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0.5% were found to be unsatisfactory from a physical or
nutritional point of view. Of 4,456 children inspected by the
Health Visitors, only 31 or approximately 0.75% were found
to be infested with vermin. Most of these cases were mild
and were soon cleared up by informal action. The figure in
regard to infestation for the country as a whole is around
4% so that, on the whole, infestation has ceased to be a
serious problem in the Bexley schools although constant
vigilance is always necessary.
The number of children referred to the Child Guidance
Clinic is worthy of note and it is my impression that we are
now referring more children than, say, ten years ago.
Whether this is due to an increase in significant psychological
difficulties or an ever-growing interest in the mental health
of children is debatable. It may well be that both these
factors have contributed to the increased emphasis on the
psychological health of schoolchildren. The report of the
Committee on Maladjusted Children stressed the importance
of the young child not yet in school, since the early years
are of paramount importance in shaping the future psychological
development of the child. Although, under the Educaion
Act, 1944, education may be provided for children from
the age of two years and upwards it is only rarely that a
child under five years of age is referred to the Child Guidance
Clinic through the School Health Service notwithstanding
the fact, to quote the Report of the Chief Medical Officer
of the Ministry of Education for the years 1956 and 1957
"that it is usually towards the end of the third year—the
first critical period when the child asserts its personality—
that signs of disturbance, if present are recognisable as
such." The difficulty is, primarily, one of ascertainment and
there are, no doubt, many young children in adverse home
conditions whose future would be better assured if their
parents could obtain expert help with these early psychological
difficulties.
In these days, when so many mothers go out to work,
there is much to be said for the provision of a nursery
school in the area, or at least some nursery classes, where
any potentially disturbed children may be observed, guided
and helped to overcome their difficulties. As the Chief Medical
Officer points out, "It is at this time that the nursery
school, specially planned both in size and in the life it provides
for the children, can be of help in easing the process
of separation from the mother; it can give relief when there
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