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Eeceipts and Expenditure for the Tear ended 31st December, 1881. Receipts. £ s. d. Expenditure. £ a. d. Balance from last year ... ... ... 55 13 7 Rents ... ... ... ... 600 School Commissioners ... ... ... 61 17 4 Surveying reserve ... ... ... 77 12 4 Rents from reserve ... ... ... 85 9 6 Expenses leasing reserve ... ... 56 4 0 Government grant ... ... ~, 500 0 0 Insurance ... ... ... ... 515 0 Gold fields revenue ... ... ... 31 10 0 Printing and advertising ... ... 21 13 0 School fees ... ... ... ... 350 7 2 Office expenses ... ... ~. 419 0 Overdraft, Bank of New Zealand ... ... 29 1 5 Rates ... ... ... ... 10 18 0 Salaries ... ... ... ... 840 14 8 School repairs ... ... ... 12 6 6 School furniture ... ... ... 600 School requisites ... ... ... 41 13 0 Fires and cleaning ... ... ... 23 8 6 Bank interest ... ... ... 6 15 0 £1,113 19 0 £1^1.13 19 _0 W. Wilkinson, Chairman, Board of Governors. E. A. Heald, Secretary. I hereby certify that I have examined the books and vouchers of the Thames Boys' and Girls' High School for the'year ended 31st December, 1881, and that I find the same to be correct.—L. A. Durbieix, Auditor.—lBth January, 1882.

WHANGAEEI HIGH SCHOOL. Sic, — Whangarei, 26th January, 1882. I beg most respectfully to enclose the annual report of the Headmaster of the High School, and statement of income and expenditure. I am directed by the Governors to bring under your notice our difficulties, in a monetary way only, in obtaining buildings for the purposes of efficiently conducting the school. A number of new students are entering for the coming term, and our accommodation is but very limited. We have applications from other parts of New Zealand, asking if boarding convenience be provided in the master's house. The salubrity and the many advantages of Whangarei for the residence of students from less-favoured districts, leads us to look for this High School being a great success, and having a great future prosperity. Our reserve here producing no funds, and the land being such as to require many years to give substantial assistance, we are dependent solely upon fees and our share of the Auckland School Commissioners' funds. We are sanguine that, with suitable buildings, the school would soon be self-supporting, and the Governors earnestly beg your kind assistance in obtaining a Government grant to enable us to erect buildings suitable to the requirements. The Governors are quite willing to give security over our reserve for the advance, if required by the Government. I have, &c, Joseph Bell, Secretary, The Hon. the Minister of Education, Wellington.

HeADMASTEe's BepOBT to the GOVERNORS. Gentlemen, — Whangarei High School, 31st December, 1881. I have the honor to submit to you my first annual report as Headmaster of the Whangarei High School. I regret that it should be.so brief and imperfect; but, the institution having commenced work only six months ago, and carried it on during that period under great disadvantages, any statement now furnished must be regarded rather as indicative of work to be undertaken in the future than as an account of what has been positively done in the past. The High School was formally opened under my charge on the 16th May, 1881. At that time only six pupils were entered on the roll. Gradually, however, as the fact of its existence became known, and the work executed began to give satisfaction, other students dropped in, until at the end of the year fourteen names stood on the register. This is so far encouraging, but lam glad to be able to assure you our numbers will be considerably augmented after the recess. The course of study in the Whangarei High School aims at supplying a good literary as well as a good commercial education. Hence, under the former heading fall more particularly Latin, Greek, German, Italian,logic,and metaphysics ; under the latter, English in all its branches, French, mathematics, physical science, mercantile book-keeping. Of these a student may select either one subject or the entire course, the scale of fees being so graduated as to admit of this. In Latin, during the past year, the class reached the end of the regular conjugations ; easy exercises in translation from Latin into English, and vice versa, being carried on contemporaneously. The textbook here employed was Smith's " Principia Latina," Part I. The English class devoted itself prin-