View report page

175
Report of the County Medical Officer—Education.
favourable conditions the advantage in gain in physique rested distinctly with those meeting under
the open-air, as opposed to the indoor conditions. On the other hand, in some instances, where
the conditions of the playground class were unfavourable, as at the "John Ruskin" (Newington, IV.),
(Dr. Wells) and Wolverley-street (Bethnal Green, S.W.,) (Dr. Parson) no improvement could
be detected in the outdoor as compared with indoor children. The careful measurements made of the
children brought out several points of interest, in addition to the relation of improvement of physique
to feeding mentioned above. Dr. Burrows reports the case of a child who developed ear discharge,
and during the time this persisted lost weight steadily, but regained the lost weight when recovery
was effected. Dr. Wells points out that on resumption after the holidays there is a general loss of
weight for the first fortnight, both on the part of the children in playground classes and of the
controls in the ordinary schools.
Almost complete freedom from colds and general improvement in children suffering from
catarrhal conditions under the open-air conditions is reported, and almost every school doctor
reports individual cases in which improvement occurred. These include a considerable number of
cases of anæmia and functional heart troubles, of bronchitis, of moderate degrees of enlargement of
the tonsils and of nasal obstruction, of ear discharge and of external eye diseases. One especially
interesting case of improvement is reported by Dr. McHattie. It was that of a child belonging to
Poole's-park (Islington, N.,) school, who was awaiting admission to a special school. She was
included with the other children who formed the open-air class meeting in Finsbury-park. She
made very remarkable improvement in physique, and this was accompanied by a complete change in
her mental condition. The head teacher wrote (7-1-14)— "Since the six months spent in the Finsburypark
open-air class the child has progressed by leaps and bounds. The improvement is still
maintained. She has not only caught up the other children in attainments, but is much better
than many of them. At the beginning of the open-air period she could not play, and it was very
difficult to arouse in her any interest to play. Now she is quite keen on games." This child has been
removed from the waiting list for the special school, and the head mistress considers that, unless there
is a relapse in the child's physical condition, that she will be equal to, or above, the average in mental
attainments.
During the coming year steps are being taken to secure closer co-operation with the care
committees with a view to ensuring the "following up" of children attending the open-air classes,
and the question of improvements in the planning of playground shelters from the point of view of
their use for class purposes in the summer months is receiving attention.
School journeys undertaken during 1913.
A number of requests were made by head teachers during the summer of 1913 for the medical
examination of children, whom it was proposed to take for school journeys extending Over a period
of from one to two weeks. The responsibility of the teachers accompanying the children is no
light one, and it is advisable that they should have medical opinion both with regard to the physical
fitness of the pupils and to the possible presence of contagious conditions amongst the children
proposed to be selected for the journey.
Reports were received from the school doctors in regard to 26 such journeys (18 boys, 7 girls,
and 1 of both boys and girls), in which the children were seen both before and after the excursion
was made. In one instance—that of the Torriano-avenue school excursion, in which both boys and girls
participated—the school doctor accompanied the party and spent the whole of the holiday amongst
the children, and he has furnished a comprehensive account of the observations he made. In view of
the fact that the number of such educational excursions is yearly increasing, somewhat extensive
quotation has been made from his report, inasmuch as his observations cannot fail to be of assistance
to teachers who undertake the organisation of such visits. In two other instances, one in Derbyshire
and the other in Surrey, the school doctor visited and inspected the conditions under which the boys
were housed.
The stimulating effect of a change, even for a short period of time, from conditions of town life
to those of country or seaside surroundings upon nutrition and general health are well known, and
all the reports contain descriptions of the general improvement in nutritional conditions as shown
by the appearance of the children and by actual measurements. The average increase made in
weight was about 0.4 kilograms in excursions lasting one week and 0.8 kilograms in excursions
lasting a fortnight. In the case of the Ruby-street school journey, Dr. Macdonald kept the boys
under observation for a considerable period and reports that the average increase in weight of each
boy during the excursion was at a rate 18 times as great as his increase in weight in the ordinary
way. Several instances in which chronic conditions of ill-health entirely disappeared during the
excursions were recorded.
A short abstract of the report by Dr. C. Louis Leipoldt on the school journey of the Torrianoavenue
school children was presented to the Elementary Education Sub-Committee, and was ordered
by them to be printed and distributed to all the schools for the guidance of those taking part in such
excursions. The following is a more complete account of Dr. Leipoldt's observations.
Introductory.—Recognising that the results obtained from inspection, before and after such an
excursion, are not in themselves sufficient to enable useful conclusions to be drawn, but that it is
eminently desirable to have further data with regard to the work done, the nature of the strain on
individual children and other points, Dr. Leipoldt decided to accompany the party to Shanklin and
to take notes on these various points.
Dr. Leipoldt's
report on the
Torrianoavenue
school
excursion,
March. 1913.
While much has been written about school journeys from the point of view of the educationist
and the teacher, very little had been done with regard to the investigation of certain
points of medical interest. The medical literature on the subject is very scanty. Dr. Leipoldt
has been aided, however, in his investigation by his private notes of various holiday camps, in