NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 99

in passing in the third and fourth grades of arithmetic, while
the younger children showed an amount of proficiency in
ciphering that I was not prepared for. The reading, though
fair, is not nearly so good as the arithmetic. The copy books
are neatly kept, but the letters are badly formed, part y, per-
haps, because the copy heads used by the children are too
advanced for them. Good order is kept.

Long Plain.—Mrs. Dixon.—As this school was closed
when I last visited Golden Bay, I am unable to say what its
present condition may be. When I examined the scho'ars in
November, they struck me as being very backward in every
respect, though exceedingly order y. The backwardness is
easily accounted for. The attendance during last quarter has
been at the rate of only 51 per cent, so that if the scholars
attended punctually—which they do not—each wou d receive,
at the outside, 13 hours' schooling weekly.

Lower Takaka.—Mr. Dixon (17).—This school had also
been c osed for nearly two months when I last visited Takaka,
but was re-opened for one day by this instructor, to enable the
kn ledge of his year's work, which he had good reason to be proud
of. Although the scholars here, as at Collingwood, must have
lost ground during their pro onged holidays, I found that much
sound work had been done by Mr. Dixon. The brightness and
quickness of these former y less listless children struck me
forcibly. The copy books were patterns of neatness, and the
writing shape y. The upper classes did uncommonly well in
geography, and the dictation was equal to that of our best
Town schoo's, being, in truth, a most fau'tless. The reading
still left much to be desired, but had certainly improved, the
drawl having almost disappeared.

WEST COAST SCHOOLS.

Westport.—Mr. and Mrs. Larchin, Miss B'axall assistant
(140).—The excellent teaching staff of this school has lost no
time during the past year, the number of arithmeticians who
can work the higher rules having more than doub'ed. The
reading, throughout the school, is clear and distinct, the
dictation of the upper classes, former y very faulty, being now
tolerably free from mistakes. Even the junior c asses write
correct y from dictation. The first c ass also passed a very
creditable examination in geography, and could give the
derivations of many of the words in their lesson. The hand-
writing shows that neatness would in the main be kept in
view, if there were no 30 children over 12 on the books, as against 4
of the same age in 1874. An addition to the teaching staff—
which will necessitate an addition to the schoo -room—must,
however, short y be made, if the present standard of efficiency
is to be maintained.

Addison's Flat.—Miss Mills (35).—This school has suffered
from the frequent change of teachers, the present mistress
having been at work less than a year. I found the children
carefully taught and in exce'ent order. The older scho ars
read well, and had been carefully grounded in geography and
grammar. They also wrote carefu'ly from dictation. The
arithmetic was very e ementary.

South Spit.—Miss Craddock (14).—This school has been
opened only nine months, during which period fair progress
seems to have been made. The mistress, though inexperienced,
is painstaking, and quite capable of teaching and keeping in
order the young children of whom the school is at present
entirely composed.

Lyell.—Mr. Metcalfe (13), subsidised.—The children here
are so young that it can hardly be said to rank higher than
an infant-school. As the school has been opened only nine
months, none of the scho ars have got beyond the bare rudi-
ments.

Charleston, Blackett-street—(late Mr. and Mrs. Moore (37).
—(subsidised).—The children here, especially in the two upper
c asses read well, and understand what they have been readin g.
Writing is most successfully taught. The arithmetic is inaccu-
rate, and the dictation of the first c ass not so correct as it
ought to be. Good order is kept. Both teachers have left the
Province.

Charleston St. Patrick's.—Mr. Delany (65), subsidised.—
The want of sufficient teaching power has told disastrously on
this school. Two classes only are efficiently taught, of the re-
mainder—comprising more than half of the school—it may be
formally affirmed that they know hardly anything. The children
in the third class, whose average age was above nine, could not,
when I examined them, find the page given out to them, while there
was not one in the class who could tell how much twice five
came to. The writing, throughout, was slovenly, the reading—
indistinct in itself,—being so interrupt by a Babel of sounds
that it was impossible to catch more than one word in three
Yet Mr. Delany is a competent teacher. It is the one weak
point of the present system of subsidising schools that teachers
are under a constant temptation to reduce their teaching-staff
below the point of efficiency. It has become absolutely neces
sary that the Board should rigidly limit the number of scholars
who may be—not taught, but taken in, by a single teacher.
(Since the above remarks were written, an assistant has been
engaged at St. Patrick's.)

