All with brick; and the rest of the walls with the flint, headed and laid in course. the facing, with the exception of that on the west side, where the offices are, is pointed with mortar darkened with coal-ash, and lampblack. This not only improves the appearance, but makes the mortar stiffer and better. A School Room. B School Room. C Sitting Room. D Offices. E Coals. F Washing Shed. H Open Courts. I Passage. J Pantry. K Porch, with seats in the outer corners. The school-rooms, which are 24 by 17 feet, and 30 by 17 feet, the smaller of which has been allotted to the boys, and the larger to the girls and infants, will contain about 150 children. They were made of this size, although the present population of the place cannot supply more than 60 or 70 children, because they are wanted to answer other purposes, as well as that of a school. A place was wanted in which the children and their parents could dine together on certain days, and where the master might teach singing. There has, no doubt, been a sacrifice of some convenient appendages to schools, to secure the rooms being of this extra size; but it is thought that, all things considered, the sacrifice was worth making. A lobby for hats and bonnets, cloaks and umbrellas, is a great convenience; but it could not have been had without altogether altering the plan of the school, for it would have deranged the proportion of the building to have made the porch large enough for such a purpose. There is less difficulty, too, in dispensing with a lobby in the case of this school; for the girls are the parties who most require it, and there is a shed among the offices for them to wash their hands in before sitting down to needlework, and where they can place their umbrellas and cloaks on a rainy day. A classroom is certainly a great addition to a school, and its absence here is more regretted than that of a lobby. However, a place for it has been left on the west side; and it is intended some day to add it. The front and back doors of each room are placed on either side of the foldingdoors, that the least possible space may be lost, and the comfort of what is left increased by its not being exposed to draft. Had there been no back doors, the rooms might have been snugger; but then there would have been no avoiding the appearance of children constantly going in and out of their school, which is so very objectionable; not to speak of the increased opportunity of idling and playing truant that would have been thereby afforded. For decency-sake, where it can be managed the offices should be out of sight of visitors,-in no visible neighbourhood to the front door. They are placed very close to the schools here; and were it not for peculiarity of situation, smallness of numbers, and the use of the cast-iron hopper, which is found, with attention, to answer extremely well, this part of the arrangement might not have been found so practically unobjectionable as it has been. The schools are not battened. But after 18 months' trial, it is found that the south, and perhaps west, side of the boys' school requires it. Neither is there any water piping to the eaves of the roof; there was a desire to save the expense of it, where it was not needed, and it was left to experience to determine where it was. It is evident now that there is no necessity for it except on the west and south sides. The rise of damp in the walls is cut off, and most effectually, by a course of slate bedded in cement all round. The floor, as stated in the specifications, is of brick. This is cheaper than if it had been of wood, but not nearly so pleasant, nor perhaps so economical in the end. The roof overhangs, and is covered with old tiles, which are better than new, as being well seasoned, and much to be preferred in point of colour. It might not have cost more had the walls of the gables and sides been coped, and slate used for the roof; and water-gutters would then have been made in the first instance. That style of roofing has considerable advantages; but it is hardly so picturesque and suited to a country village as the other. Moreover, too, it is unusual in the neighbourhood, and could not be adopted, therefore, as it was intended that the school should be of the same general character as the cottages round it, and only differing from them in being thoroughly good of its kind. A Ground lines. B B Floor line. C Courses of Slates The cross in the east gable (the one most seen) was added to give it an ecclesiastical character-to mark that it was a Church-school, and not an overgrown cottage. The upper part is open, and assists in ventilating the roof; the lower part, as coming below the ceiling, is of course closed, though this could not be detected by the eye. Gables of the size here used would, it was thought, look heavy, if left blank; and to have brought the window head above the level of the shoulders of the gable, where there is only a ground floor, would have given the idea of there being a want of height in the walls. Relief is given in the south by a bell, in an open niche of brickwork, which has been copied, as nearly as it could be, from one in stone at Netley Abbey; the west has a stone with the date of the erection; and the north is occupied by the upper window of the