London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Barking 1940
[Report of the School Medical Officer for Barking]
This page requires JavaScript
(11) SPECIAL SCHOOLS.
Paircross School, which had been closed
since September, 1939, was re-opened on 22.4.40., owing
to the gradual return of many of the evacuated children.
33 Physically Defective children were admitted
at this time and 21 Mentally Defective, and by
the end of the year these numbers had increased respectively
to 47 and 22.
School Medical Inspections were started on
30.4.40., and 14 sessions were held during the year.
(12) UNCLEANLINESS.
Systematic examination of children at
routine cleanliness inspections has been carried out
by the school nurses throughout 1940.
The following table records the results of cleanliness inspections for the past three years
| 1938. | 1939. | 1940. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of examinations of children in the schools by School Nurses. | 39,521 | 22,539 | 13,657 |
| Number of individual children found unclean. | 1,008 | 777 | 413 |
| Number of uncleanliness findings. | 2,044 | 1,038 | 632 |
| Number of individual children cleansed under Section 87(2) and (3) of the Education Act, 1921. | 4 | 7 | 83 |
| Percentage of uncleanliness findings. | 5.1% | 4.6% | 4.7% |
There is no evidence that the percentage
of uncleanliness is increasing to any extent.
(13) OPEN-AIR EDUCATION,
No week-end school camps or Holiday Camps
were held during 1940, but on 15th June, 181 children
were evacuated to Hydon Heath Camp School near
Godalming, which had been allocated to Barking by
the National Camps Corporation.
The children sent were mostly between the
ages of 10 - 13 years.
In December, 1940, there were still 184
children on the roll.
-19-