Cobden.—Mr. Ray (51).—The thoroughness which has
always been a characteristic of Mr. Ray's teaching, was not less
observable this year than on previous occasions. In arithmetic,
for example, not a single scholar failed to pass in the paper
which he attempted, and while none fell below, many largely
exceeded the prescribed minimum of correct work. Although
excellence in many subjects can hardly be expected from a
master who has to teach daily, without any help, fifty scholars,
divided into seven classes, it is to be regretted that more
instruction in grammar and geography cannot be given to the
upper classes, who know very little of either of those branches.

Brunner-ton.—Mr. Young (35).—The reading here is fair,
the arithmetic good, and the dictation excellent. The only
really weak point in this school is the writing, which always has
been, and is still very poor. The children are kept in excellent
order.

Reefton.—Mr. A. Brown (33), subsidised.—It is simply
impossible, as I pointed out in my last report, for a single
teacher to do justice to 33 children, in the time given over to
the school-roll when I examined them. By a judicious use of
monitors, Mr. Brown has done something towards supplement-
ing the deficiency of teaching power, but the backwardness of
his scholars in such subjects as arithmetic, where a certain
amount of individual attention is indispensable, is obviously
owing to the want of an efficient assistant. Seven only of
eleven present in the first class, succeeded in working correctly
three easy sums in the compound rules, not more than three out
of eleven in the second class being able to pass in the four
simple ru'es. On the other hand, the first class not only read
very well, but were able to give a cer account of what they
had been reading. Their grammar was also of more than aver-
age merit, the writing throughout being neat.

Brighton.—Mrs. Murphy (21), subsidised.—The children
here continue to be very carefully taught, though many of the
more advanced scholars have left the neighbourhood. For this
reason, as with the last year's work do not favorably compare
with those recorded in 1874.

Ahaura, St. Joseph's.—Sisters of Charity (28), subsidised.
—The addition of a thoroughly competent second teacher to
the staff has been too recent to restore this school to the
position that it held in 1873, when the numbers present at my
examination were larger by one-half than in in 1875. The
handwriting, with few exceptions, was slovenly and ill-formed,
the arithmetic being so inaccurate that two scholars only could
solve the required number of questions in proportion and
practice, nine out of a class of eleven failing to work correctly
three-eighths of the sums in the paper for compound rules.
Nor were the geography and grammar at all equal to the stand-
ard reached two years ago. On the other hand, the discipline
and organisation of the school were much improved. The want
of suitable desks—or indeed, of desks of any kind—is a serious
drawback to the progress of the scholars.

Ahaura.—Mrs. Clarson (22), subsidised.—The children here
were mostly very young, and, with two or three exceptions, ill-
prepared. The school was being well taught, and well disci-
plined, the mistress, who had been at work only seven weeks
when I visited Ahaura, being thoroughly competent, energetic,
and systematic.

No Town.—Miss Ferria (subsidised).—This small school,
which had been carefully taught for several years by Miss
Ferris, was on the point of being closed for want of support,
when I visited the Grey Valley. The numbers had dwindled
down to seven. It has since been re-opened, I understand,
under more favorable auspices.

Waipuna.—Miss Brunnetti (10), subsidised.—Although but
few children are as yet within reach of this school, which had
been open only two months at the time of my visit; it is
regarded as a great boon by the inhabitants of an outlying dis-
trict, who are almost out of from every other civilising agency.
Considerable sacrifices have evidently been made by a small
community, who have built, entirely at their own cost, a roomy
and substantial school-room, well fitted up with desks and
forms, and have provided their teacher with a house. I found
the teacher, though very young, quite equal to the work she
has to do, most of the scholars being beginners.

Granville.—Miss Melody (23).—school is held in a build-
ing erected by the inhabitants, partly as a place of worship, and
partly as a school. The children, who had almost everything
to learn, wore orderly and attentive. The scho:l had been
opened about two months when I saw it. The mistress here,
as at Waipuna, is young and inexperienced, but she is zealous
and methodical, giving promise of becoming an efficient teacher.