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If a' child stands correctly it will do so naturally and easily,
without effort and without fatigue. If a child stands incorrectly
it will become fatigued readily, and, not only so, the first attempts
to stand properly will be found difficult and wearisome, because
the muscles will not have only to help to maintain the erect posture,
but they will also be doing considerable work overcoming the
deformities which have been encouraged by incorrect posture.
The straight back is the ideal, and the hollow backs seen in
many of our children are much to be discouraged. In boys they
detract from mechanical efficiency, and in girls they do even more,
because they militate against " normal deliver}' " when in process
,of time the selfsame girls become the mothers of the nation.
(n) PROVISION OF MEALS.
With reference to the provision of meals I have dealt with
this elsewhere, and it only remains for me to add that the dietaries
are submitted to me for approval.
(12) SCHOOL BATHS.
School baths are provided at the Special School and the
Park Modern School, and I hope they will soon be found in every
school, and that certainly provision will be made for baths at every
new school opened by the Local Education Authority.
It cannot be too often enforced that the skin is an organ of the
body as much as the heart and the lungs. It requires to be kept
clean, and requires to be kept working if it is to be healthy.
The stimulus of bathing makes the skin react naturally, and
the more people accustom their skin to this and similar reactions
the less are they likely to find themselves subject to colds.
There are public swimming baths at East Street. These belong
to the Council. Children attending elementary schools are instructed
in swimming at these baths, and here is a healthy exercise which
should be encouraged.