NELSON GOVERNMENT GAZETTE. 87

are about equal. The teaching is careful and methodical.

Motupipi and Clifton—Mr. and Mrs. Robinson.—The fate of the former of these small schools should be a warning to the Board not to yield lightly to local pressure, however persistent, either in favor of opening or of retaining schools within short distances of each other. After rejecting repeated applications from the inhabitants of Motupipi for a new and more central school, for the want of which, it was alleged, 33 children were being deprived of an education, the Board, towards the close of 1868, built a school, at a cost of more than £150. Although this has now been at work for more than two years, and the master is both popular and fairly competent, the attendance during the last quarter averaged only 9. Bad roads will, doubtless, partly account for this; but during the summer months, when the roads are comparatively good, the attendance reached only 12. Nevertheless, the Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic of both schools are suprisingly good.

Collingwood—Mr. and Mrs. O'Sullivan.—48 children were present at my last examination of this school, which had increased so much as to render the appointment of an assistant necessary. No marked improvement was perceptible in the Reading, but much had been done in both Writing and Arithmetic, while the first class answered readily the questions put to them in Geography. The rate of attendance, 74 per cent. for the year, is high, when the state of the roads and the distance of the homes of many of the children from school are considered.

Westport—Mr. and Mrs. Fraser.—I am glad to be able to report that in several respects this important and numerously attended school, to which I made such unfavorable reference last year, has shown some improvement. Fifteen good readers now appear upon the return, this column being formerly a blank as far as Westport was concerned. The first and second classes can also give a tolerably clear account of what they have been reading. The Handwriting is still, however, by no means what it ought to be, and the Arithmetic is singularly backward, being, apparently, of the kind known to schoolmasters as "rule of thumb." In justice to the teachers, I must again notice the significant fact that only 5 out of 135 scholars, 1-27th of those on the roll, are allowed by their parents to remain at school after they have completed their twelfth year, the usual proportion of children over 12 in our schools being a sixth.

Addison's Flat—Mrs. Duffy.—Although the discipline here struck me as being lax, and the method of teaching as rather primitive, the results for the past year are, on the whole, very satisfactory. The scholars read smoothly and distinctly, spell well, and show good training in their tables. The percentage of attendance, 78, is unusually high, and is of itself a sufficient test of the estimation in which the teacher is held by the parents.

Charleston—Mr. and Miss Mitchell.—When I examined this school last, the master had been for some time disabled by illness. I found, nevertheless, that the upper classes read and spelt better than they did formerly, and that the Geography was of more than average merit. It should also be recorded, to the credit of the children, that they had the good feeling to maintain perfect order among themselves during my examination, in the absence of their master.

Charleston—Mr. Moore.—An average daily attendance of 40, and a percentage of 89 during the last half-year, are evidences of the flourishing state of this school. The Reading throughout is better than the tender years of the scholars would lead me to expect, two-thirds of those on the roll being under nine years. The outlines of Grammar, Geography, and History are also successfully taught. On the other hand, both the Writing and Arithmetic have fallen below even last year's very moderate standard, while the preposterous system of teaching boys and girls attending a mixed school, and learning the same subjects, in separate classes, is retained, to the manifest injury of both teacher and taught.

Cobden—Mr. Ray.—No single master, however skilful and energetic he may be—and the master of Cobden school is both—can long continue to do justice to the 47 scholars who now crowd his small school-room daily. Assuming even that the numbers will remain just as they are, an addition to the room and the employment of an assistant appear to me to be urgently required. By dint of extraordinary exertions, Mr. Ray has largely added to the number of good readers and writers during the past year, the Arithmetic, Grammar, and Geography being at least equal to what they were formerly. The discipline is also very good.

Brunnerton—Mr. Young.—Good use has been made of the fifteen months that have elapsed since Brunnerton was opened as a public school, though it cannot be expected to compete with older establishments for some time to come. Arithmetic is the branch in which the scholars have progressed the most palpably, though in other respects they show signs of careful teaching. The daily attendance is now 26, the rate of attendance, 84 per cent., being exceptionally high.

Brighton—Mrs. West.—This school, which was closed for a time, owing to the thinness of the attendance, has been re-opened lately, under better auspices, in a convenient building midway between Brighton and St. Kilda, formerly used as a hospital, but now lent by the Provincial Government for school purposes. The daily attendance for the past quarter is 16, the per centage being 72.

I am, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
W. C. HODGSON,
Inspector of Schools.

Nelson, August 3rd, 1871.