E.—2.

The school tone is very good. The Committee deserve great credit for maintaining a good attendance in rather unfavourable circumstances. The roll number was nineteen, and the average attendance for the year was 18-06. Te Araroa (examined 26th May, 1902). —A peculiar disciplinary expedient works well here. Marks are given—bad marks —and a child that secures a stated number of marks has to do extra work. The teaching here is very painstaking, conscientious, and intelligent. The principal desideratum is more, and more confident, English. Of course, correctness should always be secured, towards the end of a lesson if not at the beginning. This school, although not so large as it used to be, continues to be very valuable, not only as an educational instrument, but as a civilising agency. It would not be easy to overestimate the value of the work done here. Besults are decidedly good. Bangitukia (examined 27th and 28th May, 1902). —In the matter of size this is one of our best schools; so also in other respects. The extra subjects are well taught. Cartonwork and scale drawing (plan and elevation) take the place of the old freehand. It is a great improvement. Singing is tuneful and hearty. Physical drill is well done, and the cadet corps has made a very satisfactory beginning with military drill. Throughout the methods are well chosen, and the teaching is intelligent and thorough. The school results were decidedly good. The workshop was of little use just then, because the Union Steamship Company had lost the timber for the benches. When a new supply of timber arrived, this difficulty would be obviated. At inspection the teacher was able to show good work, done by individual scholars ; he had also done a good deal of theoretical work with the class. During the year the school had suffered much from limited foodsupply. Tikitiki (examined 29th and 30th May, 1902). —In view of the fact that the new master had had only a short time in which to prepare his pupils for examination, the results were in many respects decidedly good. The work now before the teacher is to secure abundant spoken English —clear, confident, and correct. Answers in complete sentences should always be demanded, even from the lowest standard. It is imperative that the master should pay great attention to this matter, which lies, so to say, directly in the road to complete success, and may be made either a most valuable aid if attended to, or a fatal obstacle if neglected. Each class should have a daily conversational lesson lasting not less than half an hour. The school tone is decidedly satisfactory, and the order is good. Wai-o-matatini (examined 31st May, 1902, Saturday).—The school tone, so far as it depends on the master, is good. Wherever this teacher goes he is respected by the Maoris : this is certainly the case here. Also, there are many strong points in the general work of the school, and the passmarks gained are fairly numerous, although a little disappointing. This weakness was, no doubt, to a large extent due to a great hui held two months previously, which demoralised the school to a regrettable extent. Most of the children gave their whole time to the incidental delights of the hui, and several of the older girls were away for weeks, acting as waitresses. The effect of all this on the school was necessarily bad; it could but give a general aspect of slovenliness to much of the examination and inspection work, which would have proved satisfactory had it not been for the fatal influence of what must be called long-continued deadening distraction of the children's attention from their every-day life and duty. Tuparoa (examined 3rd and 4th June, 1902). —The "extra subjects" work was so good that full marks had to be given for it. An organized effort is being made here by the people to provide a midday meal for children from a distance. It will be very interesting to watch the progress of this effort. The school is still a model of organization. The children take a great part in this themselves, and show real capacity for doing so. They are well drilled, well-mannered, and well taught. The results, generally, are good, in some cases very good, although the arithmetic of the upper standards is a little disappointing. It may be of service to remark that it is not difficult to find why the highly organized methods in use here do not always yield quite the expected results. It is simply because it is insufficient for children merely to know things, valuable as knowledge is; it is indeed very important that children should know the reason for everything they are asked to do, but it is still more important that they should at the earliest moment be made able to put knowledge into practice. In many cases practice may advantageously precede complete knowledge. It is a matter for regret that the Department is about to lose the faithful and valuable services of Mr. G. C. Blathwayt. Every member of the Department that has become fully acquainted with his admirable work wishes Mr. Blathwayt and his family great success in the sphere they are about to occupy. Whareponga (visited sth June, 1903). —No formal examination of the school was held, but two children who had been taught at other schools were examined, and passed. Thirty-four children's names only were on the roll of this new school—about the number expected. The master has good methods, and his school had made a very satisfactory advance. At inspection the master gave an English lesson that deserved to be called very good indeed. The following remarks would, it was thought, be useful to the master: (1) Explanation and comprehension work should precede a reading-lesson ; (2) mental arithmetic should be taken first, not last. Hiruharama (examined 2nd and 3rd June, 1902). —The discipline is good. The extra subjects —except the drawing, which is poor—are well up to the mark. The teaching as a whole is intelligently and patiently given. No general defect was observed, but there is still considerable want of appreciation of the potentialities of Maori-school teaching. In Standard IV. work suitable for Standard 111 was being done. The methods are good, in fact, but too slowly developed. It is also not always recognised that the point gained is only a starting-point for something beyond. The people are very fond of their teachers, and are most anxious that they should not be removed. The results, though not nearly so good as the teaching had led one to expect, could not, in view of the teacher's two serious illnesses, be considered unsatisfactory.

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