JEL—II

1880. NEW ZEALAND.

NATIVE SCHOOLS IN SOUTH ISLAND (REPORTS OF REV. J. STACK ON).

Return to an Order of the House of Representatives, dated Bth July, 1880. "That there be laid on the table of this House copies of the reports of Rev. J. Stack on Native Schools in the South Island." — (Mr. Tainui.)

Eev. J. W. Stack to the Seceetaby, Education Department. I herewith enclose my report on the Native schools in the South for the year, 1879 to 1880. James W. Stack, John Hislop, Esq., Secretary, Education Department. Inspector. Rapaki: Master, Mr. Patrick Herlihy.—lnspected 12th December, 1879. Highest number on the roll: Boys, 10 ; girls, 14 : total, 24. Beading: Book, 2nd Boyal Eeader. Three good, six fair. Pronunciation imperfect. Style rather too drawling. Spelling fair. Dictation: one very good, one good, seven fair.—Book, Ist Boyal Eeader. Five good, seven fair, three imperfect. Book rather too hard for the last three in the class. Meaning fairly understood. Spelling: eight fair. The same faulty style of reading prevails in this class as in the other. Arithmetic: Notation and numeration up to hundreds of thousands. All were ready at setting down and reading the figures. Multiplication fable and money table : nine good, eight fair. Simple multiplication and subtraction : two good, six fair, four imperfect; Addition : twelve, commencing. Writing : Copy-books : three good, ten fair. Of the exercise books three were neat and well written. Geography : Twelve had a fair knowledge of geographical terms. Becitations : Four recited poetry fluently, showing they had been at pains to learn it, but their pronunciation was faulty. Singing: The children sang several songs in a very pleasing and spirited manner, under Mrs. Herlihy's direction. Drill: Nothing is attempted beyond marching in and out of school in an orderly manner. Sewing: Sewing is taught by Mrs. Herlihy: several specimens of excellent work were shown.. The girls cut out and sew their own clothes under Mrs. Herlihy's direction. Object-lessons : I was glad to find that these formed part of weekly course of instruction. The discipline of the school is excellent; the children were all clean, quiet, and well behaved. The schoolroom was very clean, and everything-about it arranged neatly. The school was opened in November, 1878, and most of the children in attendance have never been under instruction before. Taking this fact into consideration, the progress of the school has been very satisfactory. Both the master and mistress take pains to interest the children in their lessons, and to promote habits of personal cleanliness. Entering the school unexpectedly on several occasions during the past year, I have always found the children very clean; and the improvement in their appearance and behaviour has been remarked by European residents in the neighbourhood. The School Committee commemorated the opening of the school this year by a dinner, to which they invited their European and Maori friends. The children were also entertained, and sports held for their amusement during the afternoon. Ihaia te Kotuku, the energetic member of the Committee, through whose exertions nearly £20 were collected to defray the expenses of the anniversary festival, has, I regret to say, since died. Though he had no children of his own, he always took a deep interest in the success of the school, and his loss will not be easily repaired. He belonged to that honorable class of Maoris that receives few recruits from the rising generation. The Neck, Stewart Island: Master, Mr. Arthur Traill. —Inspected, Ist March, 1880. Eegister carefully kept. Highest number on roll, 21. Present at inspection : Boys, 12 ; girls, 9 : total, 2J. Beading: Book, 4th Boyal Eeader. Five good, five fair. Three in this class have made considerable progress since my- last examination. The pronunciation was generally good, and all knew the meaning of the text. The attendance of five out of the class had been very irregular during the past year. Dictation : Both the writing and spelling of this class were very fair.—Book, 3rd Boyal Header. Two fair. Text understood. Dictation : Writing fair, spelling imperfect.—Book, 2nd Boyal Eeader. Four good, two fair. Lesson understood. Spelling imperfect.—Book, Ist Boyal Eeader. One good, one fair. Spelling: one fair, one imperfect.—Learning to read, three.