NELSON GOVERNMENT GAZETTE. 77

junior scholars are carefully prepared by Mr Severne. The
tone of the school is still excellent.

St. Mary's: Girls (115 present)—Sisters of Charity.—The
pupils, especially those in the upper classes, acquitted
themselves remarkably well in every branch at my last exami-
nation. The arithmetic was, indeed, so good as to deserve
special mention. One only out of a class of fourteen girls
failed to solve correctly eleven questions set by myself, some
of which presented considerable difficulties. No such result
has been attained this year in any other public school. I
observe that several of the senior pupils are undergoing a
special training as pupil teachers, an admirable plan by which
the present teaching staff is strengthened, and provision is
being made for a future supply. The discipline of the school
is perfect.

Clifton Terrace: (21 present)—Mr Gilbert.—The general
conclusion that I have come to with regard to this school is,
that while what may be termed the mechanical branches are
singularly well taught, intellectually the scholars rank low.
They read, for instance, fairly, but explain badly. Their
handwriting is also exceptionally good, arithmetic
being defective. Their dictation is accurate, but their
knowledge of grammar and geography very slight. The low
rate of attendance, only 55 per cent during the first two
quarters of the year, will explain much of this backwardness.

Hillside and Valley: Half-time Schools—(Happy
Valley 18 present, Hillside 17)—Mr Collins.—Although the
rate of attendance under this system is now less than when the
attraction of novelty brought the average up to nearly 80 per
cent, I regard the working of the half-time system in this dis-
trict at least as being on the whole successful. Without
conceding what some enthusiasts have claimed for this plan—
that children learn under it quite as much as under the full-
time system—it is clear to me that an energetic teacher
like Mr Collins, and with parents who will make considerable
sacrifices to send their children regularly, a cheap elementary
education may thus be placed within the reach of many who
would otherwise remain quite untaught. Though the parents,
especially at Hillside, have by no means carried out their part
of the bargain so well as the master has done, fair progress in
every branch has been made at both schools.

Stoke: (49 present)—Mr Barnett.—When I last visited
Stoke the bulk of the scholars had only just returned from a
prolonged absence at hop-picking. It is desirable that both
here and in other districts where the children are likely to be
taken away periodically on this fact, the holidays should
be made to correspond, as nearly as possible, with the period
of absence. To teach for some weeks a mere skeleton of a
school is disheartening to the teacher, and must be com-
paratively unprofitable to the few scholars who remain, as
most of the work must be gone over again when the school is
refilled. The master, who has not been long appointed, was
doing his work well, as far as I was able to judge under the
circumstances, though the want of order among the younger
children showed the need of a second teacher.

Richmond: Boys (50 present)—Mr Willis, assistant Mrs
Harrington.—Under the present master, this school fully
maintains its former high reputation. The reading and writing
are of more than average merit throughout the school, the
arithmetic being excellent. It is noteworthy that the candi-
dates who are sent up from Richmond to compete for the
Provincial scholarships are invariably well trained, and set
about their work in a business-like and effective fashion.

Richmond: Girls (58 present)—Miss Spencer, assisted by
monitors.—I am glad to be able to report that in every respect
but one this admirably conducted school has fully regained the
ground lost last year through the unavoidable absence of its
mistress. The handwriting is uniformly good, and the spelling
excellent, several children of eight years old being able to
write out a by no means easy piece of dictation without a
mistake. In grammar, geography, and arithmetic the girls
also acquit themselves creditably. But the reading, even of
the upper classes, though fluent, is monotonous and spiritless.

Ranzau: (41 present)—Mr Combes, assisted by Miss
Timms.—A decided improvement has been effected here in
several branches. The first and second classes now read
very distinctly, and answer readily in both geography and
grammar. The arithmetic is somewhat mechanical, the
writing neat enough, but weak and scratchy.

Hope: (31 present)—Mr Ladley.—The late master, who
has just been transferred to Waimea West, having taught this
school for some years, leaves it in a creditable condition. The
children who have remained until the completion of their
twelfth year read well, and have a fair elementary knowledge
of grammar and geography. The penmanship is respectable,
and arithmetic is rationally taught. Good order is also kept.

River Terrace: (40 present)—Mrs and Miss Bryant.—In
spite of the bad attendance, which has never risen above 62
per cent, and in one quarter reached only 49, very good results
are attained here. The reading and writing are of more than
average merit, a marked improvement having taken place in
arithmetic, insomuch that I have found 21 scholars able to
work the more advanced rules against only 4 in the same
grade last year. Spelling is now the weak point in the school,
the upper classes writing from dictation incorrectly, while the
oral spelling of the lower classes is very faulty.

Spring Grove: (70 present)—Mr and Mrs Edmunds.—
Nothing could be better than the way in which the three
upper classes acquitted themselves at my last examination.
Reading, writing, arithmetic, and dictation were alike
thoroughly well taught. The children in the lower division,
however, cut but a poor figure when contrasted with their
seniors. The excessive subdivision of the classes, of which
there are no less than five in the junior department, will to
some extent account for this discrepancy. This is not the
only place in which much time and teaching are
frittered away by a needless splitting up of the school into
subdivisions. No elementary school should have more than
six classes, though I am aware that the practice, even in some
of our smaller schools, is to have as many as eight or nine.

Lower Wakefield: (68 present)—Mr and Mrs Chattock.—
Reading, spelling, and arithmetic are well taught throughout
the school, the junior division being now efficiently conducted.
The point that strikes the visitor most forcibly is the
exquisite penmanship, to which the tables recording the
number of good writers do but scant justice. For several
of those who are marked simply as "good" in this and two
or three other schools so far excel the writers who are
ordinarily included under that head as to deserve a higher
designation. At the risk of rendering my educational
columns too complicated, I intend adding next year a fourth
column for penmanship of exceptional merit.

Eighty-eight Valley: (22 present)—Mr Roby.—Much has
been achieved by the master here, considering the material
with which he has had to deal. The formerly neglected
children of Eighty-eight Valley now compare favorably, in
every respect, with children of the same age in schools that
have been far longer established. A longer experience, and
the consciousness that his merits as a teacher are now fully
recognised, have probably induced Mr Roby to abate some-
what of that nervous tendency to overstimulate his pupils to
what teachers at once zealous and new to their work are
liable.