[Report 1933] / School Medical Officer of Health, Oxford City.

  • Oxford (England). City Council. no2012034102.
Date:
1933
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1933] / School Medical Officer of Health, Oxford City. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    and the work has grown and prospered. I have little use for the word 4 altruism ’ but surely the above is pretty good evidence that all who take part in this voluntary work are convinced of its value. The awakening of interest, the advantage of studying nature from nature instead of from the printed book and the opportunities and, only too often the necessity, ‘ the habits of home life are quickly revealed,’ for practical instruction in the most elementary principles of hygiene have once more been stressed by nearly all schools, but there is no need to dwell on these points here as they have been dealt with in previous reports. The weather was propitious ; schools are beginning to profit from their own experience and that of one another, and the verdict of one school, ‘tremendously successful,’ is a fair summary of last summer’s work. Going to Wytham is becoming part of the regular curriculum of some schools, and succeeding summers are beginning to bear fruit. ‘ My children will no longer tolerate closed windows and stuffy atmos¬ pheres,’ writes the headmistress of an infants’ school, and pleads that her infants should have the same opportunities when they move up into senior schools. Quite a number of schools this year have touched on the value of the atmosphere of peace and quiet. ‘ I love Wytham and so do all who go from here ’ expresses the feelings of more than one teacher, while the little boy who wrote ‘ What I like best at Wytham is having my dinner in peace ’ conjures up a vision of a crowded, sweltering living room, a table littered with plates and a gramophone in full blast, and awakens a sympathetic echo in the hearts of many of us. This atmosphere of peace is reflected in the increased kindness and consideration shown by the children to each other. ‘We are just like a big family,’ writes one teacher, while another happily sums up the whole situation by quoting the words of Sir Michael Sadler : ‘ Children thus brought into contact with nature find their true balance.’ Wytham introduces another factor—the change from ordinary routine. There is change of air, change of scene, new subjects introduced and old ones taught in a new way rendered possible by the new surround¬ ings, beneficial to pupils and teachers alike, but these changes are, in the opinion of some of the schools at least, only a rung on the ladder. ‘ An experimental ground of very real value for finding a way out of difficulties which are created in and by our system.’ The Wytham ex¬ periment opens up a vista of vast possibilities, but there are difficulties in the way, and while one enthusiast has ‘ little use for Wytham if it is merely a change of class and desk from one place to another,’ another school finds that ‘ routine work suffers badly and the school time-table cannot afford the time spent in travel.’ These are extreme views and