The Napier District School is a wooden building of two storeys, situated on the north side of Clive Square. The infant school is conducted in a separate building, standing on the corner of Clive Square and Carlyle Street. The school is one of the oldest in the province, and was founded in the “seventies.” It has accommodation for about 1,000 scholars, the roll number is about 700, and the average attendance 640. The school has an excellent name for efficiency, and the annual examinations show good results. There are two cadet corps in the school. The staff consists of the head-master, three male and five female assistants, and six pupil-teachers.

Mr. L. J. Plank.

Mr. James Hislop, Head-master of the Napier District School, is further referred to as captain and adjutant of the 3rd (East Coast) Battalion of the Wellington Rifle Volunteers. He also holds the position of Major, commanding No. 1 Battalion, Hawke's Bay Public School Cadets.

Mr. Louis John Plank (D3 Certificate), Second Assistant Master of the Napier District School, was born at Makotuku, in Hawke's Bay, in September, 1881, and was educated at the Makotuku and Ormondville public schools, chiefly under Mr. J. C. Westall, B.A., LL.B., He subsequently served as a pupil teacher for four years in the Weber school, and was then for one year in training in Napier. In 1903 Mr. Plank was appointed assistant master at Waipukurau, two years later page 344 became third assistant master at the Hastings public school, and in 1906 accepted his present appointment. Mr. Plank was a member of the Dannevirke Mounted Rifles, and of the Waipawa Rifles, in which he held office as a corporal. He is a keen sportsman, and has gained representative honours at football.

Mr. Cecil Bertram McCure, who in February, 1906, was appointed third assistant master of the Napier District School, was born in South Canterbury in September, 1886, and is a son of Mr. W. D. McClure, headmaster of the Kiritaki school, near Dannevirke. He was educated in Gisborne, at the public school, where he gained a scholarship in 1900, and at the High School, where he matriculated in 1902. He was then appointed as a second-year pupil teacher at the Mangapapa public school, nine months after was transferred to the district High School at Dannevirke, where he gained the D certificate, and a year later received his present appointment. Mr. McClure takes a keen interest in athletics, was captain of his school cricket and football clubs, and carried off the half-mile running championship for Poverty Bay. As a volunteer he is a member of the Napier Guards, and he is also a member of the choir of St. Paul's Church.

Mr. C. B. McClure.

The Napier South School was originally established as a side school, to prevent overcrowding in the main school. It was intended only to accommodate small children, and was placed in charge of a mistress, who for some time had as many as 300 names on the roll. In February, 1899; however, the school was opened as a training college for teachers, and was retained as such under the head-mastership of Mr. Dodds, M.A., until the year 1902, when it was constituted an ordinary public school. It is situated in Hastings Street, and comprises two wooden buildings, with accommodation for about 450 pupils. There is a roll number of about 300, and the average attendance is 270. Mr. J. N. Dodds, M.A., is head-master.

The Hukarere Native Girls' School, situated on the Hukarere Road, was established by the late Bishop Williams, the first Bishop of Waiapu, in the year 1875. It was for some years maintained by the Church Missionary Society and the proceeds from a Maori school estate, but it was in 1892, affiliated to the Te Aute College. The two schools are supported by a valuable endowment, known as the Te Aute College Estate, and by Government scholarships or grants to individual pupils on their selection for transference from the various native primary schools. Many of the pupils have done excellent work, one became mistress of the school for several years, and some are now teaching in native schools in various parts of the colony. In addition to the ordinary school curriculum, dress-making, cookery, and laundry work are taught. Some of the old pupils receive hospital training. The building is of two storeys, in wood and iron, and has residential accommodation for about sixty pupils.

The Hukarere Native Girls' School.

Miss Anna Maria Williams, under whose general superintendence the Hukarere Native Girls' School is carried on, is a daughter of the late Bishop Williams, founder of the institution, and has been closely connected with the management of the school from its inception.

Miss Jane Helena Bulstrode, Lady Principal of the Hukarere Native Girls' School, was born in Berkshire, England, and was educated at Craufurd House, Maidenhead. In 1898 she was recommended by the Church Missionary Society for the position she now holds. She was joined by a sister two years later.