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38
In order to fully meet these requirements it would be
necessary to medically examine all the children in a school from
time to time, and keep a record of the conditions found at
each examination. But before attempting to carry out such
a scheme in Finchley, I think the wisest course would be to
first deal with the children standing most in need of attention.
These might readily be selected, provided the school staff could
spare time from routine work to make a preliminary examination
of each child on some uniform plan.
It has hitherto been the practice of the Head Teacher of
the various schools to draw the attention of the parents to
cases of obvious defect or illness and endeavour to' get them
treated, and latterly a considerable number of children have
been first referred to me for examination. Yet, for want of
a systematic scheme of examination including all the children,
there must be many cases of commencing trouble that are
overlooked.
At no very distant date I hope a record will be kept of
the infectious disease history and physical condition of each
child attending the public Elementary Schools in Finchley.
Already a commencement has been made in this direction, and
as the scope of the work widens its value will become more
apparent.
Exclusion from School.—The following regulations regarding
the exclusion of children from school on account of
infectious disease were adopted by the Education Committee
during the summer of last year:—