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124
It is not possible in these brief introductory comments to highlight
all the varied activities of the school health service but,
before mentioning some features of especial interest in 1972, a
restatement of the basic enduring objectives of the service may
not be inappropriate in an era when change follows change in
rapid succession.
These aims can be summarised, I believe, as the regular
medical supervision of all school pupils entailing a comprehensive
examination at the time of school entry (which sets the seal
on periodic developmental assessment throughout the early years
of life) and at least once during the secondary school stage as
well as at any other time on the request of teacher, nurse or
parent; the detection, assessment and close observation of all
handicapped children; the maintenance of a satisfactory state
of immunization against serious infectious diseases; the fostering
of a high standard of hygiene and of a healthy physical environment;
the provision of individual health counselling for older
school children and of health education for all pupils; and the
encouragement of a sense of full partnership in all concerned
with the health and education of the child in the setting of both
school and home.
Hence it is axiomatic that, potentially, the parent has a key
part to play. Equally clearly these objectives cannot be achieved
unless the necessary time is made available to enable justice to
be done to the medical examinations, nursing surveys and multidisciplinary
consultations which are of the very essence of the
service. To this end the future pattern of school medical examinations
in Wandsworth is being actively explored with the Inner
London Education Authority and this review inevitably embraces
the role of the school nurse vis-a-vis both school doctor and
health visitor. Collaboration with teachers, education welfare
officers and social workers is another vital facet meriting the
closest attention if health and education are to thrive in the
widest sense.
Turning now to the well nigh 50,000 pupils on the rolls of
schools in Wandsworth it is heartening to report that the general
physique of all but a minute percentage of the 16,356 children
examined routinely during 1972 was found to be satisfactory.
This healthy testimony to improved nutritional standards in
recent decades was reinforced by the small number of children
in junior schools who were considered to need free milk on
medical grounds under the Education (Milk) Act, 1971. It is
hardly necessary to add that these satisfactory clinical physical
impressions in no way detract from the overall excellence of milk
as a nutrient in childhood.