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REPORT ON GISBORNE DISTRICT HIGH SCHOOL.

The class is of uneven quality. The first four pupils are strong workers, the algebra especially being particularly well done. Half the pupils fell below "fair" in arithmetic, and composition needs much extra care and attention ; it would be well to provide for more time in the preparation of this subject. In the English subjects the test showed very fair preparation, but the pupils appear to be afraid to express their own views and feelings upon subjects they have prepared. Greater individuality should be encouraged, and the instruction given should foster the critical faculties of the children. As a whole, a wide course of instruction has been taken, but only four of the pupils are of good quality. The errors in spelling are unusually numerous, and two pupils wrote as follows: " When she seen this," "We seen his funeral" ! More attention should be paid to marks of punctuation.- Quotation marks were omitted generally and possessives seldom noted. These latter weaknesses exist outside the actual preparation of subjects. H. Hill, Inspector of Schools.

MAELBOEOUGH. g IB) _ Blenheim, 20th March, 1900. I have the honour to present the report of the Marlborough Education Board for the year 1900. Boaed. —The Board at the beginning of the year consisted of the following persons—viz., The Hon. W. D. H. Baillie, M.L.C., and Messrs. Thomas Carter, D'Arcy Chaytor, John Duncan, Eichard McCallum, Charles Houghton Mills, M.H.E., William Benoni Parker, Joseph Henry Eedwood, and Arthur Penrose Seymour. The members who retired in March were Messrs. Chaytor, Duncan, and McCallum. The two last-named were re-elected, and Mr. Alfred Lichfield was chosen in the place of Mr. Chaytor, who was absent in South Africa. Early in the year the Board had the misfortune to lose one of its oldest and most valued members by the death of Mr. Thomas Carter, who had been almost continuously a member from the first formation of the Board. He has left a permanent memorial of his interest in education by furnishing the means of founding a scholarship in connection with the High School, in donating 3 acres of land adjoining the site, and £50 in money. The extraordinary vacancy caused by Mr. Carter's decease was filled by the election of Mr. A. G. Fell, a gentleman who has served the public in the same capacity on former occasions. The Board held thirteen meetings during the year, the average attendance at which was six. Schools. —Altogether there have been sixty-seven schools in operation during some portion of the year. Owing to the very low rate of pay attached to the numerous small household schools in the district, it is a constant occurrence to have schools vacant during a quarter of the year while trying to obtain fresh teachers. Nine of these schools have been closed for one-quarter of the year or more from this cause; but bad though this may be, as interfering with the progress of the children, it is at least better than leaving them entirely unprovided for. Any adjustment of staffs

Subject taught. Class. Number of Pupils in each Class. Work done. Latin Junior ... Senior ... 10 14 Prineipia, Part I., Gradatim. Belcher's Exercises ; Allen's Grammar; Ctesar, Book Y.; Anglice Eeddenda (to Matriculation standard). Macmillan's First French; Dejardin's Glass-book. Macmillan's Second French, and general for Matriculation. Merchant of Venice; Gray's Odes and Elegy; selections from Tennyson; Ivanhoe; Longmans' School Composition. As the juniors, with Manual of Mothertongue ; Abbott's How to Write Clearly ; Higher Grade English; general for Matriculation. General repetition to Matriculation standard. Ditto. Book I., with easy exercises. Books I. and II., with exercises. Up to quadratics. „ more thoroughly. Meiklejohn's Comparative Geography. French -... Junior ... 10 Senior ... 14 English Junior ... 10 Senior ,.. 14 Arithmetic ... Junior .. 10 Euclid Algebra Senior ... Junior ... Senior ... Junior ... Senior ... Junior ... Senior ... Junior ... Senior ... 14 10 14 10 14 10 14 10 14 Geography ... Human physiology n Furneaux's Human Physiology. '/