Page image
Page image

Gr.— -.

8

manner, as the house is anything but wind-tight. The building is rather too close to the schoolhouse.— Progress of pupils : I did not see the pupils at the school, as the weather was too bad to allow of their attending. I went to the settlement and saw the 3 or 4 who do occasionally attend, and these appeared to have a fair knowledge of English. The Natives told me that, in the event of an allowance of food being made by the Government for the children, there would be a good attendance; but that they were too poor to feed the children of the neighbouring settlements, and that their cultivations were too small to allow of the parents of these children coming over and planting food for them.— Efficiency of master: The teacher appears to be zealous, and anxious to succeed. He is certainly not to blame for the present state of the school. Ohaeawai School— lnspected 28th May, 1879.—0n roll: Boys, 31; girls, 12 : total, 43. Present: Boys, 8 ; girls, 4 : total, 12. Season given by teacher for small attendance —a marriage, and wet weather. —Building : The schoolroom is 31 feet 6 inches by 21 feet; house for teacher attached. The buildings are new, and apparently very comfortable. There are the necessary outbuildings. —Maps, &c. : Two Hemispheres, aud one Europe (too small), two ball-frames, reading cards, pictures, two blackboards, eight desks, 8 feet 6 inches each. This school should be supplied with a large map of Europe, England, and New Zealand. —Progress of pupils : The scholars do not appear to have made a sufficient amount of progress. —Efficiency of teachers : There were so few pupils present I am scarcely able to judge of the efficiency of the teachers, of whom there are two, a head-teacher and an assistant. Oromahoe School. —lnspected 26th May, 1879.—0n roll: Boys, 15; girls, 9 : total, 24. Present: Boys, 9 ; girls, 6: total, 15.—Maps, &c.: This school is well supplied with maps and other requisites. There are also a sufficient number of desks, but of the old pattern —that is, a steep incline to the desk, and a raised rim all round. This rim is very objectionable, increasing the difficulty of writing, particularly for the smaller children. These rims should be planed down. My remarks as to these raised rims will apply to every school I have visited, except where the American pattern of desk has been adopted. —Building: The school is held in what was originally a Native runanga house, 47 feet 6 inches by 26 feet 2 inches ; side walls, 4 feet 8 inches ; height to ridge, 9 feet 6 inches. The schoolroom itself is 31 feet 0 inches by 26 feet 2 inches. There are two class-rooms, 16 feet by 13 feet each. The building is old and dilapidated, and not weather-proof, the lowness of the walls rendering it very unhealthy. —Progress of pupils: The reading generally was very good, and the scholars were able to explain the meanings of the words. Composition and letter-writing good. Arithmetic: Well grounded in the lower rules ; some of senior classes working in proportion and reduction. Geography: General knowledge of the senior class good. Writing excellent. Discipline very good.—Efficiency of teacher: This school appears to be very well conducted, the teacher taking considerable pains with the scholars. Several pupils of the senior class have left the school permanently, and others have joined since; these bid fair to follow in the steps of their predecessors, showing considerable aptitude and ready apprehension of what is explained to them. Since taking charge of this school, the teacher, although living five miles away, has only upon one occasion allowed the weather to interfere with the opening of the school. He has now been in charge upwards of tw ro years. Waiomio School.— lnspected 16th June, 1879.—0n roll: Boys, 12 ; girls, 2 : total, 14. Present: Boys, 6 ; girls, 1: total, 7.- —Maps, &c.: The World (in hemispheres on one map), New Zealand, Johnson's Illustrations of Natural Philosophy, two ball-frames, blackboard and easel, twelve desks (length, 6 feet). —Buildings : Schoolhouse, 30 feet by 20 feet. There is also a detached teacher's house, which is apparently comfortable. —Progress of pupils: One boy read fairly, and answered questions in other subjects moderately well; the rest were either infants or reading in the Stepping-stone. —Efficiency of teacher: Six out of the seven pupils were so young that I had no data on which to found an opinion. I must add that the teacher did not appear to mc to manifest that interest in his work which is necessary to the success of the school, and which tends so far to insure a good result. Te Ti School.— lnspected 20th June, 1879. —On roll: Boys, 9 ; girls, 15: total, 24. Present: Boys, 6; girls, 10: total, 16. —Maps, &c.: Mercator's Map of World, Europe, Australasia, New Zealand, two desks (12 feet long), one blackboard, one set of Collins' Eeading Cards, one ball-frame. The desk accommodation is not sufficient; four desks on the American plan would supply the deficiency. Two Hemispheres, a large map of Europe, aud one of the British Isles are much required; also a set of natural-history pictures, ink-wells, and another blackboard and easel. —Building: The school is held in a rented building, which is very dilapidated, the wind and rain blowing clean through. The schoolroom (two rooms knocked into one) is 33 feet by 13 feet, with a fireplace. I was not surprised to find the teacher suffering from neuralgia, and the puprils with bad colds.—Progress of pupils: Eeading particularly good, aud the meanings of words well understood. Dictation fair. Composition has not been much practised. I recommended the teacher to pay more attention to this subject. Arithmetic fair. The scholars answered fairly well in geography. Writing good; but I was sorry to see the old, large round-hand style of copybooks in use here. Singing is taught. There is also a sewing teacher. Average attendance, 18. —Efficiency of teacher: The mistress of this school is most energetic, and thoroughly up to her work. Apart from applying herself conscientiously to her duties, she shows an interest in her work which must of itself insure success. In short, the results at this school were highly satisfactory. Waikare School. —Inspected 17th June, 1879. —On roll: Boys, 21 ; girls, 17 : total, 38. Present: Boys, 10; girls, 11: total, 21. —Maps, &c.: One map of the Hemispheres, one chart of Pacific, one blackboard and easel, set of wall cards. The following maps are very much required, viz.: Separate Hemispheres, Europe, New Zealand, and British Isles. There are twelve desks, 6 feet long ; these desks are much too steep. —Building :30 feet by 20 feet (walls, 12 feet) :in good repair. The teacher's house is detached, comfortable, and in good repair.—Progress of pupils: Eeading good, and meaning of words thoroughly understood. Arithmetic, from the simple rules to practice, very fair. Composition and letter-writing should be more practised. A bad supply of maps accounts for a deficiency in geography. Writing fair. Sewing is not taught. The number of girls at this school would warrant an allowance for a sewing-teacher. —Efficiency of teacher : This school is a comparatively new one. The teacher is energetic and zealous, and, I believe, well qualified to conduct it successfully.

Log in or create a Papers Past website account

Use your Papers Past website account to correct newspaper text.

By creating and using this account you agree to our terms of use.

Log in with RealMe®

If you’ve used a RealMe login somewhere else, you can use it here too. If you don’t already have a username and password, just click Log in and you can choose to create one.


Log in again to continue your work

Your session has expired.

Log in again with RealMe®


Alert