dwelling. No exact rule was followed in determining the proportions of the building. The pitch of the roof was to be as high as was found to look well on a building of this width and height of wall; but, for the sake of economy, no higher. Trials upon paper, as to what would look well under the given circumstances determined also the height and width of the transom windows. These have one of the upper lights to open; and it is found quite sufficient that only one should do so; but, unhappily, they have not been hung, as they should have been, in a hopper casement, but on hinges. It may be worth while mentioning, that the tiebeams are screwed up from below, and that to conceal the nuts of the screws, instead of letting them into the beams, slips of wood, continuing the mouldings, and running from one end to the other, have been added, effectually hiding them, and at the same time giving increased depth and ornament. The cornice the of wall is formed by moulded ogee bricks, with common ones cornerwise upon them, and others on these placed lengthways. It is difficult to say exactly what the building cost, as there were some farm-buildings on the site previously, the materials of which were used in its erection. Their value was estimated at 951.; and the bills for the building were 5251.; making altogether 6204. But then the amount of the bills was increased by the price of the extra labour occasioned by the use of old materials; the sawing and working old oak wood, with broken nails in it, being more expensive than that of what is new. Had these been used, the building would not have cost more than 600/., and possibly somewhat less. The site was valued at 81.; and the total cost of the conveyance was 247. 178. The cost of the fittings up was 401.; but rather more than 101. of this was for boards and tressles, to serve as dining-tables. The specification of works, and copies of the working drawings, may be obtained at the National Society's Office, Westminster.-[Ed.] A SIMPLE METHOD OF ENSURING REGULAR ATTENDANCE IN SCHOOLS. [A paper read at one of the ordinary meetings of the Church Schoolmasters' Association, by the Rev. G. MOODY, M.A., President, with a few additions and corrections suggested by the discussion that followed.] AMONG all the labours and difficulties which I had to encounter at by far the greatest, indeed the only one that brought me to a stand-still, and forced me to say, "I must either conquer this, or throw up my undertaking," was that of Attendance. Before I had served many weeks as a National Schoolmaster, I was most feelingly convinced, that upon this single point, more than upon any other, hinged several of the most important elements of success in schoolkeeping: e. g., 1. Order. The greatest enemies to order, as you are all too well aware, are the children who attend unpunctually or irregularly. They seldom settle down to do any good. Even when they are at school, their hearts do not seem to be there; they are never at home there; they do not appear to know what they are come for; when they do come, it is all done grudgingly, and of necessity; their whole conduct and manner are enough to set a new boy against the school. They are generally, as might be expected, the parties most frequently brought up as disturbers of the peace. 2. Then, again, how much the tone of a school is affected by the general regularity or irregularity of attendance. To mention but one little circumstance, which would strike the least observant visiter :-The boys who come in late, almost always go to the bottom of their class, if not sulkily, certainly in a bad mind. 3. The evil effect upon the general progress in learning, is too obvious to need remark. Were those alone the losers who are the parties in fault, it would not so much signify; but the whole class has to go over the same ground again and again, to say nothing of the weariness to the teacher, or of the evil influences upon the industrial character of their class-fellows, disheartening some and corrupting many others. 4. Then there comes the very disagreeable question of punishment. Is it any exaggeration to say, that in very many schools there is as much, nay more, use made of the cane for offences connected with attendance, than for all other offences put together? This becomes a more serious matter, if, as I expect to shew, there ought not,-need not, to be any punishment at all, of any sort or kind, under this head. 5. Or is it any exaggeration to affirm, that in some of our large schools one-third (in my own case, for a while, more than one-half) of the master's time is taken up or frittered away about this one point? e. g. there is giving leave; inquiring after absentees; sifting out cases of suspected truancy; occasional difficulty in making the accounts come right (in which half an hour or half a morning may easily be lost); interviews with parents, neither the easiest nor the least important part of a master's duties; and a hundred other interruptions, all of which are a waste of time, 6.