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Valuable and conscientious work continues to be given in cookery, housecraft, and needlework. Here again it has to be pointed out that the best results are to be found where the work is thoughtfully planned and carefully graded. In an increasing number of schools the girls of the cookery class take turns in providing a hot lunch for a small group of their school mates. This provides an excellent opportunity to put into practice what they have been taught in their cookery lessons. During the war the building of suitable facilities for the teaching of cookery and housecraft has been almost at a standstill. Many teachers, realizing the importance of this instruction for the future mothers of the Maori race, have carried it out under conditions far from ideal. Some have given lessons in their own homes, using their own equipment. They are to be commended for their interest and enthusiasm. Physical education, linked with practical health teaching, is increasing in efficiency. Teachers have now had ample opportunities of making themselves acquainted with the system, and the sympathetic guidance and advice of the specialist instructors is appreciated by the teachers. It may be interesting to record that among these specialist instructors we have a young Maori certificated teacher, a product of Native schools, who is now attached to a group of Native schools on the East Coast. More schools are now having their pupils correctly costumed for this work, in special garments made in the needlework class. In connection with health teaching, I should like to pay a special tribute to the District Nurses not only for their work in the schools, but also in the Maori homes. It would be difficult to find a keener or more conscientious group of workers. They have large districts to cover, but, no matter when or whence the call for help comes, they answer the call readily, and nothing seems to be able to prevent them from reaching their destination and rendering comfort and help. The return to their respective areas of the Instructors in Agriculture has given a stimulus to the revival of interest in this subject. The gardens and grounds of Native schools- have always been noted for their attractiveness, but it is desirable that greater emphasis be placed on the educational value of environment. The subject of gardening should be planned with this end in view, so that it becomes more than a mere job of work and should also carry over to the home. The condition of the tools and equipment in a few schools indicates a need for improved supervision of all gardening work. The annual supply of supplementary readers could not be sent out last year, owing to the difficulty of obtaining a suitable selection of new material. It is hoped to make a two years' supply available in 1946. This additional reading-matter has been supplied regularly to Native schools for a number of years, and in many schools, through care in use, and regular attention to binding, an extensive collection of supplementary readers has been accumulated. There are, however, a few schools where no trouble has been taken to ensure that the books remain serviceable for any length of time. The Country Library Service is being freely used, and many schools are 011 the waiting-list. A beginning has also been made in the establishment of reference libraries in Native schools. During 1945 several well-conducted educational tours were organized, in the course of which instruction was given under conditions favouring the fullest comprehension. The children returned to their schools enriched with new memories, experience, and first-hand knowledge to add interest and reality to the lessons in the class-room for many months. A feature of these tours was the care taken by the children to ensure that their new experiences were permanently recorded by well-illustrated notes and diagrams. Club work continues to be a strong feature in many schools. Where the clubs are based on genuine interest and are fostered and encouraged in an understanding manner, they are proving valuable aids to teaching, imparting confidence, creating initiative and aiding self-expression.

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