health

Introduction

The School of Radiant Living was a movement active in New Zealand from the late 1930s until the late 1980s. Founder Dr Herbert Sutcliffe taught a holistic philosophy of physical, psychological and spiritual health. The School of Radiant Living had its international headquarters at Peloha in Havelock North from the early 1940s.

Children's health

Health camps

By the late 1940s all New Zealand children had a medical examination on entering school, and were seen by a nurse at standards two and six. These examinations helped identify those who were not 'thriving' in their home environment. Malnourished children were sent to state-supported children's health camps, where they received health care and education. While these camps had been in existence since the early twentieth century, they were mainly temporary and did not come under state control until 1938.

Permanent health camps were then set up in the 1940s and 1950s, most notably in Otaki, Pakuranga, Glenelg and Roxburgh. A key figure in their development was the Director of School Hygiene and later Deputy Director General of Health, Dr H.B. Turbott.

Herbert Sutcliffe, 1886-1971

Herbert Sutcliffe was born in Louth, Lincolnshire, England, on 19 October 1886, the son of Elizabeth Easter Allen and her husband, John James Sutcliffe, an engineer. A lifelong love of singing came from involvement in the local cathedral choir. He worked as a telegraph engineer before migrating to Australia, apparently to work on new telegraph cable projects. On 5 June 1915, at Brunswick, Melbourne, he married Hilda Gertrude Wilson; they were to have two children. He maintained his interest in singing by conducting choirs, and was also an active Freemason.

The teachings of Radiant Living

Peloha - the home of Radiant Living