NRS-3710 | Inspectors' reports

Reports of inspections of Roman Catholic primary and high schools, and Church of England primary schools, both City and country. Reports, written on standard printed forms contain, for each school, information on the materials with which school buildings were constructed; classroom dimensions; the state of repair of furniture and apparatus; the quality of instruction, discipline and organisation; the punctuality of school children; the name of the teacher and the condition of his residence; the number of pupil-teachers and amounts paid to them; subjects taught and school books used; the number of children of each sex on the roll and present during the inspection; the number of children being taught each subject; the number of children possessing a "good knowledge of each of ...(the) subjects"; and general remarks and recommendations made by Inspectors. In 1866 a slightly less elaborate form came into use; the information recorded, however, remained basically the same. The first volume (1/324) also includes periodic reports from the Inspector of Roman Catholic schools (W.P. Casey) containing general remarks on the condition of Roman Catholic schools (ie. the state of repair of school buildings, the lack of playground facilities, the use of school premises for other than educational purposes, and insufficient encouragement being given to pupil-teachers), and a more complete description of individual schools inspected (eg. commenting on the teacher's qualifications, detailing tests administered to children, with a breakdown of results according to the children's ability to handle the tests). (1/324-26; microfilm copy SR Reels 1779-1781). 3 vols. Note: This description is extracted from Concise Guide to the State Archives of New South Wales, 3rd Edition 2000.