OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18415, 23 June 1925, Page 11

OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS.

W TRS MITOB OP "THE PRESS."

Sir,—There arc several points in Dr Phillipps's reply that I should like to criticise.

Regarding the lighting 0 f the Fcndalton open-air school, Dr. PhUlipps says (in referring to the ventilation) that there are windows on '|>ur sides of tho room; his medical colleagues t-ay that the lighting arrangements are admirable. .Vow, I challengu Dr. Pjiillipps to prx)du.co a statement, from half a dozc n experienced teachers to say that the lighting of any .«oom. Where p.ipds are using desk.,,' is properly arranged when it is coming from tour different direction?. Either the teacher or pupil j s bound to be look lug into a direct light, which is pbjc-( t;onable and harmful to the ovc-s-ig.ht.

It is stated that the thin 5 to bo a;:ii'.-d at in open-air schools . ;-s to make the air in the "com approximate as far as possible j> the air outside. That may be all. right in thtoi-y, but how many parents of pupils would be content if they know tlmir children were sitting in renn.s that were no warmer than the air outside or, Monday naming, for instance ? And how is it that there is such a howl from committees when the heating appliances are- not effective enough t-> keep the children reasonably comfortable? It is all very well.for a person who can move about, freely to ■say that we should adapt ourselves to tho outside temperature, but yon can't t«ach children while they are flopping about the desks to keep themselves warm. Children aro certainly youn? animals, but with this important difference: they require something more than instinct to enable them to play their proper part in life—they hare to ho educated

Tho four' questions given by Professor Leonard Hill are quite satisfactorily answered in tho Board's modern" schools:—

1. Does the air in the schoolroom feel cool rather than hot? Answer: The heating and ventihtion can bo so regulated that it is easier to attain this end in a school like Christchurch West

than in one like Eendalt/m. 2. Is it dry rather than damp? Answer: " The samo applies here. S. Is full advantage taken of tho sunlight ? Answer: Anybody who cares to inspect the new Richmond School will .'jec that full advantago is taken of the sunshine. In any ease, how long are the pupils in the schoolroom at a and how much of their bodies gets the direct rays of the sun ? Only the backs of their heads and in some cases their legs! 4. Is the cooling effort of the _ atmosphere continually Varying? Answer: If the air outside is moving, tho cross-ventilation in a modern schoolroom ensures that the air is constantly changing, and that without draughts—the most dangerous fresh-air in the world. '.

As I have already stated, the Bpard is ready to try open-air schools, but the main object.is to secvthat the- children receive an education, that ■they are being taught xuider comfortable conditions, and that thoy. are not to be'made'the subjects of experiments, even though'the proposals may promise wonderful results.—Yours, etc., H. J. BIGNELL, Chairman Canterbury Education Board. June 22nd, 1925.