11

G.—2

take place. At the date fixed for it several of the children were ill, and I put off the inspection till after the Christmas holidays; hoping that all would have recovered by that time; but, contrary to my expectations, the fever broke out again with renewed virulence and carried off no less than 5 out of the 22 Native children in attendance. I then thought it necessary to close the school for a time, and to induce the parents and friends of the surviving children to take them away for a change of air. With the consent of the Hon. the Minister for Native Affairs, Mr. Reeves was sent to Wairewa, where he has opened a school in a temporary building. At the close of the December quarter there were 21 Native children in the school, 13 boys and 8 girls. At the close of the March quarter there were 10 boys and 7 girls on the books. Up to the time of the fever breaking out the children were making good progress, and I anticipated being able to report a marked improvement on last year's work: it is a very great disappointment to me to have to report instead the breaking up the school. lam not without hope, however, of being able to reopen it in the spring. Wairewa : Master, Mr. H. J. Reeves. —I visited this school a fortnight after it was opened, and felt very much pleased with the commencement made. There are now 16 children in attendance, including three of the old pupils from Kaiapoi. Great praise is due to Eli and Tamati Tikao for the pains they have taken to overcome the opposition of the other Maoris to the opening of the school. The difficulty for some time past was to know where to erect a schoolroom. The proposal to erect one on an unused road was objected to by his Honor the Superintendent : the site he offered to purchase was objected to by the Maoris, because it was too far off from where the children lived. At length a site was fixed upon near the church, and pegged off, but the Maoris refused to give it for more than twenty-one years. Whilst negotiations are pending respecting this site I thought it best to make an effort to secure a temporary building, and applied for the use of the Runanga house, but as that could not be lent Eli proposed that a dilapidated old building, once used as a church, should be repaired, and volunteered to superintend the work himself. Several others then followed his example, and volunteered their services, and in a few days they had the building roofed in, the walls replastered, and a chimney erected at one end. Eli's enthusiastic support however provoked the jealousy of several of the Wairewa chiefs, who thought he was taking too much upon himself, and refused to send their children. Eli was determined not to be foiled, and immediately went off to Taumutu, a village twenty miles away, and brought five scholars. lam glad to say that his most strenuous opponent is now Chairman of the School Committee, and sen^ls three of his own children to the school, and I expect shortly to have a good school there. Wairau School: First opened 4th March, 1874. Master, Captain John Curling.—lnspected 27th April, 1876. Highest number on book, 12; present, 12. Register carefully kept. Reading : First Class.—Number in class, 4; book, Third Reading Book. The reading in this class was very good, all the words being distinctly pronounced, and the meaning of the text understood. The spelling of this class was good. 2nd Class. —Number in class, 3; book, Second Reading Book. All read fairly, and understood the meaning of what they read. The pronunciation of these classes showed careful teaching. 3rd Class.—Number in class, 3; book, First, easy words one syllable. Two, fair; one, imperfect; two, learning alphabet. Dictation: Five wrote easy sentences from dictation; both the writing and spelling were good. Arithmetic: Four doing compound rules fairly. The cyphering books in which the work is occasionally entered were neat and well kept. One, simple division, fairly; three, simple multiplication, fairly; three, simple addition, imperfect. Tables, Weights and Measures. —Six, well; three, imperfect. Geography: Five had a fair knowledge of the geography of New Zealand and of the map of the world. Writing, Copybooks : Five, good; five, fair. Writing on Slates : Six, good. Drill: Boys seemed proficient at drill, and their bearing and behaviour indicated good discipline. School Hours.—lo a.m. to 12 morning, 1 to 2 p.m. afternoon. Children expected to attend to prepare lessons half-an hour before school. The schoolroom was clean, airy, well lighted, and well furnished with all necessary appliances for teaching. It is to be regretted that the accommodation for the master is so small as to necessitate his storing part of his effects in the schoolroom, which detracts from its otherwise neat appearance. The approaches to the building are not kept quite so clean as they might be, and there is a poultry yard much too near the entrance of the schoolroom. The children were all clean and well dressed. Their behaviour was excellent. There was a marked improvement in their reading, dictation, and geography. Mr. Curling told me that, but for the support given by Te Rore, the chief of the village in which the school is situated, it would long since have been deserted, as no other Maori takes any interest in it, and many are opposed to it, having adopted the views that prevail among the South Island Natives that in making use of the schools they are prejudicing their claims to further compensation for their land. Wakapuaka : First opened 1874. Inspected, Ist May, 1876. Master, Mr. E. Jennings.— Highest number on the books, 11. Present at inspection, 11. Register carefully kept.