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to arouse it have been made for the sake of experiment, but they have utterly failed. Polite interest has been simulated amongst the older children, hut for the most part the efforts of the teacher in this direction have been unheeded. The apathy shown by the children as to the relative value of the cryptic marks “ Ex.,” “ V.G.,” “ G.,” “ F.,” beside written work goes to prove that there is no desire to gain the giddy heights of ‘‘ E x.” over and above one’s neighbours. The high er the standard the more futile do such remarks appear. All effort on the part of the teacher to produce a group standard is consciously or unconsciously resented by the children, and inter-group competition is openly rejected. The stimulus of marks or prizes in any form may he considered an acknowledgment that a spoonful of jam is required after powder. If food in the right form is given instead of medicine, no compensation is expected. In its earlier days the Caldecott Community formed a working basis from which, up to the present, it has not found it necessary to depart. It is founded on the belief that non-collective teaching is the best means of fostering independence of thought and action among children of all ages. The organisation may be briefly indicated as follows :— Nursery.—The Nursery children have free occupations, with the occasional stimulus of a five minutes’ “ lesson ’ in number or reading. The teacher never occupies herself with more than one at a time, whilst the others are left to their own devices. The occupations provided consist of reading and number, games, free drawing, clay modelling, bricks, etc. Junior Room.—These children, on leaving the Nursery, pass to a Junior Play Room. Here they are at liberty to talk and work together. They have free choice of occupation, and can draw, model, read, write, or design as they please. Their work, however, is varied by periodical lessons and stories on primitive history, poetry, and number work, and they are given a certain amount of work to do in connection with the lesson. The Study.—They are transferred to the main Study when their development indicates that they are ready for the more strenuous life it entails. Here the children for the most part pass through that “ ordeal by fire,” which sooner or later they must face. More is demanded of them m concentration, standards, methods, and hard work. At the same time they alone are responsible for apportioning their time and arranging the work which they have been given. A member of the teaching staff sits in the room during study hours, but she is often occupied with her own concerns, and is only available for advice or help if it is urgently needed. Lessons in mathematics, French, history, regional survey, and En glish are given in groups of two or three. These lessons are at fixed hours, and are eagerly claimed by the children; but in this section of the Community the proportion of lessons to the hours of individual study are rather higher than among the younger and older children, because it is felt that the transition stage