35

c.— a

to mention that no less than 277 of the Boards teachers attended the courses of instruction helcTby Mr. V. W. Jackson, 8.A., during the three years that he was engaged as instructor in elementary agriculture under the Board, and obtained special certificates qualifying them to teach this subject, to show that even now there is a large number of teachers qualified to take this work in their schools who have not yet made a start. The present instructor in elementary agriculture and nature-study, Mr. "J. "P. Kalaugher, who commenced his duties at the beginning of last year, has visited a large number of schools, and his advice to the teachers has been very much appreciated. During September and October special classes in elementary agriculture and nature-study for teachers were conducted by Mr. Kalaugher at Hamilton. Each of these courses was held for a period of three weeks, and embraced not only theoretical and laboratory work, but also instruction in the school-garden. In making the selection of teachers to attend these classes preference was given to those who had not previously had an opportunity of attending any of the special courses in agriculture held by Mr. Jackson whilst he was in the service of the Board. For each class the number applying for admission was in excess of the number that could be accommodated, and the majority of those who did attend were enthusiastic as to the benefits which they derived from attendance at the class. The students of the Auckland Training College attended special classes at the Technical College in art, domestic science, and manual training (woodwork). Special classes for teachers in art, dressmaking and needlework, hygiene, laundry-work, and physiology were held at the Auckland Technical College. At Whangarei a teachers' class in cookery was also held. Technical and Continuation Classes in Country Centres. Whangarei. —The following classes were held : English, commercial arithmetic, cookery, brush drawing, freehand and model drawing, painting, poker-work, carpentry and joinery, and trade drawing. The number of individual students enrolled was 73, the class entries being 100. At the annual examinations held in December, 33 papers were worked, and 26 passes obtained. In the middle of the year Mr. G. B. Woolley was promoted to the Newmarket Manual-training School, and Mr. F. J. Layzell was appointed in his place. During the twelve months that Mr. Woolley was in charge of the woodwork classes at Whangarei he did excellent work, and his departure was very much regretted in the district. The Board was fortunate in obtaining so well qualified a successor as Mr. Layzell, who is a most enthusiastic teacher. At the end of the year Miss Griffiths was appointed as domestic science instructor for the new manual-training schools at Devonport, Pukekohe, and Helensville. During the three years and a half that Miss Griffiths was in charge of the cookery centre at Whangarei she rendered excellent and enthusiastic service, and received a very hearty send-ofi from the inhabitants when she left. At the end of the session an exhibition of the work done by the students in the various classes was held. This was well attended by parents and residents, and the live interest taken in the work was most encouraging to the students and teachers. Thames. —Technical and continuation classes were in much greater demand in Thames last year than for several previous years, the number of students in attendance being almost double that of the former year. Classes were held in the following subjects : Commercial arithmetic, English, typewriting, shorthand, book-keeping, high-class cookery, household cookery, cookery for nurses, dressmaking, woodwork, theory and practice of plumbing. Miss A. Murphy again acted as local superintendent, and was as energetic and enthusiastic as ever in carrying out her duties. The number of individual students enrolled was 115, the class entries being 337. Fifty-seven papers were worked at the December examinations, and 46 passes were recorded. Special mention should be made of the excellent work done by Miss Lawson in the cookery classes, these classes being very popular for the first time in several years. Waihi. —In spite of the classes in Waihi having still to be conducted in the District High School and in a rented building, steady progress was made during the year. Classes in English, commercial arithmetic, commercial correspondence, book-keeping, shorthand, dressmaking, millinery, and buildingconstruction were held, especially good work being done in the building-construction class under Mr. Smith. The number of individual students enrolled was 86, the class entries being 223. At the examinations held in December the number of papers worked was 79, and 39 passes were obtained. Mr. S. H. Macky, headmaster of the Waihi East Public School, again carried out enthusiastically his duties as local superintendent. Cambridge. —Classes in dressmaking, cookery, and woodwork were held at Cambridge. Of these, the only ones that were at all well patronized were the dressmaking classes, in which there were 29 pupils. Te Aroha. —Mr. B. A. Franklin, Sanitary Inspector for the Thames district under the Health Department, conducted a plumbing class, at which 5 students attended. Paeroa and Hamilton. —The itinerant dressmaking instructor, Mrs. A. M. King, held dressmaking classes at Hamilton and Paeroa, the number of students being 44 at Hamilton and 4 at Paeroa. Auckland Technical College. At the time of writing my report last year I fully anticipated that the new building-—the Seddon Memorial Technical College —would be ready for occupation by the end of 1911. Further vexatious delay on the part of the contractors has, however, prevented this, and there appears at present little prospect of our getting into the new college much before the end of 1912. It is sincerely to be hoped that further funds will shortly be forthcoming to allow of the five stories of the building being completed, as at the termination of the present contract, which provides for the first three stories only, the new college not only will be anything but an architectural ornament to the city, but it will be entirely inadequate in accommodation even for present requirements. The total number of individual students attending day and evening classes last year was 1,363, as compared with 1,338 for the previous year.