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During the summer term the school nurses pay particular attention to those
children who are being taken away by the Children's Country Holiday Fund and
other organisations, in order to ensure their cleanliness and freedom from parasitic
conditions. Attention was specially shown to the children who go hop-picking with
their parents, and an instruction has been issued by the Education Committee that
children going hop-picking during 1928 shall be medically examined, as far as possible,
before and after the event, in order to ascertain the effect upon them physically.
School
journeys,
1927.
During the year 1927, 480 school journeys were held. The children taking part
in them were examined by the school doctors in 479 cases before departure and in
one case after return. In all 15,971 children were examined. Of these 160 (or
1 per cent.) were certified as unfit to take part in the journeys. They were rejected
on various grounds, i.e., suffering from tonsilitis (17), otorrhoea (19), high temperature
(10), personal hygiene (8), infectious disease (suffering and at home) (16), etc.
A number of children was rejected provisionally on account of detective
personal hygiene, but were subsequently passed as clean.
Employment of School Children.
The applications during the year 1927 for medical certificates in connection
with the employment of school children out of school hours under the by-laws
numbered 4,161, of whom 4,101 were boys and only 60 girls.
The nature of the work for which certificates were granted was for boys (girls
in brackets):—Delivery of milk 294 (1); delivery of newspaper 2,459 (24); carrying
of parcels, etc. 625 (1); in a shop 344 (4); in a coal yard 4 (0); industrial work at
home 1 (0); homework away from home 22 (4); as a messenger 57 (0); not stated
108 (2); in more than one occupation 27 (0).
Certificates were refused on medical grounds in the cases of 83 boys and 4 girls ;
in 118 cases the certificates were granted subject to medical treatment being obtained
and in 60 further cases other conditions were imposed, whilst in 102 cases the reason
for the issue of the conditional certificate is not known.
In 14 cases the provisional certificates were withdrawn on account of the noncompliance
with the conditions under which the certificate was issued.
The medical reasons for withholding certificates included:—rheumatism 4,
dental disease 8, visual defect 9, heart defect 12, throat troubles 7, anaemia and
malnutrition 7, scoliosis 2, enlarged glands 1, ear disease 4, vermin and sores 1,
recent operation 1, bronchitis 2, hernia 1, nervous disease 1, osteomyelitis 1, eczema 1,
tuberculosis 1, undue fatigue 3, general debility 3.
Theatrical
children.
Under the rules for certification of those employed in stage entertainments,
217 children were seen and kept under observation during the year, of whom 61 were
boys and 156 girls.
Five children were rejected on medical grounds; three boys who were presented
for one particular play had been selected obviously because they appeared to be ill
and haggard—these boys required convalescent treatment in place of employment
on the stage; one girl with an abscess on the neck who wished to take part in a
pantomime in the provinces was unfit to travel, and one girl only out of 217 children
was rejected for verminous conditions.
Nursery Schools.
Report by Dr.
Ballard and
Miss Stevenson,
District
Inspectors of
Schools, and
Dr. McVail,
Divisional
Medical
Officer.
Introduction.—This report is based on the inspection of the nine nursery schools
in London, the four in Manchester and the three in Bradford. As we had no reason
to think that the few isolated nursery schools in other parts of the kingdom differed
essentially from those we had already seen, we refrained from paying them a visit.
The varieties of nursing schools.—There are many ways of classifying nursery schools.
For administrative purposes the most important distinction lies between the provided
and the non-provided. The majority are non-provided—all but one in London,
all but one in Manchester, and all but two in Bradford. The school building affords