[Report 1939] / School Medical Officer of Health, Cheshire County Council.

  • Cheshire (England). County Council.
Date:
1939
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1939] / School Medical Officer of Health, Cheshire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    14/26 (page 12)
    Swimming Instruction During the season full use was once again made of all available facilifies at various swimming baths in the County Area, but a full season’s work was not possible as many of the baths were closed upon the outbreak of the war. During the shortened swimming season, 7,020 boys and girls attended the baths, making a total number of 56,520 attend- ances, and of the non-swimmers who attended, 1,172 learnt to swim. Playing Fields The importance of maintaining adequate playing field facilities especially during war time is fully realised. No School playing field the property of the Authority has been released for war time agricultural needs, but certain sites, previously purchased for the erection of new Schools, and not needed at the present time for playing fields, have been handed over to the War Time Agricultural Committee. The cultivation of these sites will prepare the ground and facilitate the preparation of good playing fields when the proposed Schools can be built. Dancing English Country Dancing is taught in many Schools, and is an excellent form of this branch of physical training for juniors and seniors. It should be noted that progress in this subject is as important as in any other subject, therefore the dancing of senior pupils should show more real interpreta- tion of the music, more light and shade in the pattern of the dance, and more sense of team work, than is expected from younger children. Many teachers attend classes in folk-dancing, learning new dances and perfecting those already known, with the result that a feeling of freshness and enfhusiasm is apparent in their teaching in the Schools. A course in National Dancing was conducted for teachers in the Macclesfield dis- trict by one of the Committee’s Organisers of Physical Training. This class was very much enjoyed by the teachers, many of whom have introduced these dances into their Schools. It is felt that the Dancing Scheme for Senior girls in Schools with suitable facilities should include movements which train the whole body, and some form of rhythmical expression, as well as set dances. These rhythmic exercises are excellent for Senior girls as the methodical training of the whole body teaches the girls to move with ease and rhythm. In one or two of the Senior Schools, the teachers have intro-