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46
Development
of secondary
school work
Assuming that a physical training master or mistress is able to teach for approximately thirty
periods a week, it follows that for every ten classes in a school one full-time teacher, or the equivalent,
will be required. This figure does not take into account the coaching in games. Similarly,
a gymnasium can accommodate only thirty-five groups a week ; thus one gymnasium just affords
adequate accommodation for an eleven-class school. It will therefore be appreciated that, quite
apart from the curriculum difficulty, there are many serious obstacles to be overcome before the
principle of a daily period of organised physical activity becomes an established fact in the secondary
schools of London.
The work seen during the period under review has been vigorous and purposeful, and effective
training is given in the majority of schools. The gymnastic teachers are zealous and interested in
their work, and are always ready to avail themselves of opportunities to keep abreast of modern
developments.
Games
A new and more enlightened attitude towards games has been developing during recent years.
The practice, which was at one time general, of allowing boys only to play football and cricket
whether or not they were suited to these particular games, is no longer enforced to the same extent.
Fives, tennis, boxing, athletics and cross-country running are being more widely introduced, and,
although the major school games must be the dominating factor, there are nowadays alternatives
for boys who show no aptitude or liking for football or cricket.
The main essential is that all shall take some form of exercise with regularity, and to meet this
a considerable extension of playing fields has proved necessary. During the period under review
ten fields have been acquired and laid out, comprising 61J acres, while negotiations are proceeding
for the purchase of land for four other schools. During the current programme a field of five acres
is being provided at Wormwood Scrubs to afford a much needed extension for four schools.
Encouragement has been given to boys to play the excellent game of fives. New courts
have been provided at three schools. The courts at two have been covered and artificially lighted ;
while the covering and lighting of the courts at two more are at present under consideration.
Further, it is hoped that during the current three-year programme courts will be provided at
two additional schools.
The games played during school hours are liberally supplemented by class, house and school
games which are played after work is over. The teachers give ungrudgingly of their time and energy,
and the high quality of the results achieved bears witness to the enthusiasm with which this task
is undertaken.
Evening
institutes
There can be little doubt that the post-school population is more actively interested in health
than was formerly the case. There are signs that the public is now more appreciative of the fact
that inactivity leads to physical deterioration, and in this present highly competitive life no one
can afford to deteriorate.
London is already making a notable contribution to national fitness, largely through the
medium of the evening institutes.
The scope of the curriculum, which at one time was apt to be narrow, being confined almost
entirely to gymnastics, free standing exercises and dancing, has been steadily widened and a man
now has a choice of gymnastics, free standing exercises, boxing, swimming, wrestling, fencing and
folk dancing. A woman has a choice of gymnastics, free standing exercises (keep fit work), dancing
of various types, swimming or fencing. It is urged that this process of expansion be continued, and
that in the near future field games, athletics and cross-country running be added to the curriculum.
In the last report it was indicated that after the set back of 1931 a forward movement had
again set in, and the number of classes then in existence was 628 for men and boys, and 776 for
women and girls. It is most satisfactory to be able to report continued progress, and the latest
figures available are as follows:—
Total number Total strident
of classes hours
Men and boys 958 515,175
Women and girls 1,209 502,239
Hand-in-hand with the growth of classes has gone a steady development in the quality of the
work. It is noticeable that those institutes which expect and demand a high standard of work
and behaviour achieve it; those who are content with the second rate in their turn receive it.
It is quite clear that the majority of students expect and wish to work hard, and are not prepared
to accept a lifeless and dull lesson which fails to extend them adequately.
It is inevitable that evening institutes should in the main be housed in school buildings which
were never designed with a view to the needs of the adult. The dictates of economic administration,
moreover, make it most improbable that this position will alter fundamentally for many years to
come.
Yet, although change on a wholesale scale is impracticable, nevertheless, a progressive policy
has been adopted and, whenever a suitable opportunity presents itself, steps are taken to improve
facilities and make them more in keeping with adult requirements. Gymnasia and shower-baths
are being provided or are under consideration at many institutes.
The foregoing brief account of the physical activities of the evening institutes gives some indication
of the part which London is playing in the development of national fitness. There is clearly
the will to succeed in this difficult task, and the future is full of promise.