Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/757

 MODEL DESIGNS FOR COUNTRY SCHOOLS. 733 1380 -IJ^P^P n=sL^ mjX4j2fJi/ yi> HimIiihL ^ft. R _sil Jk ^ .::V.r-::- ^^ . 1 them may be taught 400 childi-en. The circles round which the children are to stand are drawn on the floor with chalk : there are writing-desks p round the walls as in the Madras school in Baldwin's Gar- dens, fig. 1377, and writing is also taught on slates. The schools are well lighted from the south-east and north-west ; and in the roof are ventilators formed in the manner shown in fig. 1381, in which the iron spindle which supports a board, or the pane of glass, p, is raised by two lines, q, passing over the pulleys, r, wlien the card, s, is pulled by a person standing on the floor of the school. The weight forming the handle, t, is such as to balance the ventilator in whichever position it may be placed. 1533. By the Lancasterian System the children are placed in lines across the room, with a form and desk to each line, and are chiefly taught in one mass when so placed ; but they are also taught in small classes in the form of semicircles round the room. The desiderata for a school to be taught on this system have been given in a very complete manner In an appendix to the work, already named, entitled Manual of the Model Schools of the British and Foreign School Society, from which we shall make a succinct abridgment. 1534. The Situation of the School should be retired and quiet, and the ground high, and open to the south. To preserve the pupOs from the inconvenience of cold and damp, it will bo better to raise the ground two or three feet f^ above the surrounding level. There should be a play-ground ^ or yard, in which the children may assemble before they t go into school, or during the hours of recreation. The soil of this yard should be of gravel, to the depth of one foot. It should be enclosed by a wall of suitable height, and Iiave a communication with the street or road, without passing through the scliool-room. There ought to be a good sujiply of fresh water, either from a pump, or a cask or cistern, with conveniences for the children to wash their hands and faces. One side of the vard 1S81