London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Leyton 1953
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Leyton]
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The greatest number of the children seen come from the Junior Schools ; and it is satisfactory to netice that there were a larger number of Infants than Secondary School pupils referred to the psychologist, since the younger the child, the more chance there is of bringing about a re-adjustment.
| Pre-school | Infants | Juniors | Secondary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest | ||||
| Boys | 1 | 45 | 94 | 13 |
| Girls | 1 | 12 | 31 | 12 |
| Leyton | ||||
| Boys | 0 | 14 | 128 | 11 |
| Girls | 1 | 4 | 38 | 7 |
| Total | 3 | 75 | 291 | 43 |
The I.Q. range of these children follows the usual pattern,
except perhaps in the larger group of very dull children seen in the
Forest Division. This is, however, only to be expected in an area
where there has been such a large and rapid increase in school
population.
I.Q. RANGE.
| Below 70 | 71—90 | 91—110 | 111—130 | 131 + | Totals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest | 21 | 80 | 72 | 29 | 7 | 209 |
| Leyton | 5 | 42 | 102 | 42 | 12 | 203 |
| Total | 26 | 122 | 174 | 71 | 19 | 412 |
One of the Psychologist's chief duties in the schools is to
advise the teachers on children who are failing to make expected
progress, and it is apparent from the figures given above that the
largest number of these are children with below-average intellectual
ability. The pressing need for smaller classes, where the slower
children may receive more individual help, is constantly emphasized
by the results of the tests given by the Psychologist.
Various reasons lie behind the request for a psychological
interview for any child. Sometimes the request comes from the
teachers, sometimes from the parents via the school medical officer
or head teacher. A broad survey of the reasons for the requests is
given below, and it should be noted that sometimes a child is
referred for more than one reason, e.g., a stammer and backwardness,
or stealing from home and truancy from school.