THE TIMES EDUCATIONAL SUPPLEMENT SATURDAY JUNE 23RD
1945
FIVE YEARS AT A CAMP SCHOOL
CHARACTER THROUGH CREATIVE ACTIVITY
By A E Clarke, Headmaster, Loxford Secondary School
In the debate in the House of Commons on the second
reading of the Camps Bill Mr Richard Law is reported to have said
that it was always envisaged, even at that time (1939), that when
the emergency had passed the camps should revert to educational
purposes. Now, I am sure that Mr. Law did not mean that during
the war they were not used for educational purposes, but I wonder
if it is generally known how they were used. I would like, therefore,
to explain how one was used, and though I am not qualified to
speak for others, I know that some at least were similarly used.
When we took over our camp early in 1940 we realized that here
was an opportunity of discovering what could be done with the
boy from the ordinary senior school under boarding school conditions.
What would be the effect of a three or four year course amidst
attractive surroundings on the body, mind and spirit of these
boys?. What would be the nature of the course to produce maximum
benefit?. Health of body would depend on proper feeding, hygienic
living conditions, and the acquiring of sound habits. What of
the mind and spirit?. It was decided, vaguely enough no doubt,
that inspiration must come from the character of the schools surroundings.
Finding occupations would not prove difficult, and for the rest
we must seize every cultural influence that presented itself.
One thing was distinctly favourable; there would be few outside
attraction or interests; We had a clear field.
WAR TIME HANDICAPS
In attempting to assess the educational value of the camp schools
it should always be remembered that the experiment has had to
be conducted under difficult conditions. The camps themselves,
admirable in some respects, suffer from certain disadvantages.
The classroom accommodation is limited, the staff quarters inadequate.
War time conditions have imposed severe restriction on what could
be done. The teaching staff has change with bewildering rapidity.
Materials for handicraft, a major subject, have been controlled
or unobtainable.
In a short article it is not possible to give more than a bare
outline of what has been attempted. If reference to the familiar
subject of the curriculum is omitted it is because they are familiar,
not because they have been neglected.
Our most prominent, if not most important activity, or range of
activities, is connected with the Young Farmers Club. The farm
is of about eight acres, of which four are cultivated, the rest
being grassland or utilised for the housing of pigs, poultry,
rabbits, goats and bees. About 60% of the boys are Young Farmers.
Each is a shareholder, but his holding which is limited depends
not on his invested capital but on the quality of his work. Profits
are shared; and so are the very practical lessons that the health
of animals depends upon wholesome food and proper living conditions,
that the care of animals must take precedence of personal matters,
that success depend upon sustained interest and effort. Boys learn
also many of the fundamental facts of life in a natural way. They
talk of mating and cross breeding as freely as they talk of cricket
and football and in five years I have never seen an act of cruelty
to an animal. We are not trying to make farmers; we are trying
to make gentlemen in a broader and deeper sense than that word
sometimes connotes.
Much of the handicraft is bound up with the Young Farmer’s
Club. If you have pigs you need sties; poultry must have pens;
bees must have hives. All these things we have made. The handicraft
is arranged so that each boy has in hand his own individual job,
which ranges from a model aeroplane to an occasional table, while
class groups have co-operative jobs - pig sties, sports pavilion,
observatory. In addition to a job in active operation, each group
has a further co-operative job under consideration.
The mode of procedure is as follows. We required an observatory,
not on the Greenwich model, but just a high mound that would provide
a good view of the surrounding country, and a map platform so
that the features of the countryside might be related to the map.
It had to have a weathervane, rain-gauge and a Stevenson screen.
We also required pig-sties. Having clearly visualized the set-up,
discussion follows, ideas are pooled, sketches made and working
drawings prepared, materials assembled, and the various operations
planned and allocated. It is a long but interesting process. The
observatory took two years to build.
One of our most ambitious projects was the laying out of the playing
fields. This involved the levelling up of drainage ruts (the field
was once a cornfield), the levelling down of hillocks, the making
and sinking of goal sockets, and the building of a pavilion. We
now have two excellent football pitches, two cricket squares,
a hockey pitch, and a permanent rounders pitch. With long intervals
to allow for more urgent work, the construction of the playing
fields has covered the whole five and a half years of our tenure.
The same principles have been applied to the indoor needs of school
and leisure time. One boy undertook to make a bagatelle table
of mahogany. So impressed was a well known firm with the result
that we were presented with a set of ivory balls and a social
club presented cues.
These simple monuments of industry and ingenuity are
here to be seen but they are expressions of something more important.
The original conception was that boys being active creatures must
be kept occupied. The purpose was therefore to direct energy into
creative channels in the belief that character largely depends
upon finding appropriate outlets for the creative instinct. But
character also depends upon other influences, upon the formation
of habits of cleanliness and orderliness; and upon a ready response
to rules that are devised and accepted as in the interests of
all; in short, upon self-discipline.
Many of our boys had never attended a place of worship,
so, setting aside any views we or parents might hold, we welcomed
a heaven sent opportunity. A beautiful little church was offered
for our use on Sunday mornings, A special service was devised
and the service of men of culture and experience place at our
disposal. If there were risks of adverse criticism the results,
if we knew them, would be justifiable. It is sufficient to say
that in five years the only reaction on the part of parents has
been in the form of gratitude.
Our relationship with the neighbourhood led to further
valuable contacts. Men of experience began to offer to open discussions
on Sunday evenings. Among them were soldiers, airmen, members
of Parliament, farmers, lawyers, naturalists. Normally such people
would be to these boys, remote and unreal; and it says much for
the sympathetic understanding of our guests that they were prepared
to submit to a bombardment of questions, sometimes very personal
questions for an hour at a stretch.
INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENT
Last but not least there is the influence of the environment.
Each of the camp schools is situated in a beautiful part of the
country. Whoever chose the sites did so with a discerning eye.
It is impossible to say what one gains from such surrounding,
but it is a conviction of the writer that to be surrounded day
by day by the rich variety of form and colour in flowers and trees,
hills and sky, must have a profound effect on the mind of youth.
And when is added a little judicious focusing of the attention
on these things (call it Art or Nature Study or what you will)
the result must be the formation of impressions that subsequent
experience will not easily efface.
What of the future? Are these schools to remain, or
have they served their turn? If they continue, who shall attend
them and who shall serve in them? Experience suggests that 12
is the most suitable age of entry; the age of withdrawal can,
I believe, be left to look after itself. One thing is certain;
we have only touched the fringe of possibilities. The scope of
the work, or should I say training, could easily and with ever
increasing advantage be planned to serve till the age of 18. But
much in the way of staffing and equipment would be needed. I will
touch only on staffing. If this kind of school is to survive to
serve its true purpose a numerically generous staff would be required
to cover the multifarious duties and obligations. And the staff
would need to be selected men, academically qualified, of course
but in particular, men of imagination and initiative, men with
the courage and tenacity to see an ambitious project through to
the end, and, above all, since they would be in such constant
and intimate association with boys, men of genuine culture.
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