NRS-16742 | Visitors' Books [Dalwood Public School]

The Public Instruction Act, 1866 authorised special religious instruction by visiting clergymen and their delegates (Public Schools Act, 1866, s. 19), and regulations under the Act authorised members of the public to visit schools during ‘the hours of secular instruction’ to observe teaching methods, teaching material and equipment (Regulations adopted by the Council of Education on 27 February 1867, s. 84-85). The regulations required every teacher to keep a visitors’ book ‘in which visitors may enter their names and if they think proper any remarks. Such remarks the Teachers are by no means to erase or alter.’ (Regulations … s. 86).The purpose of the visitors’ book was to create a record of the persons other than pupils or teachers who attended the school during business hours. Visitors’ books were divided into three columns – date, name and remarks. The remarks usually recorded the purpose of the visit which included religious instruction (by far the most usual purpose for visiting a school), school inspection, medical inspection, departmental officers visiting on business e.g. to inspect the buildings or equipment, and guest speakers. Occasionally visitors (particularly Inspectors) remarked briefly on the conduct or the ambience of the school.The series from Dalwood Public School survives only from June, 1952; the whereabouts of the earlier volumes is not presently known. In the two volumes currently held, the overwhelming majority of entries down to the end of 1960 are made by clergymen visiting the school for the purpose of providing religious instruction. No further clergy entries appear during the remaining ten years of the school’s operation, and it is conjectured that a separate Visiting Clergy Book may have been maintained during this period. As one of the two surviving books also contains only four entries, two dated to 1961, one to 1962 and one to 1968, while the other book, which contains the record for the years 1952-1960, also contains ten further entries for the period 1965-1968, it is further conjectured that it may have been intended to commence a new Visitors’ Book in 1961, but that some degree of confusion ensued which resulted in the record reverting mostly to the old book after 1962.

1866年《公共教育法》（Public Instruction Act, 1866）授权到访神职人员及其代表开展专门的宗教教育（1866年《公立学校法》（Public Schools Act, 1866）第19条）；该法案配套细则则授权公众成员可在“世俗教育时段”到访学校，观摩教学方法、教材与教学设备（1867年2月27日教育委员会（Council of Education）通过的细则第84-85条）。细则要求每位教师必须留存访客登记簿（visitors’ book），其中明确规定“访客可在此登记姓名，若认为合适亦可填写评论，教师绝对不得擦除或修改此类评论”（细则……第86条）。
访客登记簿的设立初衷是记录非学生与教师身份、且在学校办公时段到访的人员信息。该登记簿分为三栏，分别为日期、姓名与评论。评论栏通常记录到访目的，包括宗教教育（这是到访学校最普遍的目的）、学校巡查、医疗检查、部门官员因公到访（例如检查校舍或设备）以及特邀演讲等。部分访客（尤以巡查员为甚）还会简要评论学校的管理状况与办学氛围。
达尔伍德公立学校（Dalwood Public School）的访客登记簿系列仅留存1952年6月起的卷宗，早期卷册的下落目前尚不明确。现存两卷登记簿中，截至1960年末的绝大多数条目均由前来提供宗教教育的神职人员填写。在该校后续运营的十年间，未再出现神职人员的相关登记条目，据此推测此期间校方可能另行留存了单独的《到访神职人员登记簿》。
现存两卷登记簿中，一卷仅包含四条记录，分别为1961年两条、1962年一条及1968年一条；另一卷则记录了1952年至1960年的内容，同时还补充了1965年至1968年的十条额外记录。由此可进一步推测，校方原本计划于1961年启用新的访客登记簿，但后续出现了一定程度的管理混乱，导致1962年后的登记记录大多回归旧簿留存。