7

8.—2

Tauranga and Bay of Plenty West. — Lieut.-Colonel Boberts, N.Z.C., S.M., District Superintendent. Kotukutuku (examined 30th June, 1898). —The order here is good; the children, from the top to the bottom of the school, behave well. The elders of the settlement had turned up in force; it was interesting to watch their attempts to understand the nature of the proceedings. The children were well dressed, and made a capital appearance. The work shown at examination was, in relation to the time required for its production, entirely satisfactory. Altogether an excellent start has been made at this island school. [Opureora was the name of the place from which the application for this school was sent; Kotukutuku is the name of the ground on which the buildings stand.] Paeroa (examined 29th June, 1898). —A specially pleasing feature of this school deserves mention—the teacher takes great trouble with the very little children, rightly judging that work of this kind will bear fruit by-and-by. The examination results were, on the whole, not quite satisfactory ; but, the irregularity of the attendance being considered, they were very creditable to the teacher, who is now working in a sphere of action by no means commensurate with her zeal and capacity. Huria (examined 28th June, 1898). —The examination results were not very considerable, but the work in the juniors' standards was of a higher character than is ordinarily seen here. The great irregularity of the attendance may serve as an excuse for the absence of passes in the higher standards. The Maoris of this district suffer much hardship through their inability to transport food from their settlement at Ake Ake to Huria. It appears that a short piece of road from Pye's Pa Boad and a bridge would give the necessary means of communication. Karikari (examined 27th June, 1898). —The order has improved greatly, and there are no indications of severity of discipline; but greater punctuality is desirable. There has been very great improvement here, and the school is now fairly on the way to do well. There was no word of complaint from the Chairman, who represented the Committee at the inspection. It may possibly be advantageous to call this the Papamoa School when the buildings are erected on the Papamoa site. Te Matai (examined 25th June, 1898). —The occurrence of seven tangihangas in about seven weeks had made the obtaining of very large results almost impossible; but, necessary allowance for this difficulty being made, the work shown was very satisfactory —much of it could fairly be called excellent. One of the most interesting features. of the inspection was connected with the kindergarten exercises gone through by the pupils in the preparatory division. This kind of work had given the youngsters admirable training, the results of which were manifested in their unusual intelligence and their interest in what goes on. The Te Matai parents still support the school, but not so strenuously as they might. Matata (examined 22nd June, 1898). —The results show a distinct falling off, mainly through the irregularity of the attendance. I asked the Chairman of the Committee for his view with regard to the future of the school, and how he accounted for the irregular attendance ; he informed me that some of the parents had been lax, but the Committee had been strenuous in the exercise of their duty, and would continue to be so. Poroporo (examined 18th June, 1898). —It is pleasing to find that the material prosperity of the Maoris of this district is on the increase, and that the standard of comfort is much higher than it used to be. No cases of corporal punishment are recorded. Perhaps the juniors are sometimes spoken to in too loud a tone. The children looked very well; most of them were tidy, and many of them were well dressed. The examination work was pleasing, but perhaps hardly so strong as it usually is at this school. Otamauru (examined 21st June, 1898). —There is an excellent tone here. Parents are enthusiastically attached to the master and his family, and they ought to be, seeing that trouble in assisting the Maoris is given without stint. A respectable number of passes was secured, many of them strong ones. Every year satisfactory improvement is noticeable in the intellectual development of the children of this interesting Maori school. Te Teko (examined 20th June, 1898). —The parents showed interest in the school by attending ill force. The relations between pupils and teachers are very pleasing. Although the results of the examination were less striking than those usually secured by the present teachers, there were noted many traces of a kind of hard work well fitted to improve the base of operations for the future. A good examination may be confidently anticipated next year. Botorua and Tuhoe Country. Banana (examined 2nd July, 1898). —In Standard 11. the requirements had been somewhat misunderstood; also, the drawing was rather weak. In other respects the results were very good indeed. The teachers deserve great credit for what they have done in a district where failure has been the rule and success the rare exception. Here we find an intelligent set of children that have been properly handled by able and industrious teachers. Shortly after the examination scarcity of food caused a temporary withdrawal of some of the Mokoia children. Galatea (examined sth July, 1898). —Considering the exceedingly unfavourable conditions that had prevailed at Galatea for some considerable time before the examination one may say that the work shown deserved to be called very fair. The school-building has now been removed to Te Awangararanui, a place accessible for nearly all the children in this district, and we may look forward to considerable general improvement. Widespread famine necessitated the closing of this and the two following schools for three months in the spring. Te Whaiti (examined 4th July, 1898). —As might have been expected from an extremely irregular attendance the results were very small; no children succeeded in passing. Inspection results were, on the whole, satisfactory. Since the reopening took place, at the beginning of