View report page

17
9. OPEN AIR EDUCATION.
School Camps.—The Walthamstow Committee for Education,
at their Meeting in July, 1945, approved arrangements for the
inclusion of Walthamstow school children in a School Camp at
Itchingfield, Sussex, with accommodation for 120 boys and 120
girls, which had been reserved for scholars from Leyton, Walthamstow
and the Forest Division.
The Camp is under the administration of the Leyton Committee
for Education and is permanently staffed. Children are medically
examined before proceeding to the Camp.
Selection is restricted to secondary school pupils and parents
are assessed up to a maximum of 10s. a week in accordance with a
scale approved by the Local Education Authority.
The first party of 40 boys and 40 girls was sent to the Camp on
the 12th October, 1945 and a further party was sent on the 16th
November, returning just before the Christmas vacation. The
parties recommenced in April of this year and will continue until
the Christmas vacation.
Swimming.—Swimming instruction was given throughout
the season to boys and girls.
10. PHYSICAL TRAINING.
The following is a report made by the organisers of Physical
Education:—
"The revival of hopes for the rapid development of pre-war
plans which accompanied the general feeling of relief at the end of
the war, were followed by the sobering realisation that owing to
the continued shortage of labour and materials, the aftermath of six
years of devastating destruction, recovery and reconstruction would,
of necessity, prove slow and difficult.
Physical Education in the Schools.—The lack of stability in
teaching conditions during the war years often involved the
sacrifice of the principle that every infant child should receive a
period of organised physical activity each session, and that every
junior and secondary school child should enjoy a similar period on
each day of the school week. The natural desire to restore pre-war
academic standards has in some cases resulted in a neglect of the
cause of health and the claims of physical education.