View report page

124
This table, showing as it does how inadequate are the facilities
you have provided for the drying of children's clothes and boots,
makes very sorry reading.
It is idle to talk of building extra classrooms to afford children
special educational facilities and of building extra schools and
departments without at the same time making provision for looking
after the children while they are at school, and the drying of boots
and clothes is a very important matter—so important that no school
can be looked upon as efficient where this provision is not adequate.
I recommend you earnestly to give this matter your immediate
attention.
(4) MEDICAL INSPECTION.
Sir George Newman, in his Annual Report for the year 1929,
begins by saying "The foundation of the school medical service is
the systematic and routine medical inspection of all the children
in attendance at public elementary schools, whether sick or well."
It is only from the results of such inspection that you can
know how far you are catering for the needs of the school population
and what special services are required to deal with the disabilities
which are found in the course of these inspections.
During the year the number of children inspected in the
specified age groups was 2,467, together with 234 other routine
inspections, making a total of 2,701, or 40.2 per cent. of those in
average attendance. In addition 225 children were examined at
special inspections. These were referred to your doctors by their
parents, by the school teachers or by the nurses. Thus 2,926 children
have passed under medical review during the year. This is 43.6
per cent. of the average attendance.