(3) Knowledge of the common phenomena of the external world, with special reference to the formation of a habit of intelligent and accurate observation, and to the application of that habit-in conjunction with simple forms of experiment-in the daily life and surroundings of the scholars.

(4) Geography, advancing from first notions to an outline knowledge of the chief physical features of the earth, and specially of the British Isles, and the British dominions beyond the seas.

(5) History, comprising a general knowledge of the great persons and events in English history and of the growth of the British Empire.

(6) Drawing, including drawing from actual objects, memory drawing, and brush drawing, together with other simple hand and eye training.

(7) Singing, which should, as a rule, be taught by note and should include practice in proper breathing.

(8) Physical exercises, according to an improved system.

(9) Plain needlework for girls, including in the later years lessons in cutting out.

See also Article 4.

It is desirable that as far as possible subjects (1) to (6) should be taught in relation to each other and with reference to the surroundings of the children. The instruction should afford frequent opportunities for the practice of oral and written composition.

Part of the instruction of infants should be given by means of appropriate and varied occupations, and to a less extent the same methods should find a place in the teaching of the younger scholars (article 3). Instruction in history and geography need not be given to infants.

One or more of the above subjects of instruction may be partly or wholly omitted in any class in which the board are satisfied that there is good reason for the omission.

2. The instruction under article 1 must be in accordance with a syllabus which the inspector may require to be submitted to him at any time. The board may require the modification of any portion of the syllabus which is considered unsuitable.

The syllabus should show the amount of time allotted to each subject and should ordinarily provide for a full year's instruction, but that year need not be identical with the school year (article 27) or with the educational year adopted for any special subject (Schedule III, rule 1).

3. The classification of scholars for instruction under article 1 should not be based on a precise separation according to age; but scholars who, at the close of the course of instruction for the year, will not have completed their seventh year should generally be regarded as “infants." Other scholars should generally be regarded as younger scholars" until the close of the year of instruction in which they complete their eleventh year, and afterwards should generally be regarded as “older scholars."

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4. Instruction in the following subjects (for which special grants are made on conditions specified) may also be given to scholars in the upper classes under the regulations prescribed, where adequate equipment and efficient teachers are available:

For boys, handicraft, gardening, and (in schools in seaport towns, with the special consent of the board) cookery.

For girls, cookery, laundry work, dairy work, and household management. 5. One or two subjects other than those named in articles 1 and 4 may often be taught with advantage to older scholars. The inspector will satisfy himself (1) that any subject thus taken is suitable to the age, circumstances, and capacities of those scholars who take it; (2) that it can be taken without interfering with the general course of instruction; (3) that it can be efficiently taught, and (4) that the instruction will be given in accordance with a suitably graduated scheme.

6. Instruction may be given in religious subjects, but no grant is made in respect of such instruction. (Section 97 (1), elementary education act, 1870.) 7. The time during which instruction is given in each subject taken under this code, whether at the school or elsewhere, must be entered in the time-table and is subject to the approval of the inspector on behalf of the board.

The time-table must be open at any reasonable time, except the ordinary school hours, to the inspection of the parent of any scholar attending the school who makes a written application to see it.

The time-table must be kept permanently and conspicuously affixed in every schoolroom. (Section 7 (2), elementary education act, 1870.)

CHAPTER II. -Teaching staff.

THE HEAD TEACHER.

8. Every school or department must have a head teacher, who should be held responsible for the general control and supervision of the instruction and discipline.

A school may consist of one or more" departments," and, for the purposes of this code, the board have power to determine whether any part of a school is or is not a depart

ment.

cases:

9. The head teacher must be a certificated teacher, except in the following (a) The head teacher of a school with an average attendance of not more than 50 scholars may be a provisionally certificated teacher.

(b) The head teacher of a school with an average attendance of not more than 40 scholars may be an uncertificated teacher provided the inspector reports (1) that such teacher is specially qualified to take charge of the school in question and (2) that the school is so circumstanced that it is difficult to obtain a certificated teacher.

(c) The head teacher may, with the special approval of the board, be a retired army schoolmaster recommended for that purpose by the war office.

If a school or department which is already on the annual grant list is kept open and the registers are duly marked, grants will be payable in respect of any period (not being more than three months exclusive of the ordinary school holidays) between the leaving of one and the coming of another head teacher qualified under this article.

THE STAFF.

10. The school or department must have a sufficient and suitable staff.

The "staff" of a school or department consists, for the purposes of this code, of all the teachers whose employment in the school or department is recognized by the board (see articles 11 and 15).

In considering the sufficiency and suitability of the staff the board will have regard to the arrangement of the premises for teaching purposes, the number of children in attendance, their organization and proficiency, the nature of the approved course of instruction, the qualification of each member of the staff, and his suitability for the work assigned to him.

11. In order to be recognized on the staff of a school or department a teacher other than the head teacher must (with the exceptions named in the two following paragraphs) be a certificated teacher, a provisionally certificated teacher, or an uncertificated teacher.

