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94
Introduction
I have pleasure in presenting the third report on the School
Health Service for the London Borough of Wandsworth covering
the year ended 31st December, 1967.
The total school population in Wandsworth numbers over 45,000,
and it is the primary duty of the School Health Service to safeguard
the general health of these pupils. The statistical tables and
other information given in this Report provide some indication of
how this task has been carried out in the year under review but
they cannot give a clear picture of the personal interest which
doctors, dentists, nurses and other staff employed in the School
Health Service take in the health problems of many individual
pupils, usually in conjunction with the child's own doctor.
When a child leaves the comparative security of his own home
and family circle to enter school, he moves into a new and unknown
world. He experiences for the first time the independence
and need for self-reliance which will increasingly pattern his
future life and will determine in great measure his ultimate success
as a responsible citizen. The early years in school are a very
formative and important but often difficult period in a child's life
and everything must be done to keep him healthy and to guide and
help him in his search for security in his new environment. In this
way, throughout his schooldays, he is enabled to derive the greatest
benefit from his education and he can only do this if he is both
healthy and happy. This applies to the child with no obvious
defects or abnormalities but even more so to any child who is
in any way handicapped. It is also our responsibility, therefore, to
"ascertain" those children who are handicapped and who might
require help by means of special educational methods to derive
the greatest benefit from their school days. All this work requires
close liaison with other agencies who might have an interest in
the child's health and well-being, such as general practitioners,
hospitals, social workers and not least with all the head-teachers
and teachers in the schools themselves.
During 1967, although there were no very marked changes in the
school health statistics, one or two points may be noted. Thus,
there was a rise in the number of measles cases reported from the
schools, namely, 842 as against 432 in 1966, this being accounted
for by the expected biennial increase in the number of measles
cases. Whooping cough also showed some increase but for the
most part the other infectious diseases did not show very material
alterations. In one school two cases of typhoid fever were reported
and were fully investigated. They arose in children who had
contracted the disease abroad. The presence of this disease not
unnaturally caused some anxiety amongst some of the parents,
but with the help of the School Head the parents were re-assured
and no other cases occurred in the school. In two schools small