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from whatever quarter it has come, has been highly favourable, and the further establishment of similar schools in large town districts could now be confidently proceeded with. At Waitaki High Schools (Oamaru) junior high schools have been successfully established as integral parts of the Boys' and Girls' High Schools respectively. Owing to the epidemic the opening of the junior section of the high school was delayed until May, but all arrangements are now working smoothly, and it is anticipated that, in the capable hands of the two Principals concerned, this form of junior high school will prove just as successful as that of Kowhai. Quite a different type of junior high school was organized and established at Matamata, near Hamilton. Matamata previously had a district high school with a small number of pupils and two secondary teachers. Though even under these conditions the secondary department of a district high school can give a valuable course of instruction to post-primary pupils, it has to be admitted that owing to the small number of pupils the best provision for secondary education cannot be made. At the request of the people of Matamata and surrounding districts there were added to the pupils of the Fifth and Sixth Standards at Matamata the pupils of the same standards from ten schools within a radius of about ten miles The people of the district themselves made arrangements for the conveyance of these children to Matamata, and are prepared to meet any extra cost above the ordinary rate of conveyance paid by the Government. This consolidation now provides a junior high school of about one hundred and sixty pupils, with a staff of a head teacher and five assistants. Thus the pupils will not only have the benefit of the advantages of the junior-high-school system as set out in last year's annual report, but they will also have these advantages in a scattered country district where formerly only a limited provision for secondary education could be made for pupils above the Sixth Standard. Moreover, the junior high school will give strength and support to the present district high school department. The Matamata Junior High School is a part of Matamata Primary School. The whole is under a newly appointed headmaster, and is governed by a committee comprising the Chairman of the Committee from each of the various schools which now feed the Matamata consolidated school. Another quite different type of junior high school has also been established at Northcote, on the north side of Auckland Harbour. Here one large school and two neighbouring small schools have supplied from their Fifth and Sixth Standards the pupils for a junior high school under the control of one head teacher and five assistants. It will thus be seen that the four junior high schools now established are of entirely different types. Possibly only two additional types of school need to be provided to complete a series which by duplication would meet the needs of the whole Dominion if the system be fully applied. Of the other two types one would be somewhat similar to a junior high school in that its pupils would be collected from the Fifth and. Sixth. Standards of a number of small schools hi an area where at present not even a district high school can be established. Though such a school could not be as fully equipped and staffed as the junior high schools proper, the arrangement would be distinctly beneficial to the pupils, and in any case would be necessary so that, on the complete adoption of the scheme for pupils above the age of twelve, these children would all be engaged in a similar course of work, and could, if they changed their place of residence or if they transferred to a higher school, after completing the primary stage, be able to proceed'with their studies on the same footing as all other pupils where the junior-high-school system had been established under ordinary conditions. In addition, there would still remain many very small and scattered schools whose pupils, after reaching the age of twelve, could not conveniently be conveyed to any central school for the purpose of combined instruction in a modified junior-high-school course. As instruction of senior pupils in these small schools is practically individual instruction, the teacher would need to provide the necessary course of study for pupils. There is no need for experiment regarding the value of the junior-high-school principle itself. That stage has passed.. The testimony of other countries as well as our own experience sufficiently establish the validity of the principle. We are now trying out different methods of applying the principle to the varying sets of conditions to be found in the different districts of New Zealand, and the results alreadv obtained are distinctly encouraging.