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6

Buildings : Schoolhouse, 40 feet by 20 feet. The building requires shingling at one end, otherwise in good repair. The teacher's house is detached, and leaks badly; requires shingling all over. There are two small rooms and a leau-to. The accommodation for the teacher is very scanty. The schoolhouse is much in want of paint.—Progress of pupils: I ascertained from the teacher that there are five scholars reading in No. 4 Eeader, four in No. 3, six in No. 2, seven in No. 1, and the rest in the Stepping-stone. In arithmetic, two are in vulgar fractions, ten in the compound rules, and the rest in the four simple rules. English composition and letter-writing are taught. Dictation is also practised. Geography is taught from the maps. I saw the copybooks, and the writing was very fair; but I was sorry to see that here, as well as at many of the other schools, Vere Foster's copybooks were not adopted. The average attendance for last quarter was 24, and for the present quarter 19. The teacher appears intelligent, and anxious to succeed. Whirinaki School. —Inspected 7th June, 1879. —On roll: Boys, 39; girls, 16: total, 55. Present, 50. —Maps, desks, &c. : Two Hemispheres (rather small), Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America, Australia, Oceania, and New Zealand (a map of the British Isles is required) ; one clock (broken), two blackboards and easels, ball-frame, and nine wall cards. —Desks: There is a sufficient supply of desks. —Building : This schoolhouse is in process of being altered. When completed the schoolroom will then be 33 feet by 20 feet, aud there will, besides, be four rooms for the accommodation of the teacher's family. This school stands in the centre of the settlement upon two acres of land, and should be fenced in. At present the cattle, horses, and pigs belonging to the Natives are in the habit at night of using the corners of the schoolhouse as rubbing-posts, manifestly to the destruction of the building and annoyance of the inmates. Estimated cost of materials and work for fence, £42. —Progress of pupils : Eeading in all the classes good. Tho pupils were fairly able to explain, in English, the meanings of the words ; composition and letter-writing fair. Arithmetic: The scholars were well grounded in this subject, the senior ones working in practice and vulgar fractions. Geography : Considerable attention has been given to New Zealand geography. General geography not so good. Dictation very fair. The pupils learn sewing and singing.—Efficiency of teacher: The master shows much aptitude for teaching, and takes great interest in his work. The discipline maintained at this school is good. I was glad to perceive that the authority of the-teacher is well upheld by the Native School Committee. The roll shows that a good attendance is always maintained at this school. Kaikohe School. —Inspected 31st May, 1879.—F0r all practical purposes this school has no existence. I found the teacher absent, and he had been absent for weeks. The school during his absence was supposed to be carried on by his wife; but school had not been held for some time. This teacher is in receipt of an allowance for boarders. At present they number only ten, half of whom are his own children. These ten, of whom one was a European boy, mustered, and I found that not one of them could read such words as " dog," " cat," &c.; nor could they do the simplest sum in addition. The building in which the school is supposed to be held is little better than a ruined shanty, originally belonging to the teacher, since sold. It is now occupied as a schoolhouse only on sufferance. There is a large Native population at Kaikohe, which is a flourishing settlement; and were a school built here, and a competent teacher appointed, the attendance would be numerous. The Natives here, as elsewhere, recognize the necessity of a school, and are willing to grant land for that purpose. Iv the event of a new school being built, and another teacher appointed, I should judge the attendance would not be less than 40. Waitapu School. —Inspected 4th June, 1879. —On roll: Boys, 17 ; girls, 23 : total, 40. Present: Boys, 14; girls, 21: total, 35. —Maps, &c. : Chart of the World, Oceania, England, Scotland, Ireland, New Zealand; one set of Collins's Heading Cards, one ball-frame, one blackboard and easel, one clock, fifteen ink wells, two desks running the whole length of the room attached to and facing the wall on each side, and a long (12 feet) low table in the centre of the room for the use of the smaller children; seven forms (this plan of desk is very objectionable, as it is impossible for tho teacher to keep all the scholars under his eye at the same time ; if attending to one side of the room, the children on the other are not under any surveillance, feeling themselves relieved from the restraint of the master's eye) ; one clock. — Buildings : Tho school-room, which is 28 feet by 20 feet, with side-walls only 8 feet in height, is little better than a shed. The planking of the floor in many places has rotted through, the roof leaks, and tho wind and rain come through everywhere. The structure altogether is not worth repairing. The teacher's house, a detached building, contained two rooms and a skillion ; it is very small and far from weather-proof. A verandah is much needed in front of the house, which is so exposed that the rain now drives under door and window-sill, and through every crevice it can find, thoroughly inundating the house. A closet is also much required. There is no water at this place except in winter time. Tho teacher has to carry water from a distance in a boat. A tank or a well would be a boon. —Progress of pupils : Eeading very good, and meanings of words well understood. Composition not so satisfactory, but to be accounted for by the fact that many of the children are comparatively new scholars. Arithmetic very fair. The pupils showed a fair general knowledge of the geography of the world and of New Zealand; writing, very good; singing, particularly good. Sewing is also taught. —Efficiency of master : The state of this school is highly satisfactory. Tho teacher is very zealous in the discharge of his duties, and appears to have a natural aptitude for teaching. The discipline is good, and the general appearance of the scholars neat, clean, and orderly. Although I arrived at this school in very rough weather, and was entirely unexpected, yet 1 found the muster within 5 of the number on the roll. Waihou School. —Inspected 3rd June, 1879.—0n roll: Boys, 15; girls, 25: total, 40. Present: Boys, 9 ; girls, 17 : total, 26. —Maps, &c.: Mercator's World (bad), Europe, England, New Zealand. Separate maps of the hemispheres are very much required. Twelve picture cards, two blackboards, one easel, one ball-frame, one clock, twelve desks 8 feet long. I recommended that the desks should be arranged along the sides of the room instead of across the width, as at present. —Building: Schoolroom aud teacher's dwelling-rooms in the one building. Schoolroom, 29 feet by 20 feet; teacher's rooms, two, respectively 12 feet by 14 feet and 8 feet by 14 feet. The building is in a good state of

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