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Report of the Medical Officer (Education).
149
m
Comparison with other Countries.—In the annual report for last year was shown a comparison
of the boys in secondary schools in London with those elsewhere in this country and abroad,
which indicated that the Councils scholar compares favourably in physique with any other. The
following are similar tables for girls. Here unfortunately it appears that both in stature and weight the
scholars in the Council's secondary schools for girls are somewhat behind the standard of the other
econdary schools.

Personal Hygiene Schemes.
There are 90 school nurses with a superintendent and two assistants to the superintendent.
Their duties consist chiefly in assisting at the medical examination of school children; making
systematic visits under the direction of the Council's medical officer to the schools allotted to them,
paying due regard in all such work to the necessity of using as much tact as possible with teachers,
parents and children, and causing as little disturbance of school routine as possible; examining children
for all forms of obvious uncleanliness and disease; advising the teachers in regard to the exclusion
from school of doubtful cases; applying the schemes for cleansing the heads, bodies and clothing of the
children; visiting the children's homes and advising the parents in regard to treatment. An average
of 3.4 sessions a week is given to assisting the school doctors in medical inspection. In this connection,
the nurses arrive before the doctors at the schools where examinations are to be held, and make the
necessary preparations for the examination, arrange for the expeditious arrival of the children in the
examination room, undress and dress them or assist the parents to do so. The nurses also, when required
by the school doctor, examine the children in regard to the cleanliness and condition of the skin;
make the preliminary test of vision; take the weights and measurements; obtain from the parents
particulars in regard to the family history and details of previous illnesses, referring any particular
case to the doctor; enter from the doctor's dictation the results of the examination on the medical
record cards and the names of children requiring treatment, in the medical register. When the
parents are present at the examination the nurses hand to them advice cards in each case where the
school doctor is of opinion that medical treatment (including vision) would be beneficial to the child;
when the parents do not attend the examination the nurses visit the homes and leave advice cards
explaining the nature of the trouble from which the child is suffering and the necessity for obtaining
treatment. The nurse's knowledge of the children and their home conditions proves helpful to the
doctor, and the knowledge gained at the examination enables the nurse to deal more effectively with
the children in her routine work, and to interview and advise the parents and assist the School Care
Committee in regard to treatment.
Staff of
Nurses.
For the purpose of carrying out the schemes for personal cleanliness each nurse is placed in
charge of a district containing from 7 to 15 schools, according to the condition of the neighbourhood.
A rota showing the order in which schools must be visited and the dates of proposed visits is drawn up
and is so arranged that every school is visited at least once a month. At the rota visit the children
in one department are thoroughly inspected and if any time remains a short visit is paid to the other
departments. The departments are visited in cyclic order, beginning with the girls' department, then
the infants' and finally the boys' department, with necessary variations where there are mixed and
junior mixed departments. At these visits the nurse examines the children in school for any unsatisfactory
condition of person (heads, bodies and clothing) and applies the cleansing schemes. Her
attendance at the police court is necessary to obtain a conviction against parents of children excluded for
Organisation