SCHOOL HOLIDAYS
Sta,—May I be allowed the privilege of making as brief a' reply as possible to the letters of my three critics which appeared in your columns last week? In the first place, there is no getting away from the fact that August is, and is likely to continue, to remain the recog- nised holiday month in this country. Two important reasons for this are that the sea is warmer for bathing in this month than in any other, and that the daylight hours are longer in it than in September. Hence, while schools of all kinds continue to break-up at the end of July, teachers and scholars alike would resent having to postpone the most enjoyable part of their summer holiday until the beginning of the autumn.
Sir Ronald Davison, however, did recognise, as the "Two Members of a Large Public School" clearly did not, that I was referring to Secondary Schools more or less under State control. As a former assistant master at a well-known Public School where the masters were in loco parentis to their pupils during all the twenty-four hours of the day, I know well that their work is not limited to 51 hours per diem, even if only actual teaching and invigilation were taken into account. Nevertheless, I should not consider that holidays of so weeks per annum instead of 14, as at present, would be inadequate. The average G.P. is lucky if he can get a third of this allowance, and he undeniably has to work much harder both by day and night than does the average Public School master. Surely it is Sir Ronald Davison rather than myself who "sins against the light" in suggesting the short days of October as suitable for school holidays.
In reply to C. M. N., I cannot accept his contention that teaching
is actually so much more laborious than manual work, although the one may require more skill and training than the other. At the age of 70 I can still enjoy teaching during two periods a week at our Village School, whereas I should certainly find two hours' exertion in the hay- field far more fatiguing. How does C. M. N. explain the notorious longevity of schoolmasters if their work be really so arduous and exhausting as the pundit whom he has quoted would have us all believe?
As regards the management of canteens and clerical work, in normal times no member of a teaching staff in a properly organised Secondary School ought to be called upon to undertake either of these duties. This certainly was so in a school of 500 boys of which I was head- master for over a quarter of a century.—Yours sincerely,
J. H. SHACKLETON BAILEY.
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