London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Shoreditch 1897

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Shoreditch, Parish of St. Leonard]

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248
It will be seen that the technical side of the work is well provided for, and its
correlation with practical work brought into great prominence.
I may add it is encouraging that four students of this class were able to be
presented for examination in Woodwork Class B, and so qualify themselves as
teachers of manual instruction, under certificate of the City and Guilds of London
Institute.
MANUAL TRAINING (WOODWORK) FOR TEACHERS.
I am personally conducting these Classes, the work of which has again been
most successful; but a diminution in the number of students is observable.
This decrease I attribute to two primary causes, first, that the abnormal initial demand
for certified manual training teachers has been now partly satisfied, and that the classes
will in the future be recruited only by those students who are prepared to devote more
of their time to become thoroughly efficient; and secondly to the action of the London
School Board, who wisely or unwisely have appointed a preponderance ot artisan
woodwork instructors in their schools.
Manual Training is in my opinion essentially a teacher's subject and I view this
action with no little curiosity.
However, it must not be forgotten that manual training in this country has scarcely
emerged from its experimental stage, and I am convinced that given wider scope and
increased facilities this class will continue for many years to meet a widely felt want.
MANUAL TRAINING (WOODWORK) FOR BOYS.
Instructor: DRAWING—The SUPERINTENDENT.
Instructor: WOODWORK—Mh. G. RADDON.
The work is arranged so that instruction is given in Drawing and Bench work.
The Committee desire that this class should form part of the general education
necessary in the preparation of a boy for the real work of life. It is not intended to
teach him a trade, but to develop his faculties, to give him manual skill, so that the
skill acquired may be useful in any occupation of life, and be specialty beneficial to
those who are likely to become artisans.
The system of instruction adopted has been most satisfactory, the pupils are taught
drawing to develop their perceptive faculties so as to view correctly and to understand
what they see, and lithe fingers are taught to use tools so as to give a mastery of the
fundamental mechanical processes.
It will be seen that the work of this class tends to foster a due appreciation of the
dignity ol intelligent labour and to develop simultaneously the intellectual and physical
powers of the boys. I am pleased to state that four of the lads are either already
apprenticed to carpentry and joinery trades or soon will be. One of the lads already