E.—s

Attendance. —The number of students who attended the different classes during the three terms respectively was as follows : Morning class for drawing and painting, six, four, five ; evening class, twenty-eight, thirty-five, thirty-seven (of these numbers there were four, three, four for machine construction, and three, five, seven for building construction). Saturday art class, for teachers of primary schools under the Board, twenty-seven, twenty-five, twenty-six. Girls' College —Drawing, fifty-seven, fifty-three, fifty-eight; painting, nine, six, nine; total, 127, 123, 132. Work. —It is unnecessary to refer to the work of the different classes held in the school, as this has been similar to that of former years. The results, however, as judged by the South Kensington examination results, are more satisfactory than formerly. In 1896 there were ninety candidates, with twenty-three failures ; in 1897 there were eighty-four candidates, with sixteen failures. South Kensington Examination Results. — Advanced Time Examinations : Candidates, 23; failures, 4. Freehand from the cast —First class, 6 ; second class, 3 ; failed, 3. Shading from models —First class, 3; failed, 1. Light and shade from the cast —First class, 3 ; second class, 4. Elementary Time Examinations: Candidates, 61; failures, 12. Freehand from the flat— First class, 15 ; second class, 20; failed, 7. Model-drawing—Second class, 5 ; failed, 3. Perspective —First class, 3 ; failed, 1. Light and shade from the cast—First class, 4 ; second class, 3 ; failed, 1. Painting in monochrome —Second class, 1. Geometrical drawing, 1 candidate passed. Of the school works sent in March, 1897, to London for certificates the following were accepted : For the art master's certificate—Sheet of foliage in outline from nature, Herbert I. Babbage, Gertrude E. Brown, Florence A. Liffiton ; outline of figure from the antique—Leonard J. Watkin. For the art class teacher's certificate—Sheet of geometrical problems, Herbert I. Babbage, Gertrude E. Brown ; drawing from the cast, shaded in chalk—Herbert I. Babbage. Girls' College — Drawing and, Painting Glasses. —These classes were continued as in former years. At the end of the year the Board added a room, specially designed for the satisfactory teaching of more advanced work, and provided casts, easels, and the necessary furniture for light and shade, and painting. I am sorry that the arrangements for this work during the past term have not been what I had hoped. This may to some extent be rectified during the remaining two terms of the year, when a more detailed statement regarding this matter can be made in the next annual report. Exhibition of Works. —ln addition to the usual annual exhibition of our own students' drawings and paintings, held in the school at the end of the year—which was open for a week, and inspected by a large number of visitors —a loan collection of forty-five works, illustrating the different stages of instruction in schools of art in the United Kingdom, was exhibited free to the public in the school for a fortnight. This collection was sent from London by the Science and Art Department for exhibition at the different towns in New Zealand where schools are in existence. There can be no doubt that our students, in common with others in the colony, will derive much benefit from having studied such works. Palmerston North Branch Classes. —At the request of the Board, I inspected Mr. Watkin's work as instructor of these drawing classes, held on Saturdays in the College Street school, Palmerston North. These classes were commenced during the last term of the preceding year with the large attendance of forty-three students. Last year the attendances were, for the three terms respectively, thirty-six, twenty-five, and thirty-four. On my visit to the classes last term I found twenty-seven students on the roll. These are divided into three classes, each class taking two sections of drawing, as required for the pupil-teachers' examination, as follows : Ten cadets and three third-class pupil-teachers take freehand from flat examples, together with scale-drawing; eight second-class pupil-teachers take practical plane geometry and freehand drawing on the blackboard ; six first-class pupil-teachers take practical solid geometry and model-drawing. At my request Mr. Watkin gave the freehand, model, and solid geometry classes instruction on the blackboard. Scale-drawing was partly taken, but time was not available for either plane geometry, students' freehand on the blackboard, or the more important section of scale-drawing. From Mr. Watkin's training as a primary school teacher, his method of imparting the knowledge he possesses is clear; and, although his work on the board before the class was at fault in a few cases where technical knowledge was required, I hope, now that he is giving five days a week to study here, he will become proficient not only in the elementary work he is taking at Palmerston, but in the more advanced studies on which he is now entering with a view to becoming a certificated art master. The accommodation at these classes, both as regards the instructor and students, could scarcely be more unsatisfactory. This will be readily understood when it is mentioned that the floor of the room is closely packed for over three-quarters of its area with children's desks, on a very slightly stepped floor. It is a work of extreme difficulty for an adult to do any kind of work, let alone drawing, at these seats and desks, which are fixed together, after he has succeeded in squeezing on to the seat. In my last annual report I suggested that a branch technical school might be opened at Palmerston, and lam glad to know that the Board is considering the question. I feel sure that, with the population Palmerston possesses, such a school will be successful if a central site be obtained and a competent instructor appointed, New Classes. —Before closing this report I wish to refer to the new classes that were commenced at the beginning of the year, as the result of the enlargement of the school. The additional accommodation is as follows: A room 60 ft. long by 28 ft. wide, with a corridor 7 ft. wide leading toa new female lavatory 17 ft. by 9ft. The lecture-room has been extended 10 ft., beneath which a workshop for woodwork, 22 ft. by 15 ft., is provided. The large room just added is divided into two parts by a movable partition placed 20 ft. from one end. The larger part, 40ft. by 28ft., is devoted to drawing and painting, and the smaller part, 20ft. by 28 ft., is used for building construction and machine

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