NRS-20742 | Observation Books [Randwick Intermediate High School]

Full description

The purpose of the observation book was for the Inspector to comment upon the management of the school and effectiveness of the teachers and the instruction of their classes. The Regulations under the Public Schools Act, 1866 noted; “The Inspector's remarks upon the state of the school visited by him, will be entered in the “Observation Book” of the school, which, as a School Record should be carefully preserved. Entries therein are not to be erased or altered.” (Regulations adopted by the Council of Education on 27 February 1867 s.83.)

It was originally the practice for the Observation Book to be forwarded to departmental Head Office and the Inspector's Report to be hand-written in this volume, which was then returned to the school.  From 1927 this practice was altered and the book remained at the school, and the Inspector's Report was sent to the school and inserted into the book.  This volume commences with hand-written inspection reports, which later become type-written pages which were pasted into the Observation Book.

The layout of the reports is a brief section on the organisation of the school, sometimes omitted, with the remaining sections covering each of the subject areas being taught.