EXTENDED HOURS FOR EXERCISES

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22305, 20 January 1938, Page 12

EXTENDED HOURS FOR EXERCISES

PHYSICAL TRAINING OF CHILDREN

VIEWS OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT [THE PRESS Special Service.] AUCKLAND, January 19. Appreciation of the report of a subcommittee of the Auckland Primary School Combined Sports’ Association on ttie question of games in school hours was expressed in a letter from the Education Department discussed at a meeting of the Auckland Education Board. The report had been submitted to the department with a memorandum from the board. The communication from the department said it was advisable to extend the time it had been customary to allot to physical training. Hitherto that time had not exceeded 15 minutes daily and had as a rule been spent exclusively in formal exercises.

"The modern conception of physical training, however, goes much further than that,” the letter added, “and it is the wish of the department that sole and head teachers should adapt their curricula time-tables accordingly. Teachers were recommended to review their time-tables and reallow periods given to various subjects in accordance with the needs of inspectors. They should not await such visits before initiating what they considered to be necessary reforms. All pupils should be provided lor during the extended period oC physical U'nmmy.. Those unable to take part in physical exercise should be otherwise employed. “Nothing should be done that would cause additional time to be devoted to training only sections of the pupils to be winning teams in some championships while the remainder play about in a perfunctory manner,'' added the letter. "All must receive equal consideration, and time-tables should be so adjusted that grounds will be in profitable use at different periods of the day.”