B.—lb

16

seemed to be caused by carelessness and laziness, or inability on the part of the pupils to express their thoughts and arrange their work on paper. Some were content with writing half a dozen lines, while others filled a page with some story—Becket's murder, for instance—couched in the exact words of the text-book. At this stage something more intelligent might be forthcoming. No subject, perhaps, is more difficult to teach in a primary school than history, consequently there is no subject which demands of the teacher more careful preparation beforehand. Object and Natueal Histoey Lessons.—Object and natural history lessons are given in most of the schools. This year teachers will be expected to keep a syllabus showing the work done, and I purpose to thoroughly inquire into the instruction, given. I did not do so at the late examinations, partly from want of time, but mainly because few teachers had kept records of their work. Object-lessons can, if properly conducted, be made of great educative value to children, because they appeal largely to the senses, and offer excellent training to the perceptive faculty. Every school should have its cabinet of specimens for object-lessons. This might be put up by the Committee or the Board at a small cost, and should contain examples of raw and manufactured materials, both animal and vegetable, common minerals, metals, &c. The objects may be mostly collected by the teachers and the children, with a few purchases here and there. This plan has been adopted with success at Warrengate. Science.—ln elementary science a few enthusiastic teachers have done some good work, and it is worthy of remark -that two schools which showed the best results in science were two of the most advanced in the district in the essential subjects. Singing.—Singing is taught in most of the schools where female teachers are employed, and in a few with only one male teacher. The singing in the infant schools at Wanganui and Hawera,' where it is made of valuable assistance to discipline, was excellent. Deawing.—Drawing is attempted in comparatively few schools besides those in large centres. At Matarawa some advanced work was shown. Needlewoek.—At many of the large schools, and also at some of the smaller where a female teacher is in charge, needlework is taught in a very efficient manner. There is, however, a very general complaint of the apparently little interest taken by parents in this important subject. The supply of material is often left to the mistress's ingenuity, and the teaching power is in-consequence frittered away on desultory, instead of being economised on graduated and collective, instruction. From lack of material at some places—notably Normanby—the work did not approach the requirements of the standards. As there are many schools with male teachers only, where no needlework is at present taught, I would suggest the advisability in such cases of appointing visiting sewingmistresses. Perhaps the wives of some teachers would act in such capacity. Becitation.—ln all schools poetry was prepared for examination, but in the majority the defects in reading already referred to were to be found in the recitation. Bepeating verses at a gallop, so to speak, slurring of words, dropping the voice at the end of the line, and neglect of punctuation, were common errors. The recitation of poetry in such a manner does a great deal of harm. Comprehension, too, was neglected. I call to mind a class in which not one could tell the meaning of " symmetry " and " pall," occurring in the first five lines of the piece prepared. Several told me that the former was " a place for burying the dead." An attempt to recite or read with feeling was a great source of amusement in some schools, and this plainly shows that no effort had been made to attain such a desirable end. At a few schools, however, the recitation was excellent, and especially so at Upper Tutaenui and Hawera. Deill, Discipline, etc. —Drill is made compulsory by the Board's regulations; but at too many schools it receives attention only in the playground, and none of the effects are to be found in the school-room. Thus I have seen pupils on examination-day, when the time for assembly arrived, put through their drill in a very creditable manner; they were, however, then dismissed, the bell was rung, and they entered school in disorder. Too much attention cannot be paid to the manner in which children enter, leave, and walk through their class-rooms. Talking and lounging should on no account be allowed, and teachers should insist upon smart and simultaneous movements, which are always found in well-disciplined classes, and which are essential to the management of numbers and the economising of time and teaching-power. Mr. Fitch says : " There are right and beautiful ways, and there are clumsy and confused ways, of sitting down at a desk, of moving from one place to another, of handling and opening books, of cleaning slates, of giving out pens and paper, of entering and leaving school. Petty as each of these acts is separately, they are important collectively, and the best teachers habitually reduce all such movements to drill, and require them to be done simultaneously, and with finished and mechanical exactness." Bad behaviour will generally be found to be the result either of insufficiency of work or of uninteresting work; hence the teacher should endeavour to keep his pupils actively employed at all times, and to make the work as interesting as possible. The unavoidable practice in small schools of teaching the infants in the same.room as the standard classes must be very prejudicial to good discipline. There are two very dirty habits which I should like to see stopped. One, with respect to cleaning slates, has disappeared from many schools since my visits of inspection ; the other is very prevalent—l refer to the method of turning the leaves of books. The manners of the pupils were very varied in different schools—excellent in some, very bad in others—according to the attention paid to them and the character and worth of the teacher. Many of the junior teachers would do well to attend to this all-important matter on behalf both of themselves and their pupils. " Manners make the man." Teachers also should be careful about their own position when they are engaged with their classes. When the black-board is used in oral teaching it should be placed on the extreme left of the class; but, when children are copying from it, on the extreme right. In the former case the teacher will thus have all his pupils in view, even when he turns toward the black-board; in the latter children have no excuse for getting out of the writing position and looking at their neighbours' slate's or books. -- Conclusion.—ln this, my annual report, I have not made a separate statement with regard to