The Press SATURDAY, JULY 22, 1916. Open Air Schools.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 15649, 22 July 1916, Page 8

The Press SATURDAY, JULY 22, 1916. Open Air Schools.

For some years past "The Prose" has urgently advocated tho system of openair schools, or at • least of open-air class-rooniSj and it is very gratifying to eeo not only that tho new Minister of Education, Mr Hanan, is imbued with the importance of the subject, but that the idea is steadily gaining grotlnd amongst members of Education Boards and School Committees who are responsible for 60 much of tho administration of the schools. Dr. James Kerr, in his new edition of "School " Hygiene," reviewed in our columns on Saturday last, gives a good deal of information on this subject -which will be of great interest and value to all educational authorities. He tells us that the open-air school originated at Charlottcnburg in 1901, where, starting from tho idea of the sanatorium for consumptives, there was planned the original "Forest School" for debilitated, anreniie, or tubcrculously disposed children. The immediate improvement in the health of weakly children is very marked, but the benefits effected in keeping healthy children from becoming ill arc equally important. It is essential that clothing warm enough to prevent actual chilling of the skin surface should bo worn, gnd dry-shod feet ar© necessary. I>r. Kerr tells us that " in tho properly managed open-air " school, along with the increased "nutrition which accompanies good " feeding, tho stimulation of tho fresh "air, tho feeling of freedom, and with " the rest, tho freo lymph circulation, "absence of tiredness and fatigue, " there comes a "strange sense of con"tontment, a ? j'oio do vivte,' and a "sense of fellowship in work. A good " will and desire- to do things and to i " learn, which is most impressive to " those who watch the eagerness of " the children, and the happiness re- " fleeted in their faces, are some mani-

"festations of tho open-air treatment." Elsewhere he speaks of "tho open-air " smile," which is characteristic of these children.

Needless to say, the open-air system ie now considered essential in the case of schools for weakly or defective chil- ! dren, and we in New Zealand have strayed lamentably from tho right path J in spending thousands of pounds at Otekaike in first buying an expensive 6tone residence, and then making very substantial closcd-in additions to it, when infinitely better results might have heen obtained, at a tithe of the cost, by the erection of open-air shelters and class-rooms. It cannot bo too strongly insisted, however, that the system, while good for invalid children, is equally necessary if children in a normal state of health are to be taught under tho most favourable condition. It can hardly be expected that the Gc\ eminent will proceed at once to transform tho character of all the expensive buildings already in existence, but new schools, and additions to existing schools should certainly be planned in accordance with modern ideas, and modifications of the ordinary day-6chool areas should be made by adding verandahs and onjen-air classrooms, and by conducting what arc known as "play-ground classes.," Details as to how tho system can be carried out will he found in Da\ Kerr's valuable work. A very interesting experiment is being carried on in Deptford, a densely crowded suburb of London. There tho idea has been successfully tried of an open-air school in a thickly populated town area, where instead of going back to small, stuffy, overcrowded rooms, the children can sleep in tho open. It will be remembered that when the question of open-air hospitals was mooted in Dunedin recently, some of tho more old-fashioned practitioners expressed a doubt as to whether the climate nas sufficiently favourable. AVo then pointed out that open-air hospitals wero actually in process of being established in Scotland, and we now observe that Dr. Kerr mentions that a good example of open-air class-rooms is to be seen at Duncan street, in Edinburgh. Anybody who knows what the climate of Edinburgh is like during the greater part of the year, will cheerfully concede that oven Dunedin need have no misgivings on this subject, and that, speaking generally, the climate in New Zealand offers every facility lor carrying out tho open-air system to tho greatest advantage.