(a) For the present supplementary teachers and pupil-teachers may be recognized on the staff, and provisional assistant teachers and probationers who have obtained recognition before August 1, 1904, may continue to serve under the regulations of the provisional code, 1903, and to form part of the staff of the school or department.

(b) Where vacancies in the office of any teacher other than the head teacher occur in the course of the school year and are duly reported to the board, young persons may be employed temporarily as monitors in place of the teachers causing the vacancies and may be recognized temporarily as part of the school staff, each monitor being accepted as equivalent to a pupil-teacher. Such vacancies must always be supplied by the appointment of duly qualified teachers as soon as possible and in no case later than the first day of the next school year.

(c) No person who is a member of, or is employed otherwise than in teaching by, a local education authority, school board, or school attendance committee, as the case may be, can, as a rule, be recognized as part of the staff of any school within the area of such authority.

(d) No person who is a clerk in holy orders or the regular minister of a congregation can be recognized as part of the staff of a school or department for the purposes of this code.

12. (a) In no case will a staff be considered sufficient if it is not at least equivalent for the average attendance measured by the following scale:

The head teacher...

Each assistant teacher certificated___.

Children in average attendance.

50

60

45

30

30

Each assistant teacher (uncertificated or provisionally certificated).
Each supplementary teacher_--

Each provisional assistant teacher.
Each pupil-teacher__.

Each probationer_--

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The above scale must not be understood to indicate that a school thus staffed is necessarily efficient. In every case the circumstances of the individual school will be considered in relation to the educational conditions of the area, and the sufficiency of the staff thus tested will be a condition precedent to a grant.a

(b) For the purpose of article 32 the following scale is substituted for that given in (a) above: Children in average attendance.

The head teacher.

Each assistant teacher certificated..

Each assistant teacher (uncertificated or provisionally certificated)

Each supplementary teacher----

Each provisional assistant teacher_.

Each pupil-teacher__

Each probationer_.

40

40

30

20

20

20

10

INFANTS' DIVISIONS.

13. An infants' division with an average attendance exceeding 50 must be under the charge of a certificated teacher of its own, and an infants' division with an average attendance exceeding 30 must be under the charge of a teacher over 18 years of age approved for the purpose by the inspector.

No grant will be paid in respect of any period longer than three months (exclusive of the ordinary school holidays) during which the division has been without such a teacher.

If a department contains both infants and other scholars, the infants taken together form the infants' division."

SIZE OF CLASSES.

14. The grant may be withheld if it is found that the number of scholars habitually present at any one time under the instruction of any teacher or teachers exceeds by more than 15 per cent the number for which such teacher or teachers is or are equivalent, according to the scale of article 12 (a).

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT.

15. All teachers must be employed under written agreements, except that in the case of a school provided by a local authority a teacher other than a pupilteacher may be employed under a minute of the authority.

(a) Any agreement or minute of appointment dated on or after August 1, 1904, under which a teacher other than a pupil-teacher is employed in a public elementary school, must include, either expressly or by reference to this article of the code, one or other of the alternative clauses set out below:

The board will not recognize, as part of the staff of a school or department, any teacher other than a pupil-teacher unless this condition is complied with.

Clause (1).-The teacher shall not be required to perform any duties except such as are connected with the work of the school, or to abstain, outside the school hours, from any occupations which do not interfere with the due performance of his duties as teacher of the public elementary school.

Clause (2).—The teacher shall not be required to perform any duties except such as are connected with the work of the school and with the instruction of pupil teachers and probationers, or to abstain, outside the school hours, from any occupations which do not interfere with the due performance of his duties

This article does not apply to Greenwich Hospital or to marine schools.

as teacher of the public elementary school or with the instruction of pupilteachers and probationers.

(b) Clause (2) must only be included if the teacher is required to instruct pupil-teachers or probationers who are not receiving instruction in a center recognized by the board. In other cases clause (1) must be included.

(c) Subsection (a) of this article does not apply to marine schools or to schools which are attached to institutions in which children are boarded and lodged.

. (d) The agreements of pupil-teachers must conform to the regulations for the instruction and training of pupil-teachers.

CHAPTER III.-Premises, accommodation, and equipment.

17. Before placing a school on the list of schools in receipt of annual grant and before recognizing any enlargements or alterations (other than minor alterations as defined below) of the premises of a school already on that list, the board must be satisfied by the submission of plans, drawn in accordance with the prescribed requirements, that the building rules are complied with.

The recognized accommodation, or maximum number of scholars in average attendance for which the premises are suitable, will be determined by the board, in the case of new buildings or of alterations or enlargements, from the approved plans.

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18. As a condition of retaining a school on the list of schools in receipt of annual grant the board may, from time to time, require such alterations as may, in their opinion, be necessary to secure that the premises shall be safe in case of fire, shall have suitable and sufficient sanitary and cloak-room accommodation for the scholars in attendance, shall be capable of being properly lighted, warmed, drained, and ventilated, and shall be adequate, and suitably arranged for the instruction of the children in attendance according to their age.

