THE PRIMARY SCHOOL.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20412, 5 December 1931, Page 15

THE PRIMARY SCHOOL.

PHYSICAL WELFARE. buildings and SURROUNDINGS. SOME EXPERT EVIDENCE. (SPECIALLY WRITTEN WQH THE PKBSS-) [Bv Sod.]

"A school is at once a physical environment, a training ground of the itnind, and a spiritual society. Are we satisfied th&t in each of. these respects the schools of to-day are all that, with the knowledge and resources at our command, we have the power to make them? Are their buildings and physical surroundings as conducive to health and vitality as may reasonably be, demanded? Is their curriculum humane and realistic, unencumbered by the dead wood of a formal tradition, quickened by enquiry and experiment, and inspired not by an attachment to conventional orthodoxies, but by a vivid appreciation of the needs and possibilities of the children themselves?" These are some of the questions winch challenged the Consultative Committee presided over by Sir W. D. Hadow, when it set itself to enquire _ into "courses of study suitable for children between the ages of seven and.eleven." The conclusions to which these enquiries led have now been set forth in the committee's report, '"The • Primary School" (H.M. Stationary Office, London, W.C. 2., Price 2s Gd net). Of the witnesses examined by the Committee, sixteen represented the Education Departments of Scotland, and Wales; thirteen Associations of members and officials of local Educa-tion-authorities; thirty teachers' organisations; and twelve "other organisations." Among twenty M individual witnesses" are to be found such well known names as P. B. Ballard, Cyril Burt, and Percy Nunn. In addition, some four hundred persons and organisations sent memoranda, statistics, and data for the use of the Committee. The Committee approached its task in a spirit of wise humility. Erom the outset it realised that, if its work waa to be of value, it must seek aid from "those-who have specialised knowledge of physical and mental conditions." Tho help which the Committee received from Professors Burt and Harris is specially acknowledged. - . Professor Burt is the London County Council's psychologist, and his mem> orandum on the .mental characteristics of children between the ages oi seven and elfeven is given in full (Appendix III.). The memoranduni is clear, interesting, and not unduly technical. Appendix 11., on the anatomical and physiological characteristics, and development of children during the age period under discussion, is a fascinat* ' ing piece of work. Here, Professor Harris—the Assistant Professor of Anatomy at University College, Londonhas given us something quite new. "Most interesting is his contention that, during childhood- there' are definite " phases- of accelerated growth (springing-up periods) followed by equally, definite phases of slower growth (filling-out periods), the first year after birth the child grows rapidly, this is tii<r first springing-up period; from' the age of five to seven is the second spring-ing-up period; and the third springingup period/ is associated with puberty. Thus there are . three , springing-up periods, each of which is followed by a filling-out period. It would be interesting to ponsi.ier Professor Harris's views at greater length, but we must ,return to 'the bo,dy of the report where we find that the broad lesson suggested by his memorandum is summed up in the recognition of the necessity for building up, during the period of primary schooling, reserves of health to meet the stress of puberty.

The Child. The Beport gives • much attention - to the physical ' welfare of children at school, and it shows a real appreciation of the nature of-the child. Activity and curiosity, his two chief characteristics, are noted with a . view to - their, tase—not repression. The activities of childhood are recognised as the process by which children grow;, and the place of curiosity in education is indicated in the report's definition of a good school -—"not a place of compulsory instruction,, but a community of old andyoung, en-'! gaged in learning' by co-operative experiment." Activity must be followed by rest, and lack of sleep is regarded as even more serious than lack of food. The Committee urges that "adequate facilities for rest should be provided for young children, especially after the midday meal." Open-air class-work and activity is another essential of good health; and the need for widespread imitation and development qf the experiments which have already been" made, is emphasised. "The foundation of a school's activities must clearly be the physical wellbeing of its pupils," but direct instruction in health matters is deprecated; health education is to be given, indi-rectly,-as an integral part of the daily life of the school. ) School premises must be hygienic. The . Report Bays:—"Some of our witnesses urged that all new primary schola should be planned on the open-air principle. We understand that the best modern designs for primary schools incorporate a number of the; features of tl}e openair school, and we think that the plans adopted for new primary schools might well be designed on open-air lines." The Curriculum. We are advised.to think of the curriculum "less in terms of knowledge to be taught, and more in terms of activities to be fostered and interests to be broadened." Education through activity, at once joyous and disciplined, is to be the keynote; and the criterion of the school is, above all, to be "the requirements of its yupils, not the exigencies of examinations." "The question which most concerns us is not What children should be, but what, in actual fact, children are": and the Committee whole-heartedly adopts this common-sense point of view. - That to acquire a reasonable proficiency in reading, writing, and arithmetic—the tools of education—requires regular practice is admitted; but, at the same time, the need for relating the child's studies to living interests is not forgotten. As regards the acquisition of. knowledge, the teaching of separate "subjects" is to be looked upon with suspicion, and we are warned against loading immature minds with inert - ideas and crude blocks of facts. Instead "subjects" we should "take as tho starting point of the work of the primary school the expedience, the curiosity, and the awakening powers and i interests of the children themselves." I The fundamental idea is to start from a

centre of interest, and explore in torn the different avenues which diverge from it. The foregoing gives but an inadequate idea of the range and scope of the Beport, but if the reader's interest in it has been aroused, the writer's object has been gained. . - Religious. Instruction. ~ Two final quotations, on the subject of religious instruction in schools, make a fitting conclusion. They are taken from the syallabuses of two English education authorities. "The aim has been to give instruction in the Christian faith as a living jthing with power over daily life.'' "The teaching of religion is the heart of all teaching."