- and not unfrequently of temper too. Let me, for one, confess, that my temper was more tried in this way than in any other. There was something excessively provoking in the same child always coming with bread and butter in hand, "just in time to be too late" for prayers; and then to find the mother, who was evidently the party most to blame, always ready with the same answer, Why, sir, he could not have been above a minute behind his time; you are so very particular.” And, on the other hand, when I had once secured punctual and regular attendance, from that day I found it to be a pleasant employment to keep school. The various disagreeables seemed to diminish in proportion as the P.P. approached the T.* 7. Again, it would not be easy to overrate the importance of our present subject, as it regards the child's future career. The boy of whom there is most reason to fear that he will turn out badly in after-life, is the frequent or habitual truant. Truancy is to a schoolboy, very much what sabbath-breaking is to a lad in place; bad company being the temptation in both cases. A child never stays away from school to wander about the streets by himself. Now let us look this evil honestly in the face. A child committed to our care becomes a truant; and on leaving school a sabbath-breaker; and, a year after, a thief. Through whose neglect did he first enter on the road to ruin? Is not the school in many cases bound in fairness to bear most of the blame? just because the parents, supposing him to be safe under his master's eye, are at no pains to look after him. Is not the time lost somewhere between the parents' house and the school-room, the very time in which the boy falls into bad hands and begins to go wrong. On the other hand, how great an assistance and comfort to an anxious mother to be quite sure that she knows where her boy is; that, if not at home, he is at school. My reason for dwelling at so great length upon this introductory part of our subject is, that the only way in which I can account for many * The Present at Prayers approached the Total on the boards. masters allowing the evil to continue, is that, in the multiplicity of their engagements, they have never duly considered the point. If they are aware of its importance, and not able to remedy the evil, the wonder to me is, that they do not throw up their profession in despair. The late boys in some schools are enough to drive a man crazy. Well, at all events, we may easily get rid of this annoyance; I mean, of children entering the school after the proper hour. The remedy is the simplest thing in the world: it consists altogether in taking one word in its right meaning, or rather in getting rid of it altogether. We do not want the word "late" in our school-vocabulary. To be late is to be absent. Let us set out with the broad principle, that the rules of the school are really meant to be observed; that if, e. g., nine be the hour appointed for prayers, to be absent at that hour is to be absent from school. We must not allow any slight to be put upon the devotional exercises. I believe that many ignorant parents fancy that no time is lost by the child in being a few minutes behind his time: -he only misses the prayers. In order to set our face against this fatal error, as well as to secure good attendance, let our rule be, "No prayers, no school." The only exception being (and the very trouble will cause it to be a rare one), where one of the parents comes with the child, or sends a note with him containing a reason. It will be necessary, however, to file the notes as a check; should any boy bring a note often, then it is easy to say, "No more notes from John Smith." One of the parents, or at least an adult, must come with him, if ever he is late again. To be late without leave, is to be absent. Surely it must be a relief to any master to get rid of the punishment of late boys (say, in a school of 200 children, half a dozen when the door is opened after prayers; three or four, ten minutes after; two or three, ten minutes after that; one or two, after another ten minutes; say only one at ten o'clock, or half-past ten, or perhaps nearer eleven); to get rid of the punishment, in the simplest and best way, viz., by doing away with the offence. It would be no bad thing to hang up in the school-room a large notice, that "TO BE Late is to be ABSENT." The great desideratum, then, is to secure the largest number possible before prayers, so that they may be in the room the whole school-time, and to do this without punishment, and with little or no trouble to the master, whose duty I conceive to be to educate the children at school, and not to be hunting them up for the school; I wish him to be a schoolmaster, and not a constable or policeman. Of course, it is essential that we should proceed throughout upon sound principles, which indeed. I suspect, are the only ones that will thoroughly serve our purpose here; I say "thoroughly," being aware that something may be done by bribery and corruption, even where cruelty fails. The one principle, then, which alone (as far as I have been able to discover) will ensure success, is to throw the whole responsibility of the attendance upon the parents, from first to last. Let the master do his work, and require the parents to do theirs; giving them to understand, that in this, as in many other points, their fulfilment of their parental duties, as far as the school is concerned, is the one condition upon which the child can have the benefit of the school. To my |