5

E.—2

Handwork of one form or another is done in nearly all of these schools, the modelling in plasticine at some of them being really excellent. There are now in this district four workshops at which instruction in carpentry is given, a new one having been established at Whangape during the year. Group lll. — Bay of Islands, Whangarei, and Kaipara. The following are the schools comprised in this group : Kaikohe, Ohaeaioai, Te Ahuahu, Oromahoe, Taumarere, Karetu, Wha.ngaruru, Te Bawhiti, Poroti, Takahiwai, and Otamatea. Upon the death of Mrs. Tautari, who for many years had managed Taumarere School, the Department decided that the school should not be reopened, as the few children in the settlement will be able to attend the Board school at Pakaru. Te Bawhiti School, beyond Bussell, made a fair beginning, though there do not seem to be many children in the district. Kaikohe School, which had been temporarily closed, was reopened in September quarter, and has since made remarkable progress. It is now the largest Native school, and steps are to be taken to provide the additional accommodation that has become necessary, there being an average of over 110 for the first quarter of 1906. These schools as a whole are not so efficient as those of the former group. The preparatory classes are still below the standard that ought to be attained. Fingers are still used in one or two places for working sums in addition, and English is not at all a strong subject. The attendance has increased at some of the schools. The children were generally tidy and the schools clean. A workshop is to be established at Takahiwai, and cooking classes will soon be arranged, the people and the new teachers taking up both matters with enthusiasm. Group IV. — Thames, Hot Lakes, Waikato, and King Country. There are in this group : Manaia (Coromandel), Te Kerepehi, Bakaumanga, Baorao, Parawera, Te Kopua, Mangaorongo, Te Kuiti, Hauaroa (Taumarunui), Te Waotu, Banana, Wai-iti, Whakarewarewa, Waiotapu, and Awangararanui. Of these, Baorao and Awangararanui have remained closed during the year. In the case of the former it was intended to remove the buildings elsewhere, but this has not yet been done. Awangararanui may yet be reopened when a site nearer to the centre of population has been obtained. During the year Te Kuiti School passed over to the control of the Auckland Education Board, and a new school has been erected for the Maoris at Oparure, some four miles away. The school at Hauaroa is, in spite of former additions, again overcrowded ; some of the other schools in the group have, however, fallen away somewhat in their numbers, the people being more or,less apathetic. The new school at Mangaorongo, some distance east of Otorohanga, was opened in July, 1905. The children who were promised for the school have, in the time preceding its completion, dwindled in numbers until only about fifteen were present at the opening. The teacher was thereupon transferred at the end of the year and the school temporarily closed. The buildings formerly erected at Tapuaeharuru (Lake Botoiti) are now removed to Wai-iti, the school being inspected in July, with very gratifying results. The work done in these schools was, on the whole, fair. In at least four the want of proper foundation work in the lowest classes brought about the usual result—disaster in the higher; one school, indeed, was particularly unsatisfactory in this respect, and the new teacher found it necessary to begin de novo. Parawera and Whakarewarewa deserve special notice. The children attending the former came, many of them, long distances; their work in school is exceedingly good, and they are clean and well-mannered. Whakarewarewa has reached a standard in all its work that can be described only as excellent. The attendance, too, in spite of such distractions as tourists, carnivals, and tangis, is excellent. Group V. — Tuhoe or Grew era District. The schools here are : Te Houhi, Te Teko, Buatoki, Waimana, and Te Whaiti. I have in former reports referred to the specially difficult nature of the work in these schools. This arises from the fact that conditions of life are harder here than in warmer parts, that the people are in consequence badly off for proper food, and that they are still sunk in superstition. In the case of Te Houhi School, I am sorry to have to report that owing to the occupation of the land by the successful litigant in a recent law case the school had to be abandoned. The teachers had used the best methods of teaching, and the school had never before reached such a high stage of efficiency, the examination results being first rate. I cannot speak so highly of the methods in use in all the other schools of the group. In one the reading in some classes was more of the nature of recitation, and in another the purely alphabetic method was again the cause of many failures in spelling and dictation. Te Whaiti has made a very successful beginning under a new teacher, and the outlook there has never been more promising. The Urewera children are still not so clean in their dress and persons as are children in other districts. The attendance at the largest school has fallen off, and it has been necessary to threaten proceedings against the offending parents. The workshop at Waimana has been now put on a more satisfactory basis, and, as a timber-mill has been lately opened in the district, an improvement in the condition of the people and children there may be looked for. The proposed school at Buatahuna has been delayed by the objection of some of the hapus to the site chosen.