planned for the purposes of Higher Grade, Continuation, and Technical Instruction; it will be devoted to these purposes only, and will be in every way worthy of the traditions of the Govan Parish School Board.

The improvement noticeable in the internal fittings and furniture of modern schools is not less striking than in the buildings themselves. Instead of long unwieldy desks made with little regard for the comfort of the pupils using them, dual or single desks, adjustable in many ways to the needs and age of the children, are provided. The windows give ample light where it is most required, the walls are bright with pictures, and all the apparatus necessary for instruction is of the best kind.

Schools of the sort described above are costly, but, apart from the fact that everything which tends to minimise the strain of teaching and of learning is a direct gain in economy of power, the unconscious, but far-reaching educational influence of space, light, fresh air, and pleasant physical environment on the pupils themselves is enough to justify the investment.

In the City Districts of Glasgow and Govan the provision of new schools new schools is practically a constant factor in the School Board's expenditure. Whether as the result of the trend of population to the suburbs, noted in previous reports, or of the springing up of new industrial districts, these Boards have to face the expendíture involved in building one or more new schools each year. It is greatly to their credit, and deserves the notice and gratitude of the community, that this problem is faced in a spirit of wise economy combined with far-seeing liberality in the provision, without extravagance, of all that is really necessary.

Closing of superfluous Schools.

In last year's Report H.M. Inspector Mr. J. C. Smith remarked on the advisability of closing certain schools, rendered superfluous by the fluctuations of population and other causes in the area of the School Board of Glasgow. Since then three such schools have been closed, and the closing of a fourth is only a question of time.

The statement made last year, as to the need for increasing New Schools the school accommodation in the shipbuilding and other in Dumbarindustrial districts of Dumbartonshire, has been fully borne tonshire. out by the opening of two large and very finely equipped

schools.

The question of new school buildings continues to be a pressing And one in Lanarkshire, but Managers are alive to its importance, and Lanarkshire considerable progress has been made in meeting urgent requirements. Five new schools have been opened, and, in almost all the larger districts, additional accommodation is either projected or in course of being provided.

Four schools have been closed in Ayrshire; for one of them a Ayrshire. school under Article 19D. (a) has been substituted, and in another case a new school has been built. The closing of two of these schools has reduced the number of non-Catholic Voluntary Schools in this district to three.

In the South-Western Section of the Division a similar Dumfries reduction in the number of Voluntary Schools falls to be noted, District. three of these schools having passed under the control of School Boards.

The diversified conditions and wide extent of the Renfrew and Renfrew and Argyll. Argyll Districts necessarily imply constant change in the amount and quality of the school supply. Here also, there is mention of the closing of old, unsuitable, or superfluous schools, but several new schools have been opened, and a considerable number are in process of erection. The manner in which industrial conditions. affect the question of school accommodation is strikingly exemplified in the case of Kinlochleven, which is thus referred to by H.M. Inspector Mr. Munro Fraser

"The opening of this school deserves more than a passing notice. The necessity for it has arisen from the building of a town (for it is nothing else) to accommodate the workers of the British Aluminium Company. Waterpower for the production of the motive force required for the extraction of Aluminium from the substances in which it occurs is found in a chain of lechs in the neighbourhood, in connection with which extensive damming operations are approaching completion. It is calculated that, when things are in full working order, the population of Kinlochleven will amount to 6,000. If the use of Aluminium becomes popular, further advantage may may be taken of the physical features of the Highlands for manufacturing purposes, and a large addition made to the ranks of the industrial classes. The number of children at present on the roll of the school is 70, but that number will soon be largely exceeded."

The statistics of school supply given last year showed that Comparison twenty-six schools were then either planned or actually being with last built, while the figures for this year show that twenty-five new year. schools have been opened; with one exception, therefore, all the schools projected last year are now actually at work. This year eighteen new schools are still unfinished, but the majority of them will no doubt be in occupation at an carly date.

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Catholic
Schools.

Extensions

and reconstructions.

The ready response made by the Managers of Catholic Schools to the requirements of their increasing community again deserves hearty recognition. Among others the excellent premises opened at Mossend, Lanarkshire, may be mentioned as an instance of such action.

Throughout the Division a great amount of work has been done in the improvement, extension, and reconstruction of existing schools. Perhaps the most important fact in connection with this aspect of school supply is the number of schools to which additions have been or will be made, for the purposes of Higher Grade instruction. Notably in this connection mention may be made of the addition to Uddingston Grammar School, now completed, and the large addition in process of erection to Bellshill Academy for the purposes of a Junior Student Centre. In some cases, as at Springburn and Lockerbie, the new premises are of a temporary nature, in others they have involved, or will involve, the building of new permanent class-rooms, workshops and laboratories.

Accommo- The improvement of accommodation by the provision of greater dation for facilities for practical instruction in connection with Supplementpractical instruction. ary Courses is a matter which will probably occupy the attention of Managers in many districts in the near future, and in some other respects, perhaps equally important, the reports of the District Inspectors show that the school accommodation of the Division is, notwithstanding the steady and even rapid progress described above, far from complete.

Cloakroom s In the Glasgow area for example, cloak-room and desk and desks. accommodation in a large number of the older schools are unsatisfactory; wet clothing must be hung up in the school room (see report on School Hygiene), desks have no back supports, and some schools have no hall for physical exercises. The unsuitability of many of the desks in use is also referred to by H.M. Inspector Mr. G. Andrew in his report on the Lanarkshire District; desks without support for the back and desks of unsuitable height may be seriously injurious to the children who use them, and they should be as quickly as possible replaced by more modern furniture. This process of improving the school furniture has already been begun by the School Board of Glasgow, and it will, no doubt, be completed in a reasonable time.

Schools in

The position of certain schools in Glasgow in the midst of busy noisy streets and noisy streets is referred to by H.M. Inspector Dr. A. D. Thomson, who suggests that wood might be substituted for the stone paving which causes so large a part of the intolerable

noise.

Other matters connected with school furniture and equipment will be referred to in the section of the Report dealing with School Hygiene.

A summary of the chief facts in regard to the school supply of the Division is given in the statistical table below:

STATISTICS OF SCHOOL SUPPLY, 1907.

The summary of "School Attendance Returns" compiled for office purposes, by the Department brings out several in- School teresting facts concerning the attendance of pupils in the Attendance Division. The figures are taken from tables which include pupils Returns in attendance at all schools within the county areas, and are Western therefore applicable not only to Public Schools, Primary and Intermediate, but also to Secondary, Voluntary, and Private Schools.*

*This fact accounts for the difference between the totals given here and those given in the tables appended to the section on Supplementary Courses, which deal with Primary and Intermediate State-aided Schools only; the latter refer to the year ended 31st August, 1907, the former to the year ended 31st December, 1906.

Division.