1T. —20

The health of the girls has again been consistently good. Two have been patients at the Salvation Army Maternity Hospital, one girl subsequently marrying, and, with a home of her own, being able to keep her baby ; the other child was committed to the care of the Child Welfare Department, the girl returning to this institution. One other inmate was absent at public hospital for eight days for surgical treatment for venereal disease, and four others attended the out-patients clinic for treatment for the same trouble. Apart from these, there have been no cases of sickness for more than one day. Regular dental attention is given, and in three cases where there was optical weakness spectacles were supplied. Another valuable service is that the advice of a psychiatrist from the Mental Hospitals Department is always available. The conduct of the girls has again been very creditable, only one breach having occurred, when a girl left the institution grounds without permission. As a mark of encouragement for so good a record, the Borstal Association generously 'made a grant enabling all the girls to visit the Centennial Exhibition. They went in groups of four with different staff members, and educationally and socially the outing was of great value and was much appreciated. Their conduct in every case was irreproachable, and all spent a very happy day. This same response is noticeable on the several occasions when the girls have been taken for walks on the hills. These excursions help to dispel from minds young enough to be very sensitive the sense of being outcast from the community generally, and makes the resuming of normal occupation easier. The laundry, with its modernized equipment, is our chief industry, and offers good training for the girls in a useful and interesting trade. The revenue for the year was £1,651 9s. 2d., representing a trading profit of £521 14s. 6d. This work is for the New Zealand Railways and Internal Affairs Departments, and also for the Defence Department in the laundering and repairing of puttees. The kitchen garden has also provided interesting occupation for another working-party, and has supplied the institution with a good and varied assortment of fresh vegetables. Our menu has been further varied by gifts of apples and tomatoes from the Women's Borstal Association. The cleaning and cooking for the institution is all done by the girls, under supervision, and this adequate training in domestic work makes each girl able to look after a home of her own or to obtain employment as a domestic worker. Jam-making, sewing and mending, and handwork are other occupations ; in the latter, some very beautiful knitting and fancy work being done by the girls. The school-work for the year has been steadily maintained by the visiting teacher, two classes being conducted thrice weekly. One concentrates on retardate work, trying to fill in the gaps of very incomplete educations; the other studies current events, English grammar and literature, and drawing, &c. Swimming, tennis, and basketball are all enjoyed in season, and matches with visiting Bible-class teams are always keenly contested and enjoyed. Most of the girls are swimmers and can enjoy this sport for about seven months in the year. Social events during the year have been very varied, and have included a New Year party given by Mrs. Sprott and members of the Mothers' Union ; a party given by Mrs. Glover and members of the Salvation Army ; regular first-aid and home-nursing talks by Mrs. Gaby ; seven talkie entertainments ; three social evenings arranged by the Training College Social. Service group ; nine parties by Bible-class representatives ; four musical evenings given by local interested ladies ; an evening's entertainment by the Y.M.C.A. Optimists' Club; a party given by the J.P. Association, with orchestral and choral items ; a play " Indoor Fireworks," given by the Crescent Players ; an evening of carol singing and Christmas music by the Kelburn Presbyterian Choir. To all these peo_ple who have so generously varied our weekly routine, we record our thanks. A very generous gift was recently made to the institution of new books for the library, and also a supply of leather-bound attractive little pocket New Testaments to be given to the girls when they leave the institution. . . , . Church services are regularly conducted by the Wellington South Ministers Association, Mrs. Glover (Salvation Army), Mrs. Sprott (Church of England), Father Uhlenberg, and the Sisters of Mercy from Seatoun Convent. The Borstal Committee has regularly met during the year under the chairmanship of Mr. G . C. Edwards, and, while happily having no disciplinary cases to interview, have rendered valuable assistance in counselling and encouraging each girl both on admission and on discharge. The members of the Women's Borstal Association have again been a great source of help and encouragement during the year, bringing most sympathetic and capable understanding to the important work of after-care when the girls leave the institution. The members visit the institution regularly and know the girls individually; they also provide for our wants in many thoughtful ways. To all these good friends who help us we would record our most appreciative thanks. I would like to record also my appreciation of the unselfish co-operation and efficiency of the staff generally in their work. Such service, taken vocationally, involves considerable strain for the individual, for the work calls for not only the capacity to train and teach the girls in useful work, but demands pre-eminently patience, kindliness, and tolerance, and a large degree of sympathy and understanding.

2—H. 20,

9