116

NELSON GOVERNMENT GAZETTE.

Hillside: Miss Folckmann.—(18.)—The discontinuance of the half-time system has been followed with the best results, both at Hillside and Happy Valley, and this at no increase of expense. Under its present young, but very energetic mistress, Hillside bids fair to regain the high standard of former years. In arithmetic, not only did every scholar pass in the standard attempted, but there was not one who failed to bring up more than the required minimum of correct answers. The handwriting was excellent, the reading all that could be desired. The discipline was also very good.

Happy Valley: Miss Gill.—(28.)—The children here appear to be thoroughly roused from their former lethargy. The reading, though still far from being good, is more distinct than it was, and is nearly free from drawl. Both arithmetic and dictation have improved, the elements of geography and grammar being now added to the list of subjects taught. If the parents will but continue to send their children with tolerable regularity, I have no fear for the future of this little school.

Stoke: Mr. Barnett.—(57.)—The master was laboring under a very serious disadvantage when I last examined Stoke school. His assistant had left several weeks before, and her successor had not been appointed. In spite of this drawback, good order was maintained, and the children showed that they had been carefully taught, a marked advance having been made in both reading and arithmetic. The copy books are neatly kept, and the first class is well acquainted with the outlines of geography. The spelling, both oral and from dictation, is faulty.

Richmond Boys: Mr Robson; assistant, Miss Saywell.—(58.)—The children in the upper classes read with perfect distinctness, those in the lower division read far too low, and are indeed at times inaudible. In every other respect the school is in a good state, the arithmetic in particular being very ready and accurate.

Richmond Girls: Miss Spencer; assistant, Miss O'Loughlen.—(55.)—This school passed a decidedly better examination than it did last year. The number of good readers and writers has been added to; the arithmetic, which was the weak point last year, being now remarkably good. The girls have also improved in point of orderliness.

Ranzau: Mr Cowles.—(32.)—I can report no improvement in this very backward school. The instruction given is of the most elementary character, as an instance of which I observe that the children in the second class were just able to read tolerably from a book that the sixth class at Richmond Girls' School read well. This state of things may be partly accounted for by the fact that the children leave school at a very early age, four only being on the last quarter's roll who had reached their twelfth year. The average rate of attendance is also low.

Hope: Mr Thorburn.—(40.)—This school is fairly taught, the writing and arithmetic, however, being much in advance of the reading, which is spiritless. Considerable attention is now being paid to geography, in which the older scholars did well. The discipline is hardly strict enough.

River Terrace: Mrs and Miss Bryant.—(54.)—The discipline of this school has improved. The children, in marked contrast to those at most of the Waimea South schools, can both give a clear account of their lesson and explain what the harder words in it mean. They also write very neatly, and have a fair knowledge of arithmetic. The scholars were formerly sub-divided into too many classes, a fault that still exists in a few of our schools. In compliance with my suggestion, the number of classes has been reduced to six, to the manifest advantage of both teacher and scholars.

Spring Grove: Mr Edmunds; assistant, Miss Knapp.—(60.)—The scholars here, though still far from being models of good behaviour, are upon the whole better behaved than they were last year. The reading is now fair throughout—in the upper classes it is good; but the writing is hardly equal to last year's standard, and the arithmetic is decidedly worse, the number of failures, especially in the lower classes, being unusually large.

Waimea West Village: Mr Robson, jun.—(31.)—I was unable to speak with any degree of confidence last year as to the manner in which this school was being taught by the present master, who had then been at work only a few months. I have now no hesitation in saying that, although the numbers have so far diminished that the assistant has been dispensed with, the school is in a very satisfactory state. Excellent order is kept. The children throughout read distinctly, understand what they read, and write neatly. In arithmetic three only of those present failed to pass. The weak point is dictation, which is very faulty. This is one of the not very numerous cases in which the rough and ready test supplied by mere numbers would be utterly misleading. This school is well taught but thinly attended.

Waimea West, North Division: Mr Walter Ladley.—(33.)—This, as I anticipated would be the case, now takes a good place among our country schools. Writing is most successfully taught, the reading is of more than average merit, and the arithmetic, though still by no means good, better than it was. The children have also greatly improved in point of general intelligence. The discipline is excellent.

Lower Wakefield: Mr Chattock; assistant, Mrs Chattock.—(85.)—The discipline of this school is much better than it was, but the upper classes cut a sorry figure in almost every subject at my last examination. The single exception, the handwriting, was, as usual, excellent. The arithmetic of the first classes may be said to have been an utter failure, that of the juniors somewhat redeeming the credit of the school. The grammar was also very defective. This state of things will not be wondered at when it is explained that only 57 per cent. of the children attended during the first three quarters of the past year. The ill effects of irregular attendance do not stop at the children—they inevitably re-act on the energies of the master.

88 Valley: Mr Hill.—(29.)—The present master has not been at work many months, and appears to be doing his work fairly well. Many of the children present at my examination were either new comers or former pupils who had not been at school for many months previous. I was not surprised, therefore, to find the scholars generally backward, especially in reading. They write neatly, the girls being taught, however, the now almost obsolete angular hand, which has very little to recommend it. Good order is maintained, apparently without any approach to harshness.

Upper Wakefield: Mr. Combes; assistant, Miss Ladley.—(51.)—It is gratifying to an inspector to find that, in nine cases out of ten, energetic and usually successful steps are taken by our teachers to remedy