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Employment of children
The bye-laws governing the employment of children require, inter alia, that the
Principal School Medical Officer shall certify that the employment of the child will not
be prejudicial to his health and physical development and will not render him unfit to
obtain the proper benefit of the education provided for him. Such a certificate is valid
only (i) during a period of six months from the date of its issue, and (ii) for the class of
employment referred to in the certificate.
During the year 4,604 medical examinations were carried out locally in respect of
the issue of employment certificates. In addition, 399 medical examinations were carried
out at the County Hall of children concerning their employment under licence in public
entertainments, comprising 120 boys and 279 girls.
Children under five years of age
At the end of 1954 there were 158 nursery classes with accommodation for approximately
4,740 children aged 3 to 5 years. In addition to a mid-day meal, these children
had one-third of a pint of milk daily and cod liver oil and other vitamin preparations ;
medicaments containing iron were also prescribed for those who required them. Nursery
class children attend during the ordinary school hours of primary schools, but nursery
school children can attend between 8.30 a.m. and 4.30 p.m. and have dinner (and
breakfast and tea when necessary), and two-thirds of a pint of milk daily in addition
to other supplements supplied to the nursery class children.
At the end of the year there were 21 maintained day nursery schools with accommodation
for 1,250 children from 2-5 years, three nursery centres each providing
half-time education for two groups of 40 children each, one group attending in the
mornings and the other group in the afternoons, and five assisted nursery schools with
accommodation for 230 children.
Health visitor/school nursing sisters attend nursery classes and schools frequently and
each child is examined every term by a school medical officer.
There were 15,584 children under five years of age on the day school rolls, 13,160
being in the Council's schools and 2,424 in voluntary schools.
School journeys
Arrangements for the medical and hygiene inspection of pupils before departure on
school journeys or visits to holiday camps were continued. During the year 19,503
such examinations were carried out. The metropolitan borough medical officers of
health were asked to co-operate by forwarding information when infectious disease
occurred in a home from which a pupil had gone on a school journey.
Holidays for
diabetic and
epileptic
children
During the summer the Diabetic Association again organised holidays for diabetic
children and the British Epilepsy Association, under a similar scheme, organised for the
first time a holiday for epileptic children.
A small number of London diabetic and epileptic children, who would otherwise
have been denied a holiday because of the problems associated with their handicaps,
were provided with holidays at Walton-on-the-Naze, Kingsdown, Kent ; Barrow,
Lancashire (diabetic children), and Brockley, Northants (epileptic children). The
accommodation at Martello Camp, Walton-on-the-Naze, was provided by the Council
and the camp was held in conjunction with the Council's diabetic unit.
Infectious diseases in schools
When a pupil is absent from school, and the cause is either known or suspected to be
due to infectious disease, the Head of the school notifies the Divisional Medical Officer
and the Borough Medical Officer of Health. The numbers of cases of infectious diseases
thus reported during 1954 and the preceding years are given in Table 9, page 223.
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