London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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London County Council 1958

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]

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SCHOOL HEALTH SERVICE
Pupils on school rolls
In September, 1958, there was a total of 438,301 pupils on the day school roll; 245,126
attending primary schools; 184,495 at secondary schools; 1,821 at nursery schools and
6,859 children in day special schools.
Ministry of Education returns
The annual returns to the Ministry of Education have been revised and medical
inspection results are now analysed according to the pupils' years of birth. To enable
comparisons to be made with previous annual reports where 'age groups' are recorded,
the following paragraphs include, in addition to the new tabulations, comparative
tables in which years of birth have been grouped to approximate to the age-group
categories previously used.
Medical inspections

During 1958 a total of 363,018 medical inspections were carried out, and 172,271 of these inspections, equivalent to 39.4 per cent. of the children on the rolls, were general medical inspections:

Age groups inspected (by year of birth)Age (year of examination less year of birth)Number of pupils inspected
1954 and later4 and under7,690
1953529,514
195266,508
1951730,775
195085,086
194991,709
1948102,455
19471144,635
1946126,126
1945131,930
1944148,812
1943 and earlier15 and over27,031
172,271

In the following comparative table, the 1958 figures have been grouped on the basis that 'nursery'= years of birth 1954 or later; 'entrants'= 1953 and 1952; '7-year-old'= 1951 and 1950; '11-year-old'= 1947 and 1946; 'leavers'= 1943 or earlier. Part of the differences from previous years, particularly as regards the 'other ages' group, must be attributed to this arbitrary grouping. In addition medical inspections carried out in special schools are now included in the appropriate age group.

195619571958
General medical inspectionsEntrants37,42337,61036,022
7 years old34,25931,45935,861
11 years old34,03342,92350,761
Leavers25,65029,27227,031
Total131,365141,264149,675
Nursery8,6328,0187,690
Other ages23,49221,32214,906
Special schools2,4502,322
Total general inspections166,095172,926172,271