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SCHOOL HEALTH SERVICE
Area School Population

Introduction
The work of the School Health Service was again aided in 1962
by the continued co-operation of the Borough Education Officers of
Tottenham and Hornsey and by Head Teachers, to whom I am grateful.
During the past few years the earlier maturation of children
has brought its own problems, not least of which is the occasional
occurence of pregnancy in older school girls. The handling of the
situation requires an understanding approach to the girl and her parents
and involves the co-operation of teachers, school medical officers and
others concerned. Physical maturity by no means implies mental or
emotional maturity and the decision whether the child is to be adopted
or kept by the young mother requires a degree of heart-searching which
no girl of 14 or 15 should be required to face. The problem of
prevention of the conditions leading to these undesirable pregnancies is
complex and is partly due to improved economic circumstances leading
to earlier maturation, but other more intangible factors play a part.
The instance I have just quoted illustrates the fact that to remain
a viable and useful institution, the School Health Service must be
prepared to adapt to changing conditions. First conceived over 50
years ago to combat the appalling ill-health prevalent in the school
population, today the service is more concerned with maintenance and
promotion of health - physical and mental. The reports of our
consultant child psychiatrists given later in this section pay eloquent
tribute to the importance now attached to the prevention and early
treatment of emotional difficulties in children of all ages.
Health education also becomes increasingly important as a
contribution to healthy living and is best given in confidential surroundings
to individuals or to small groups of children. In this way the results
are more lasting and valuable than those obtained by impersonal campaigns.
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