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room to work in. The room occupied is also used as an instructors' loom, so that the class and the instructors wishing to have access are an inconvenience to one another. I trust that better arrangements may soon be possible. Arithmetic, English, and Latin : These classes also show a considerable increase over the numbers for former years. The English class has been divided into two, both under Mr. Renner's supervision. Mr. Binning was appointed to assist Mr. Renner. The standard of work is steadily improving in all these classes. Domestic Economy. —Classes in cooking and dressmaking have been held in the old carpentersshop during the year. These classes promise to become a successful part of the school system. The alterations made in the building cost some £120, ami a further £40 was expended for equipment. The accommodation is of a temporary nature, but has served well so far and should serve till the Board is in a position to build on a suitable site. A class in Pattern-cutting for Bootmakers has been conducted during the year by Mr. B. Mapplebeck ; the number of students is not large, but does not diminish, and the class should run for a year or two at any rate, even if it does not develop into a special bootmaker's course. Whether there would be a sufficient demand for instruction to warrant the inclusion of other branches of the bootmaking trade is, I think, very problematical. Some experience of classes of a similar character to this has led me to the conclusion that many of them cannot be carried on continuously from year to year. It is necessary to harvest (so to say) one crop of students and then to wait a year or two for another crop to come on. Technical Day-scholars. — The standard of work done and the numbers attending this year have been higher than last year. Of many of the day-students who left the school in December, 1906, at the end of their two-years course, I have had information during the year and the reports of their progress and conduct have been uniformly good. The progress made during the y r ear has been very gratifying. Special Courses. —Commerce : These classes have been well attended during the year and a distinct advance has been made on the work of previous years. The model offices scheme has now been organized and is running smoothly. The results are good and amply justify the expenditure for books, &c, which the adoption of the scheme entailed. The work done in the first-year classes was better than that of last year, and the results of examination have been uniformly good. A large percentage of second-year students will qualify for senior free places. The reports of the outside examiners in commercial subjects are good, though there is a lamentable lack of accuracy in figuring observable in some cases. However, lam assured by the examiner, who also examined for Victoria College in commercial subjects, that our students are no worse than others in this respect, perhaps rather better. Engineering, carpentry and joinery, and electrical engineering: I have been very agreeably surprised, reading the answers given to papers set by me this month, to find how far the boys in these divisions have got into the spirit of their work. There is no parrot-like repetition of teacher's words. Each boy thinks for himself. The actual volume of book-knowledge gained by the boy is not, I think, so large as it might have been in an ordinarysecondary school, but the work struck me as being particularly thoughtful and of a kind likely to prove extremely useful to the boys later on. In practical mathematics, for example, the boys showed a knowledge of the fundamental principles of graphical and analytical methods and applied them with a confidence that was very gratifying, though I have no doubt the same boys would have floundered miserably with the same amount of training in the elegant but elusive methods of pure geometry. lam not. of course, in any way depreciating the study of pure geometry as a splendid general mental training; but I do think that graphical and analytical methods are more easilyunderstood and applied by the mechanic and the engineer. In mechanical drawing, mechanics, and applied science generally, good work has been done by the boys. In the electrical, mechanical, and woodworking shops good progress has been made, and general subjects, such as English and drawing, arithmetic and geometry, have not been neglected. We find that, even with the limited means as yet at our disposal, the boys make surer progress, more readily and clearly understand the principles of mechanics, and solve with facility more difficult problems than they could by purely mathematical methods. In a word, they learn to think. We had a striking illustration of this in comparing the arithmetic papers done by these boys and by the members of the advanced commercial classes. The commercial students were left hopelessly in the rear on a paper that consisted largely of commercial problems. Art section : The students in the day-classes for junior-free-place pupils have made very good progress and have in many competitions shown themselves capable of holding their own with students in the adult classes. Some specimens of elementary-design work applied to cushion-covers were quite noticeable for excellence, and their modelling, and drawing from flowers and other natural objects, and from live birds and animals, showed that they were keenly interested in their work. Domestic economy : A class of about twelve girls did good work throughout the year. The lessons given included instruction in food-values, in hygiene, and in cognate subjects. The library, lam glad to report, is used more by students than formerly. Many works of a useful character have been added during the year, and the nucleus of an instructor's library has been formed and has proved of some advantage. Thanks to Miss Lawson's unremitting care, only one book has been lost during the year. Considering that all students in the evening and many in the day classes are allowed to borrow books, and that these students often belong to the floating population, this is an excellent record. Condition of Buildings. —The work of cleaning and caretaking has been well performed during the year by the caretaker and his assistant. Considering what a variety of classes it is often necessary to hold in the same room at different times, the orderliness of the rooms is very good— far better than it has been in past years. The buildings have not been in any way specially