H.—2.

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District High School.—This school was examined by me in the extra branches in the beginning of December. I subjoin a statement of the subjects, the number of pupils examined, and the work compassed, together with a few notes on the subject: —

English, —The result gained was on the whole excellent. The weakest points were paraphrasing and derivations. French. —First Class: The French-into-English translation was well done; the English-into-French badly. In the latter division of the subject most of the pupils lost a large number of marks. Still, on the whole, the result gained must be considered very satisfactory.—Second Class : Tho English-into-French translation was very badly done ; the French-into-English well; the grammar only fair. —Third Class: I gave two passages from Charles XII., neither of which was well translated. Of the 27 marks given for this portion of the subject the pupil gained only 16. The grammar was good. Latin. —First Class : In this class two pupils gained highly satisfactory results ; two, satisfactory results ; and five, results that appear unsatisfactory. In estimating the result gained by these five, however, it should be borne in mind that most, if not all, of them bad undertaken the Latin lano-ua^e before acquiring even a fair knowdedge of the grammar of their own. —Second Class : Translation f ro'tn Csesar, good; that from Principia, only fair. Parsing, good. —Third Class: The passage from Cassar was well translated, but those from the Principia only fairly so. The parsing was good.—-Fourth Class : Three passages from Virgil were given. The first was well translated by one boy, and fairly by the two others; the other passages were only fairly construed by all. Latin composition, fair; grammar, fair. Greek. —Considering the difficulties of the Greek language to beginners, the result gained was highly satisfactory. Algebra.— -The first class can hardly be said to have passed fairly, as the highest percentage gained was only 43. It should be mentioned, however, that several of the pupils had been learning the subject only a short time.—Second Class: The result gained was very good indeed.—Third Class : The percentage gained by one boy was excellent; that by one boy, good ; and that by the other, below fair. Geometry. —First Class : One boy passed fairly ; the two others failed utterly. In the other classes the percentages gained were generally highly satisfactory. One boy in the highest class gained 100 per cent. Trigonometry. —One boy passed a splendid examination, and the other a very fair one. Physics. —Result fair. Physiology. —Result excellent. Conclusion. —In conclusion I must apologize for the extravagant length of this report, and express the hope that so long a one will not again be needful. I have applied the knife vigorously, but the remedy has invariably been suggested ; and 1 may add that, in all my inspections, far more time has been devoted to the correction than to the reporting of errors. Most of the teachers have taken my suggestions and corrections in the kindly spirit in which they were given, and I am hopeful that, at no distant date, I shall be able to report that in most, if not all, of our schools good work is being done. I have, &c, P. Go YEN, The Secretary, Southland Education Board. Inspector of Schools,

Subject. Class. No. of Pupils Examined. Work compassed. Inglish 'rench .a tin... vreek... I. I. II. III. I. II. III. IV. I. 4 12 4 1 9 (i 1 3 3 Goldsmith: "The Traveller" and "The Deserted Village." Grammar. Dr. Ahn's Eirst Erench Course, Ex. 1-54. Dr. Ahn's First French Course, Ex. 1-54, and to Ex. 20 in his Second Course. Dr. Ahn's First and Second Courses ; and to page 28 of Charles XII. Dr. Smith's Principia Latina, Part I. to the verb sum. Dr. Smith's Principia Latina, Part I. to page 53. Dr. Smith's Principia Latina, Part I. to page 53. Caesar, Book I. Virgil, Book II. and Book III., lines 1-400. Csesar, Book IV., cc. 20-56. Arnold's Latin prose to Ex. 49. Dr. Smith's Initia Grgeca, Part I., and a small portion of Part II. Todhunter's Algebra for Beginners, Ex. I.-VII. Todhunter's Algebra for Beginners, Ex. I.-XIII. Todhunter's Algebra for Beginners, Ex. I.-XXVlI. Euclid, Book I., Props, i.-xv. Euclid, Book I. Euclid, Books I. and II. Euclid, Books I.-VI. Chambers's Practical. Physics Primer, pp. 1-30. Physiology Primer, pp. 1-40. Jgebra I. II. III. I. II. III. IV. I. I. I. 11 1 3 3 1 2 3 2 20 5 reometry 'rigonometry 'hysics 'hysiology