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79
On the occasion of the preliminary examinations made during the Christmas term, when every
child attending school was inspected by the visiting school nurse, 110,787 were found in an unsatisfactory
condition as regards personal hygiene. Of these, 82,859 were instances of slight infestation and 27,928
were sufficiently bad to be referred direct to the nurses at the bathing stations. In slight cases preliminary
notices were sent to the parents, with the result that, on re-inspection, only 18,237 were found
with the conditions unremedied and were referred to the bathing stations. There were, therefore, 46,165
cases in respect of which notices giving opportunity for voluntary attendance at the bathing stations
were issued. It was necessary to ask for the services of statutory notices in 10,368 cases, or 9.3 per
cent. of the total number found in an unsatisfactory condition. It will be noted that on the receipt
of notices drawing attention to the condition of their children the majority of parents took steps to
effect a cleansing. The process of following up the 10,368 children who required the service of statutory
notices was then steadily carried out.
That very marked improvement has resulted from the working of the new scheme will be
appreciated. It is not possible to give the complete results for the whole of London, but, as an
illustration of the work which is being done, it may perhaps be of interest to quote in this place the
following table submitted by the head teacher of Mantua-street (JM) school, giving the percentage
of children with clean heads, in every class on the occasion of the first rota examination in two consecutive
terms :—
Mantuastreet
school.
PERCENTAGE OF CLEAN HEADS.
Boys. Girls.
Class. Nov., 1919. Feb., 1920. Nov., 1919. Feb., 1920.
I (all girls) 78.1 94.0
II. 76.3 100.0 (all boys)
III. 96.6 100. 0 71.4 96.0
Iv. 87.5 100.0 89.5 100.0
V. 100.0 100.0 73.6 95.0
vI. 96.1 82.1 82.1 96.7
VII 89.4 100.0 90.0 92.5
It will be seen that the children's heads were practically free from vermin on the nurse's visit
in February, but, of course, to secure the permanency of such results it is necessary to maintain continued
supervision on the part of the nursing staff.
There can be no doubt that the new scheme has effected a very much needed improvement in
the standard of cleanliness in the schools, but I am strongly of opinion that there should be no falling
off at the present time in the efforts that are being made. The recovery from the set-back due to the
war is not yet complete, and the attempt to put in force the improved scheme of inspection has involved
a great pressure of work upon the nursing staff. The pamphlet which was prepared by Mr. Bacot, of
the Lister Institute, has been widely circulated, and, in conjunction with the lectures he has given, has
stimulated the efforts of the nurses, and attempts have been made to improve the method adopted in
cleansing the. children's heads.
Much of the difficulty attending all measures of amelioration in the past haft been associated
with the impossibility of removal of the nits without cutting the hair. Various experiments have been methods
carried out and a special shampoo devised in collaboration by Miss Pearse, the superintendent of nurses,
and Mr. Coste, the Council's chemist, used in conjunction with a special comb, brought under notice
by an Islington hairdresser, offers a means by which the removal of the nits can be effected by mechanical
means without injury to the hair. This is leading to a more friendly attitude on the part of the parents
and marks a notable achievement in the campaign against the common louse.
School baths.
It has been decided that when a school is being built or enlarged, the question of making provision
in the building for baths shall be considered on its merits. The Children's Care Sub-Committee has
discussed very fully the type of installation that should be adopted. Plans have been approved in the
case of proposed new schools of an installation which includes both slipper and spray baths, and provides
for privacy both as regards the dressing boxes and the baths themselves. A visit to an installation
erected by a neighbouring school authority elicited the fact that while 85 percent of the boys used the
school baths, only 50 percent of the girls did so, and it seemed that the lack of privacy which obtained
deterred many, particularly amongst the older girls, from taking advantage of the facilities.
The provision of school baths serves two purposes. The first, a purely physical one, is to bring
about an immediate and tolerable degree of cleanliness of the children in attendance, the second, which
is the more important, is the educational one, which seeks to inculcate good habits and produce in the
child a lasting love of bodily cleanliness, with its consequent increased self-respect. If the first reason
were the sole one, there would be no hesitation in adopting wholesale the German type of promiscuous
spray bath, but, in view of the far greater importance of the second reason, it seems necessary that the
children should gain their experience in connection with a type of bath which is provided for washing
purposes in the public baths and in well-appointed private homes.
In this connection it is obviously desirable that the children should not be cut off on leaving
school from the possibility of obtaining proper bathing accommodation, and it is desirable for them to be
taught while at school the use of the public baths wherever possible. In the Annual Report for 1918 it
was pointed out that under the Public Baths and Wash-houses Act, 27 local sanitary authorities in London
had provided 3,344 baths at 51 centres. The baths thus provided have by no means been used by the