NRS-16915 | Visiting Clergy Book [Lewinsbrook 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 also 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). Most schools recorded visits by clergy in their Visitors’ Books, but some eventually came to keep Visiting Clergy Books as a separate record, and volumes printed for this purpose were available by the early 1960s.These volumes were organised in four columns, which recorded the following information: the date of the visit, the name of the visitor, their denomination, and the number of lessons given on each occasion. The fourth column was further divided into three sub-columns, and the school was instructed to insert headings in these as required, to allow for classification of the lessons given by class or age.Prior to June 1962 clergy or their delegates visiting the school in order to provide religious instruction to the pupils appear in the school’s Visitors’ Book.Only two denominations are represented in this volume: the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church.

1866年《公立教育法案》（Public Instruction Act, 1866）授权来访牧师及其代表开展专项宗教教育（1866年《公立学校法案》（Public Schools Act, 1866）第19条）；该法案配套的条例允许公众在“世俗教育时段”进入学校观摩教学方法、教材与教学设备（1867年2月27日教育委员会通过的条例第84-85条）。该条例同时要求每位教师必须留存访客登记簿，“访客可在此登记姓名，若认为合适亦可留下评论，教师绝对不得擦除或修改此类评论”（同上条例第86条）。多数学校会将神职人员的来访记录登记在通用访客登记簿中，但部分学校后续会单独设立“来访牧师登记簿”进行专项记录，且早在20世纪60年代初就已推出专门印制的此类登记簿册。此类登记簿共设置四栏，用于记录以下信息：来访日期、访客姓名、所属教派，以及每次到访所授课的数量。第四栏进一步划分为三个子栏，学校需根据实际需求为这些子栏增设标题，以便按班级或年龄对所授课程进行分类。1962年6月之前，凡为向学生提供宗教教育而到访学校的神职人员及其代表，均需登记在学校的访客登记簿中。本登记簿仅收录两个教派的相关记录：英国国教会（Church of England）与罗马天主教会（Roman Catholic Church）。