NATIONAL FITNESS

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 112, 14 May 1938, Page 10

NATIONAL FITNESS

EDUCATING PUBLIC SOCIETY MEETS NEED FOR TRAINED LEADERS A year of steady 'progress and of renewed hope was reviewed at a recent conference in Wellington of delegates from the Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury, and Otago branches of the .Physical Education Society of New Zealand, Inc. "A year ago," said the patron, Dr. Alexander Gillies, "the first national meeting was held, at which were delegates from societies of trained teachers in physical education which were already in existence in each of the four centres, the object of this meeting being to unite these various societies into one'national body, and in this way the Physical Education Society of New Zealand had been formed. It was obvious then that the society was needed, that i$ had a great deal of work to dq, arid that it would by its work find a very definite place in the community." Dr. Gillies spoke of the good work done by the society during- the year and congratulated it on its efforts. Facing them all was a big advance in the physical education programme of the community, and he looked forward to the society taking its place in that work. If. given its rightful place he felt sure that the society would continue to be-of great value to the community. THE WELFARE COUNCIL. "The need of a such as ours is more of a necessity today than 'ever before," said the president (Mr. J. A. Duffy).. "Members are perturbed that, so far, our society has not been given representation on the National Physical and Recreational Welfare oil. It may be that the Government does not wish to give representation to any particular body, seeing there are so many sports and other bodies which would expect representation. I personally. can see -no danger in giving our Society representation on the council, neither do I think any sports body would object. We are not a rival sports body, but rather do I think we are people without a sports bias but sufficiently interested in all sports to be Accepted by all. "Whether we get representation on the council or riot, I;here is one thing certain: any scheme of national physical fitness must have trained leaders and those leaders will be trained physical teachers or leaders trained by them. The question of adult physical education is so bound up with any system of national physical welfare that, the physical instructor must be the driving force and the trainer of leaders. He must be able to coordinate school physical education with post-school and adult physical education. How can this be done without a voice on the council? /M I am of the opinion that the Minister would have been well advised to haye a, fully-trained physical teacher on the council It would have given confidence to our people, who, after all, will probably shoulder a large share of the practical work of the scheme for which they are fitted by the training and experience. In the meantime we must be prepared to assist .the Government all we can to further their national fitness scheme. We must offer our services as a society "to train leaders and conduct summer schools, and who can tell that out of the national scheme we may get a leader who will be an inspiration to us all?" Mr. Duffy, after referring to the great amount of voluntary service giyeri by many of the society members to the public, said they should not rest until they got physical instructors registered by the State. OFFICERS ELECTED. ' The following officers were elected for the ensuing year:—-Patron, Dr. Alexander Gillies; president Mr. J. A. Duffy; secretary, Mr. C. A. WilsonGrant; vice-presidents, Mrs. L. D. Taylor and Messrs. W. Sarelius, S. V. Wanna, and R. Bach; national council, Messrs. K. C. Held and C. Ruxton Bach (Auckland), Mrs. L. D. Taylor and Mr. H £. Longworth (Wellington), Messrs W. Sarelius and G. Harkness (Canterbury), and Messrs. S. V. Hanna and A. P. Roydhouse (Otago). The question of summer camps was discussed and it was felt that their inauguration would be most desirable. The following three motions, placed before the conference by the president, were carried:— » "That this conference urge, upon the Minister of Education the desirability of introducing early/ into primary schools the 1933 English Board of Education" syllabus of physical educa-, tion as recommended by the conference appointed by the Minister in March last." . , "That this conference recommend to the Minister of Education that health education embodying lessons oh personal hygiene, community hygiene, diet nutrition, first aid, and home nursing be compulsory "in schools." . "That this conference recommend a daily 30-minute period of physical education for primary children and 40 minutes for secondary school children, this period to be taken during school hours."