3 English boarders in attendance by 1874, and some day pupils. The college chapel was constructed in 1900, in a design by architect Charles Natusch. Between 1878 and 1912 Te Aute was led by headmaster John Thornton, who implemented a curriculum developed along the lines of an English grammar school. In 1883 the college was visited by James Pope, the government-appointed inspector of native schools, and received praise for Thornton's curriculum. Pope described the standards reached at Te Aute in mathematics and science as 'equal to those of any secondary school in the country.' By 1900 Te Aute was renowned for high academic standards and had become pre-eminent among Māori boarding colleges, as it was sending several boys onto university each year. 20th century In 1906 a Royal Commission of Inquiry was established to investigate the effectiveness of teaching at Te Aute and other Māori boarding colleges. George Hogben, the newly appointed inspector of native schools, recommended that the college discontinue instruction in Latin, euclidean geometry, and algebra, and increase agricultural and manual instruction. His view was that the most academically able students could be sent to ordinary secondary schools, and he predicted that eventually Te Aute would have no role to play in preparing boys for university. Thornton defended the existing academic curriculum, arguing that Māori opinion favoured academic instruction and that Māori parents relied on Te Aute for academic rather than vocational education. Ultimately the commission recommended that greater emphasis be placed on manual and technical instruction in agriculture, and the college's trustees complied under pressure from the Department of Education. In the following years the college's attempted pivot toward vocational instruction began alienating academically gifted students, notably Golan Maaka. In 1922, Maaka became disillusioned with the heavy focus on agricultural instruction and the lack of Māori cultural studies at the college. He left Te Aute as a result and completed his schooling in Dannevirke instead. In 1918 the college was damaged significantly by fire again. This coincided with the impact of the 1918 influenza epidemic, ultimately forcing the college to close temporarily. Reconstruction planning began immediately, with college trustees opting for more modern brick buildings. While construction planning continued, the college reopened in 1919 under a new headmaster E. G. Loten. Loten was a proponent of agricultural education, and satisfied the Department of Education's wish for an agriculturally intensive curriculum. On 9 September 1922 the foundation stone