The recognized accommodation of a school may from time to time be revised by the board, and there shall in no case be less than 80 cubic feet of internal space and 8 square feet of internal area for each unit of the number of children in average attendance for which the school is recognized.

19. The number of scholars in average attendance should not exceed the recognized accommodation, and if the inspector finds at any visit to a school that the premises and offices are not kept in a clean and healthy condition, or that any room is habitually used for a larger number of scholars than that for which it is passed by the board, he will at once report accordingly.

20. The board may from time to time require provision to be made for the adequate and suitable equipment of the school with desks, furniture, books, maps, and other apparatus of elementary instruction.

CHAPTER IV.-Inspection and reports.

21. Every public elementary school is inspected from time to time by the board. An inspector may visit at any time any public elementary school or place where the scholars of a public elementary school are receiving instruction under the code.

A school must have been visited by an inspector during the course of any period for which grant is claimed; but the state of the school will not necessarily be the subject of a detailed report each year by an inspector.

22. The inspector, where he considers it desirable, may hold an oral or written examination of any class in the school on the work done in the class since the commencement of the current year of instruction. Such examination, when held, will be arranged by the inspector after consultation with the head teacher, and after consideration of any examinations which have been held during that period by the head teacher or the teacher of the class; and the inspector will confer with the head teacher as to the length of notice desirable before the examination is held.

23. Any report of an inspector, and any remarks made thereon by the board for communication to the managers of the school, must as soon as received be copied verbatim into the log book and signed by the correspondent.

24. The term " inspector," where used in this code, means exclusively one of His Majesty's inspectors of schools or any other person employed by the board for the purpose of inspection.

CHAPTER V.-Exchequer grants in aid and annual grant list.

25. There is annually voted by Parliament, for the purposes of elementary education in England and Wales, a sum of money to be administered by the board of education, in this code referred to as the "board."

From this sum are paid:

(a) The special aid grant payable under section 10 of the education act, 1902,₫ regulations for the payment of which can be obtained by local education authorities.

(b) The fee grant payable under the elementary education act, 1891.

(c) The "annual grants" in respect of individual public elementary schools [as provided for specially].

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The board's decision as to the fulfillment of such of these conditions as are not directly imposed by act of Parliament, is final and conclusive so far as regards the payment of grant.

CRANT ON ACCOUNT OF AVERAGE ATTENDANCE.

31. For school years ending on or after August 31, 1905, grants will be payable at the following rates subject to article 30:

(a) Fifteen shillings for each unit of the average attendance of children between 3 and 5 years of age; 20s. for each unit of the average attendance of children between 5 and 12 years of age; 25s. for each unit of the average attendance of children between 12 and 15 years of age.

(b) If the total average attendance of a department containing both infants and other scholars does not exceed 45, the board may make an additional grant of 2s. for each unit of the average attendance.

SPECIAL GRANTS TO SCHOOLS IN AREAS WITH SMALL POPULATIONS.

32. Where the population of the parish in which any public elementary school is situate, or the population within 2 miles, measured according to the nearest road from the school, is less than 500, and there is no other public elementary school recognized by the board as available for that parish, or that population, as the case may be, the board may make a special grant, in addition to all other grants, at the rate of £10 a year if the said population is not less than 300, at the rate of £20 a year if the said population is less than 300 and exceeds 200, or at the rate of £25 a year if the said population does not exceed 200; provided that in each case, as to £10 a year, no grant under this article is payable in respect of any period during which the staff has not satisfied the conditions of article 12 (b), subject to the conditions of articles 9 and 11 (b) as to vacancies.

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• Section 10 of the education act, 1902, is as follows:

Aid grant.

10. (1) In lieu of the grants under the voluntary schools act, 1897, and under section ninety-seven of the elementary education act, 1870, as amended by the elementary education act, 1897, there shall be annually paid to every local education authority, out of moneys provided by Parliament

(a) A sum equal to four shillings per scholar; and

(b) An additional sum of three halfpence per scholar for every complete twopence per scholar by which the amount which would be produced by a penny rate on the area of the authority falls short of ten shillings a scholar: Provided, That in estimating the produce of a penny rate in the area of a local education authority not being a county borough, the rate shall be calculated upon the county rate basis, which, in cases where part only of a parish is situated in the area of the local education authority, shall be apportioned in such manner as the board of education think just.

But if in any year the total amount of parliamentary grants payable to a local edu cation authority would make the amount payable out of other sources by that authority on account of their expenses under this part of this act less than the amount which would be produced at a rate of threepence in the pound, the parliamentary grants shall be decreased, and the amount payable out of other sources shall be increased by a sum equal in each case to half the difference.

(2) For the purposes of this section the number of scholars shall be taken to be the number of scholars in average attendance, as computed by the board of education, in public elementary schools maintained by the authority.

For parish read "school district" (elementary education act, 1870, secs. 4 and 10) in the case of areas where the education act, 1902, is not operative.