H.—3l.

The type of school-buildings erected in recent years is a great advance upon its predecessors, but time and experience alone will evolve the ideal school for us. There is no doubt that every class-room should be potentially an open-air class-room —-that is to say, a room capable of admitting the maximum benefit from sunlight and fresh air but nevertheless providing adequate shelter against stress of weather. We have variations of climate in this Dominion from subtropical to rather less than temperate. Care must be taken to consider special local conditions when school-buildings are being erected. The Open-air Schools League continues to flourish in Canterbury. During the last year a conference was held, composed of Dr. Mclntyre and Professor Shelley, representing the League ; Mr. Caughley, Director of Education, and Mr. Spencer, representing the Education Department ; the Director, Division of School Hygiene ; and Drs. Phillipps, Baker-McLaglan, and Irwin, School Medical Officers. A discussion took place as to the most suitable type of school-building for New Zealand, and certain basic principles were agreed upon with reference to school-construction. It was agreed that the Minister of Education be approached with the request that the open-air class-room, Fendalton design, be further tried. As a result of this recommendation open-air class-rooms have been established at Lin wood and Cashmere Hills. Schools of this type have a growing popularity both with teachers and with pupils, who find the school day much more cheerful, effective work accomplished with less effort, and a minimum of fatigue at the end of the day. SECTION 4.—GOITRE. The work of mapping out areas where goitre is endemic is now practically concluded. Dr. Baker-McLaglan, to whom credit is due for much conscientious and exact work, was detailed to make a final survey of schools throughout the Dominion —one object of this being the co-ordination of the results sent in by various School Medical Officers.

Incidence of Goitre in School-children in New Zealand in relation to the Amount of Iodine in the Soil.

38

Number of ,, ... p , . ' " lc ' e Mpdipal Ex-1 Kec °gn>tion Percentage verage of No. District. . .. of Goitrous Incidence ! odine in animations : „ f ., ' t> . of Children, j Condltlon - of Goitre. Parts per I J I I 1 Stewart Island .. .. .. .. .. . . .. 87 2 Bluff .. .. .. .. .. 280 59 21 20 3 Invercargill and Southland .. .. .. 2,960 1,049 35 20 4 Waimea Plains .. .. .. .. 1.025 324 31 6 5 Clutha Valley .. .. .. .. 2,947 1,197 40 4 6 Taieri Valley and Milton .. .. .. 1,366 406 30 6 7 Dunedin .. .. .. .. .. 8,413 1,573 19 32 8 North Otago .. .. .. .. 895 155 17 13 Southland and Otago .. .. .. 17,886 4,763 26-6 13 9 South Canterbury .. .. .. .. 5,206 3,228 62 3 10 Christchurch .. .. .. .. 5,548 3,548 64 9 11 Banks Peninsula .. .. .. .. 1,293 397 31 9 12 North Canterbury .. .. .. .. 2,782 1,608 58 6 13 Marlborough (includes Kaikoura) .. .. 700 263 38 3 14 Nelson .. .. .. .. .. 929 273 29 17 15 West Coast .. .. .. .. 1,675 889 52 12 Canterbury, Marlborough, and Nelson.. .. 18,133 10,206 56-3 9 16 Wellington .. .. .. .. 2,633 657 25 40 17 Hutt Valley .. .. .. .. 2,343 968 41 16 18 Wairarapa and Dannevirke .. .. .. 5,164 1,310 26 24 19 Hawke's Bay .. .. .. .. 2,101 10 32 9 20 G-isborne .. .. .. .. .. 2,770 40 34 13 21 Horowhenua .. .. .. .. 560 21 12-5 137 22 Palmerston and Marton .. .. .. 6,823 1,061 23 9 23 Wanganui and Patea .. .. .. 3,591 1,581 45 8 24 Taranaki .. .. .. .. .. 4,503 177 7 166 25 Main Trunk line .. .. .. .. 2,129 460 22 26 Taumarunui .. .. .. .. 100* 35 37 14 Wellington, Taranaki, and East Coast .. 32,593 6,320 19'3 47 27 West Coast and Te Kuiti .. .. .. 796* 468* 11-3 25 28 Waikato and Piako Valley .. .. .. 3,505 2,454 30 55 29 Taupo and Rotorua .. .. .. 534 366 28 10 30 Bay of Plenty .. .. .. ,. 1,443 381 31 18 31 Cape Colville Peninsula .. .. .. 220 5 15 11 32 Auckland.. .. .. .. .. 3,240 147 11 158 33 North Auckland .. .. .. .. 2,400 75-5 53 * Approximations only.