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128
on the premises and at the third in an adjoining building. At Bradford food is
sent in asbestos cases from the Municipal Central Depot.
The weekly charge for food varies from 1s. 6d. to 3s. or 3s. 6d., most schools
charging 2s. Necessitous children may have the payment wholly or partly remitted,
though in London nearly all pay something towards their meals. At St. Ann's
(Bradford) 30 or 40 children on a roll of 84 have them free.
General.—At practically all nursery schools children have their own towels and
tooth brushes. Combs are also provided, either one for each child or a common
supply disinfected after use. Hair brushes are less frequently provided. The various
articles are either named, numbered or distinguished by means of a picture.
Children are supposed to brush their teeth daily, but in some schools this practice
has, in the case at least of the two-year-olds, been given up. At Lilycroft (Bradford)
the Superintendent found that whenever personal supervision was for a moment
relaxed the babies used their tooth brushes for smoothing their hair. At another
school whilst the teacher supervised the brushing of teeth at one end of a row of
infants seated on the floor those at the other end sucked their tooth brushes, interchanged
them, rubbed them on the cloakroom floor and then sucked them again.
Unless in very favourable circumstances it seems much safer to give two-year-olds
a piece of raw apple after their food than to insist on the brushing of teeth at school.
Stretchsr beds with blankets, also in some cases sheets and pillows, are provided
at all schools. Children sleep for 11/2 to 2 hours after their mid-day meal, some in
the schoolroom and some in shelters in the playground when these are available.
For children from slum homes this period of rest in a quiet and well-ventilated
room is invaluable.
From most nursery schools in London and Manchester children are taken by
the staff to the country for a holiday in summer, the period varying from one to six
weeks. Some schools take practically all the children each year, whilst others
select a special group.
Enquiry into
physical
results of
attendance
at nursery
schools by
Dr. McVail.
An enquiry made by Dr. McVail into physical results of nursery schools falls
into two sections, namely:—
(i) A comparison between the health on admission to elementary schools of
children previously in attendance for a year or more at a nursery school and that
of ordinary entrants ; and
(ii) The physical condition of individual children on entering and on leaving
the nursery school.
Comparison
of nursery
school transfers
and other
entrants to
elementary
schools.
Investigation was made regarding 100 children who had within the past three
or four years left the Rachel McMillan Nursery School (Deptford) and the Notting
Hill Nursery School, 58 children being followed up from the former and 42 from the
latter school.
For admission to both these schools debilitated, rickety and badly nourished
children have preference. Of children at the Rachel McMillan Nursery School
some 80 per cent. at entrance have signs of rickets and about one third come from
homes of a single room. The Notting Hill children also are selected on grounds of
health.
The 100 children are now in attendance at representative elementary schools
near the respective nursery schools, namely, Clyde Street, Creek Road and Hughes
Fields in Deptford, and Saunders Road, Sirdar Road and St. James' Norland C. of E. in
Notting Hill. From their medical record cards at the elementary schools details were
obtained as to the physical condition of the 100 children as entrants. Similar details
were obtained regarding 100 controls, each control having been born in the same
month and year as a child in the nursery school group. The two groups were weighed
and measured at the time of my visits and their heights and weights are strictly
comparable. As regards the general physical condition, the nursery school children
were on an average somewhat older than the controls when first examined at the