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Use of playing fields - The fortunate retention of the playing
fields at Salisbury Hall and Billet Road, the provision of adequate
shelter accommodation together with the granting of increased
facilities in the public parks and the part time use of the
Ualthamstow Lawn Tennis and Cricket Club ground, have made it almost
possible to restore the pre-war playing field programme. This
programme gave all children from 10 to 14 years the opportunity of
enjoying a weekly games period on grass. Whilst it is true that the
service and facilities available at the parks cannot compare with
the conditions provided at the Education Committee's own playing
fields, the pitches at Lloyd Park and St. James Park provide for
large numbers of children who cannot be accommodated elsewhere owing
to wartime transport difficulties. The chief factors militating
against regular attendance are the time taken by travelling and the
acute war time difficulty of providing children with suitable
clothing and footgear particularly essential for winter games. Some
improvement has been made in the standard of play in the major field
games, but the effects of the lack of training and coaching of our
present senior school children during the early years of the war
are still very obvious.
The formation of desirable cleanly habits are an important
aspect of the hygiene of games training but the Billet Road field is
the only one possessing facilities for a complete change of clothing
and showers. This field is once more proving a very popular and
valuable centre for out-of-school activities and the groundsman
deserves credit for the excellent maintenance of the playing pitches
in spite of the very full programme of school visits,
Salisbury flail is now firmly established as the Centre for
Youth Service open air activities. The experiment of providing the
services of games and athletic coaches for the summer evenings
resulted in a freer, yet more controlled, use of the field by the
younger members of the Youth Organisations and particularly by the
girls. The filling in of the trenches would make possible a more
economical planning of the ground and the provision of extra
playing patches.
Swimming - For many years the Board of Education have made it
clear that this health promoting and recreative exercise must be
regarded as an integral part of any well balanced scheme of physical
education. At present the baths are only available during the
summer months but owing to the co-operation'of the Baths Committee
the accommodation has been increased from 1,900 pupil places weekly
in 1938 to 2,250 in 1943. This provides places for about 50 per
cent of the children eligible for swimming instruction between the
ages of 10 and 14 years. The average weekly attendance for the past
season was seventy three per cent for boys and seventy one per cent
for girls, and assuming that fifteen per cent failed to learn to swim
it is computed that approximately seventy two per cent of the
Walthamstow children between the ages of ten to fourteen must be
classed as non-swimmers.
Experience in this war of the lamentable losses in man and
women power through inability to keep afloat in an emergency
emphasises the desirability for everyone to know how to swim and
swim well."
11. PROVISION OF MEALS
(i) The Director of Education has kindly supplied the following -
"At the commencement of the year 1943, approximately 4,000 meals
were being supplied daily to school children from six kitchens and by
the end of the year the figure had risen to nearly 5,000.
The meals are cooked at the kitchens and distributed in vacuum
containers to each school department where they are served to the
children.
It is anticipated that the demand for meals will increase and
plans are being considered for the opening of additional kitchens.
15.