Organisation, Curriculum, and Standard of Work (continued)

same curriculum as the corresponding forms in the thirds, take the external examination in the fifth forms. In the fifths, however, English literature becomes alternative to geography; in VD additionally, pupils may take either physics and chemistry, devoting. 4 periods weekly to each, or else one of these subjects (for 5 periods a week) together with economics (3 periods) as a nonexamination subject. In VD some boys drop French and take technical drawing instead.

The object of these arrangements is two-fold: first, to enable the brightest pupils, via the four-year "express stream, to enter the sixth form at the earliest possible moment, and to avoid the need for premature decisions on their future subjects of specialisation in the sixth. There are, however, disadvantages in the arrangements. In the first place, it appears that the preliminary courses which some of the boys in the present lower sixth have received have been hurried and that therefore the boys are immature for advanced work. Second, the existence of a four-year course alongside a five-year course prevents the full use of sets in certain subjects where it would clearly be advantageous to make the teaching groups as homogeneous as possible. It should be borne in mind that, although the boys in IIIA and IVA may well be on the whole more able than their fellows of the same age, it does not by any means follow that they are abler in all subjects. Third, the curriculum followed by the boys of the four-year course above IIA excludes all the aesthetic subjects. It is true that the boys may, and some of them indeed do, return to these subjects in the sixth form, but their achievement at this stage suffers from their neglect of the subjects in the third and fourth (and sometimes also in the second) years. Lastly, the short courses in languages followed by the boys in the A forms, combined with the small number of periods devoted each week to these subjects, virtually prevents the boys from reading widely before they enter the sixth form, where they therefore find themselves ill-prepared for advanced work. It might well be better to have five-year courses to the sixth form for all boys entering at the normal age. With these it should be possible to enable the more gifted in particular subjects to undertake work well above the standard expected for the ordinary-level examinations and there would be no need to deny these boys the benefit of a good. training in the aesthetic subjects. If alternative courses were made available in certain subjects for instance, if boys with two languages could take chemistry and physics as a combined subject - there would be no need to make a too-early decision on the branch of the sixth form that boys should enter.

The sixth form is divided horizontally into lower, middle, and upper and vertically (in the lower and middle sixths) into arts, economics, and science sides, the last including the mathematical specialists. The number of pupils on each side in the lower and middle sixth forms is shown in the following table:

Arts Economics Science

Lower Sixth 23 22 37 82
Middle Sixth 14 32 43 89

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