300 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE, ETC. 



basis of heredity, eugenics, leading biologists, the international nature of biology, 

 the conquest of disease, the geographical distribution of diseases in Australia, both 

 of men, animals, and plants (in this connexion films have been used dealing with 

 liver fluke in sheep and hydatids), evolution, race divisions, insects and birds in 

 relation to man, particularly in the country districts of Australia, community health, 

 and so on. Finally, sex and reproduction are explained with particular reference to 

 women. 



In Arithmetic, books are almost dispensed with, as the great majority of arithmetic 

 books are looked upon as almost valueless. Typical assignments are as follows : — ■ 



(1) Make up a budget of weekly expenses for a family of four on the basic wage 

 (£4 5s. Od.). 



(2) Construct graphs to compare the growths of boys and girls up to 18 years in 

 N.S.W. as regards height and weight. 



(3) Make up the accounts of the expenditure and receipts in the cookery school. 

 In History, the course covered is World History from the dawn of the human race. 



One school project was a Historical Pageant in the school grounds showing the progress 

 of man from nomadic times to the present-day League of Nations. This involved 

 400 characters in a three-hour performance. The present project is the construction 

 of a chart (45 ft. by 4 ft.) showing the outstanding events of history with separate 

 streams of communications, methods of agriculture, industrial expansion, dress, etc. 

 In Economics — an important subject — excursions are made to factories, welfare 

 departments, Parliament, and Law Courts. One co-operative assignment last year 

 was to inquire into the causes of the unrest in the Australian Shipping Industry. 

 Last year a survey was undertaken of the conditions leading to the prosperity (or 

 otherwise) of Australia under the following main headings : — 



1. Population — age and sex elements. Distribution of population among the 

 various industries and between town and country. 



2. Detailed examination of the industries themselves. Wheat : areas, rainfall, 

 increase and decrease from year to year. Markets. Possibility of new markets. 

 Wool : distribution ; varieties, how determined. Markets : possibilities for the 

 future. 



3. The effect of the tariff, e.g. on manufactured goods and agricultural implements, j 



4. Communications : volume of trade. Labour conditions. The trend of wages, ' 

 comparing with index numbers. The Arbitration system. Strikes : their distribu- 

 tion through various industries in Australia during recent years. Time lost. All 

 this demanded the collection of a mass of material from year-books and from indivi- 

 duals expert in different departments, the construction of charts and maps. This 

 was done co-operatively, and throughout a continuous correlation with geography 

 maintained. 



Contemporary Events is made a major subject in the school course. The problem 

 of World Reconstruction, the work of the League of Nations, China, India, South 

 America, Afghanistan, Egypt, are some of the matters continually kept before the 

 classes. Journals such as ' Current History ' and the ' Roiind Table ' are used besides 

 the Daily Press, and such books as Philip Gibbs' ' Ten Years After,' etc. 



Domestic Arts. — -Cookery, Home Management, and Dressmaking are compulsory 

 during two years of the course, and optional during others. Care of Infants is 

 compulsory during the second and fourth years. As part of the course ■^'isits are 

 paid to the baby clinics which are established in different parts of Sydney, and to 

 kindergartens and creches. 



Crafts are compulsory during the second year, and optional afterwards. The 

 crafts taught have been : raffia, basket work, py^rography, batik, china painting, 

 pottery and bookbinding. 



School Gardens. — A portion of the school groimds has been laid out in gardens 

 for the girls. Each form has a part allotted to it. The following is a type of 

 experimental work carried out : a study of the sowing of plots of wheat, oats, barley, 

 maize, and rye under different conditions. 



1. Sowing at two periods — a month apart. 



2. With two different kinds of fertilizer. 



The aim is to give the girls an idea of the work that lies behind agricultural and 

 horticultural practice. 



School Camp. — -A house is taken in the country with sufficient accommodation 

 for a class. The school goes class by class accompanied by a Form Mistress, another 



