PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Evening Star, Issue 23375, 19 September 1939, Page 3

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

NEW DIRECTOR'S ARRIVAL WIDE EXPERIENCE ABROAD [Pbk United Press Association.] AUCKLAND, September 18. The newly appointed Superintendent of Physical Education, Mr Philip A. Smithells, formerly director of his department at University College, Exeter, has arrived in New Zealand to take up his duties with the Department of Education in Wellington. He has studied in some of the foremost institutions in the world. “ I dislike the term ‘ physical jerks,’ ” Mr Smithells said, in the course of an interview. “It presupposes many things that are out of focus with modern thought and practice. I think ‘ physical education ’ is a much better description.”

Apart from courses of training in England, the Continent, Denmark, and Sweden, Mr Smithells has seen much of the work being done in physical education in the United States. It is his opinion that a blending of English and American methods would produce the best results. He had no idea until he had seen the authorities in Wellington what the scope of his field would be, but from what he had heard of the Dominion he expected that his experience would be interesting.