View report page

56
6 weeks; St. Vincent's R.C. (Hastings), 4 weeks. At all these schools the stay can
be extended upon the advice of the school doctor, while, at Fairfield House, children
are sent home if they have completely recovered at an earlier date than 12 weeks.
The excellent results at the open-air residential schools are illustrated in fig. 2,
which has been prepared for the inter-departmental committee from records which
have been supplied by the superintendent of Fairfield House, to whom my thanks
are due.
Fig. 2.—Average increase in weight of girls at Fairfield House as shown by the fortnightly weighings.
A, D and H represent the average increase for the whole party.
B, E and G „ „ „ „ „ girls newly admitted.
C, F and K >. „ „ „ „ second-term girls.
The dotted line shows the average increase for normal elementary school children.
The remarkable increase of weight which open-air life immediately promotes is
once more shown in these charts which also show the average increase for elementary
school children. It is to be noted that especially large increases are made in the
first six weeks, after which the rate of increase slackens considerably, although it
is still greater than that of average children living at home.
Observations made upon children returning to London after a stay of six weeks
show that the impetus to growth is not lost but lasts for some time after return from
the open-air holidav.
Barham
House—
weights.
For instance, Dr. McVail reports that at Barham House for five weeks the average
increase in weight of 25 girls was 3.55 lbs. per child, or .71 lbs. per child per week,
an increase about four times as great as the average for normal elementary school
children during the same period.
In the following 8 weeks, the average increase per child for the same 25 girls
was 3 lbs., or .34 lbs. per child per week, an increase about twice as great as the
average for elementary school children.
Open-air
classes in
parks and
playgrounds.
The number of open-air classes held in connection with the elementary schools
in 1935 was 215. Of these, 9 were of type A (children selected on medical grounds
from a group of schools); 90 were of type B (children selected on medical grounds