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disease; the other girl, who also greatly improved during her stay at school, died
three years after leaving, of tuberculosis.
Of the other 11 girls, 1 is at the ordinary elementary school but is not in robust
health, and the home circumstances are very poor; 10 are in wage earning occupations,
3 in the clothing trades, 2 in domestic service, 2 in factories, 1 in a shop, 1 at a
printers, and 1 at a bookbinders.
The health of these 11 girls is very satisfactory in 6 cases, in the other 5 not so
satisfactory, but in 2 of these the health is generally good, but is temporarily affected
at the time of the enquiry.
Unsuitable occupation is a depressing feature in some of these cases, including
one suffering from tuberculous gland, who is employed at a feather bed factory.
In these cases attempts have been made to find more suitable occupations, but the
difficulty is to find occupations out of doors with prospects that appear satisfactory
to the parents, who generally insist upon girls following occupations in which the
parents are themselves engaged or interested.
Many of the children are now in robust health and in 13 cases out of the 25
the parents spontaneously affirm that going to the open air school was "the making
of the children," and converted them from chronic invalids into healthy normal
children.
The following are extracts from some of the reports:—
(1) "The mother considers that the improvement in the girl's health, due
to her attendance at an open air school, has been permanent; she continues to
keep very well and has grown into a fine big girl."
(2) "Mrs. S. was averse to sending Harry to Stowey House open air school,
and gave way only because a certain Mr. B., who works with her husband,
urged her to do so because Stowey House had been the making of his boy,
who was also one who would never eat anything. Mrs. S.'s own words, oft
repeated during the course of conversation, were: 'I can't be glad enough I
sent him.' "
(3) "Mrs. P. is of opinion that the time spent at the open air school brought
about a great improvement in his health—formerly he was listless—never had
the energy to play or do anything after school hours—now she states he is a
fine big boy, full of energy and enjoys everything."
(4) "Her mother reports that Leah has kept in splendid health since leaving
the open air school. She considers it is nothing short of a miracle that Leah
has been able to do as much as she has done."
(5) "She has had no illness during these two years, and her mother
volunteered the information that her greatly improved health was owing to the
year she had spent at Stowey House."
In the cases which have not done so well, two influences stand out as of especial
importance in depressing health and undoing the good obtained at the open air
school. These are in the first place unsatisfactory home conditions and in the
second place unsuitable employment. It is noteworthy that the after history of the
girls is much less satisfactory than that of the boys, and this is probably due to the
confined lives of the girls both at home and in their occupational pursuits.
The length of stay of individual children in the day open air schools is another
question which has received attention recently. In order to preserve some sort of
educational continuity it has been the practice to consider the question of fitness
for leaving the open air school only once in the year; so that at the commencement
of the school year all those considered fit to return to ordinary school leave in a body,
and the vacancies created are filled up by the most suitable children from the waiting
list which has been accumulating throughout the year. It must be conceded that
from the point of view of the teachers and organisation of the school this plan
is of great advantage, as it enables the head master to classify the children into
Period of
stay in
open-air
schools.