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10
In Barking we visit most schools three times a year for the
purposes of school medical inspection. It is found generally that
this does not take up much more time than visiting at less frequent
intervals and leads to increased efficiency, the visiting medical
officer having an earlier opportunity of following up cases which
are required to be kept under observation.
I wish to stress the need there is for medical officers to visit
schools on their own initiative and at the request of the Head
Teachers, apart from these routine visits, and I hope that time will
be afforded for this to take place.
May I once more take upon myself what has begun to be a
perennial task of explaining that routine inspections are essentially
a census of the health of the school population, and that people
who object to having their children examined at school because
they know them to be healthy or because they are already receiving
attention for such disabilities as they may suffer from, make it
impossible for you to assess the standard physique of the children
who are attending your schools and so make it impossible for
you to determine the physical benefits which are conferred
on the children under your charge by the form of education you
provide.
I do hope that everybody interested in the welfare of children
will teach in season and out of season that education can only be
carried on with physical welfare to the children if you as a Committee
have this data, which can only be provided by the examination of
all children, ailing or well, under treatment or not under treatment,
at routine medical inspections at school.
The table herewith included, which is a modification of Table
II—B to be found in the appendix to this Report, shows the number
of children who have been examined and the number of defective
children referred either for treatment or for observation during the
years 1928 and 1929.