Appendix.]

E.—6.

Owing to the stringency of our financial position no further steps have been taken to provide boarding accommodation, although the Board is of opinion that this is a matter of the utmost importance. Train arrangements still continue to disorganize considerably the work of the school. The Board has under consideration the question of introducing desks in uniformity with the ones already in some of the class-rooms, and has applied to the Department for a grant for the purpose. E. E. Bowler, Chairman. 2. Work of the Highest and Lowest Classes. Highest. —English—Nesfield's Senior Course of Composition ; Nesfield's Historical English and Derivation; Shakespeare, Hamlet; Macaulay, Essay on Milton; Milton, Lycidas and Comus; Palgrave's Golden Treasury. Latin —Cioero, Second Philippic ; Virgil, Georgics, Book III; Sargent's Latin Prose Primer; Sargent's Easy Exercises for Translation into Latin; Bradley's Arnold ; Wilkins's Antiquities ; Merivale and Pullar's Roman History. French —Siepmann's Public School Primer ; Berthon's Specimens of Modern French Prose ; Berthon's Specimens of Modern French Verse; Wellington College French Grammar. Mathematics —Workman's Arithmetic; Hall and Knight's Algebra ; Hall and Stevens's Geometry ; Pendlebury's Trignometry. Science— Hadley's Elementary Electricity and Magnetism ; Senter's Inorganic Chemistry. Lowest. —English—Nesfield's Oral Exercises in English Composition ; Scott's Talisman ; Palgrave's Golden Treasury; Yoxall and Gregory's Word-builder and Speller; Nesfield's Uses of the Parts of Speech. Latin —Elementa Latina ; Beresford's First Latin Reader. French —Siepmann's Primary French Course, Part I. Mathematics —Workman's Arithmetic, omitting harder examples ; Hall and Knight's Algebra, to p. 107 ; Hall and Stevens's Geometry, to p. 78. Geography —Lyde's Man and His Markets; Longmans' Physical Geography, Book V. History—Meiklejohn's History of England. Science —Laurie's Text-book of Elementary Botany ; Furneaux's Physiology ; Telford and Varley's Progressive Course in Chemistry; Donington's Practical Exercises in Chemistry ; Hadley's Practical Electricity and Magnetism ; Hadley's Practical Exercises in Electricity and Magnetism. Commercial side—Thornton's Easy Exercises in Book-keeping ; Thornton's Primer of Book-keeping ; Pitman's Shorthand Commercial Course ; jSsop's Fables in shorthand ; Pitman's Indexing and precis-writing. SOUTHLAND BOYS' AND GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOLS. Staff. Boys' School. —Mr. '1 , . D. Pearce, M.A.; Mr. J. Williams, B.Sc. ; Mr. J. P. Dakin, B.A. ; Mr. J. S. MoGrath, J3.A • Mr. J. B. Struthcrs, M.A. ; Mr. P. E. Edmondson, B.A. ; Mr. .T. Page ; Mr. J. W. Dickson. Girls' School.-— Miss J. Jobson, M.A. (Melb.); Miss M. H. M. King, M.A. ; Miss G. Opie, M.A., M.Sc. ; Miss E. Law, M.A. ; Miss V. 0. Farnie, M.A. ; Miss M. Dale, M.A. ; Miss A. L. Loudon ; Mr. .John Page ; Mr. J. W. Dickson, Miss Rhoda Wilson. 1. Report of the Board of Governors. On behalf of the Board, I have pleasure in submitting the following report for the year ending the 31st December, 1913 : — The Board. —The following were the members of the Board for the year : Messrs. W. Macalister, 8.A., L.L.8., and J. Crosby Smith, F.L.S., representing the Education Board ; Messrs. A. F. Hawke and R. A. Anderson, appointed by the Governor; and His Worship the Mayor of Invercargill, Mr. D. McFarlane. Mr. W. Macalister was re-elected Chairman at the beginning of the year. Secretaryship. —Mr. John Neill, who had been Secretary and Treasurer of the Board for nearly eight years, retired in May, and in accepting his resignation the Board passed a resolution expressing appreciation of his services and of the careful and methodical way in which he had always carried out his duties. Mr. A. Bell was appointed Mr. Neill's successor. Teaching Staffs. —There was no change in the, Boys' School staff during the year under review ; and in the Girls' School staff the only change was caused by the resignation of Miss Laycock and the appointment of Miss Agnes L. Loudon, M.A., of Otago University, to fill the vacancy. Mr. Lan Galloway, who had filled the position of physical instructor to both schools very efficiently for over six years, resigned in April to join the Education Department's staff of physical instructors, and his place was filled by the appointment of Mr. J. Page, who commenced duties in July. Attendance. —The attendance at both schools during 1913 showed a slight decrease when compared with that of the previous year. This was probably due to the establishment of a day Technical College in Invercargill. The total rolls for the three terms were respectively —Boys, 155, 150, 138 ; mean, 148 : girls, 153, 152, 144 ; mean, 150. The means of the total rolls for the previous year were—Boys, 168 ; girls, 156. As a contrast to the above it is gratifying to be able to report that both schools, and more especially the Boys, began the year 1914 with greatly augmented roll-numbers. Successes of Pupils. —At the public examinations held towards the end of the year the following successes were gained by pupils of the Boys' School: Thirty-three passed the Public Service Entrance Examination, fourteen with credit; seventeen passed Matriculation ; one gained a Junior and four gained Senior Education Board Scholarships, the latter taking the first four places ; forty-one were awarded Senior Free Places by Inspector Gill; one boy passed the Senior Public Service Examination, and one boy —the dux of the school —gained a Senior National Scholarship.

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