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The introduction of Article 53 (b) into the Education
School Code of 1908 giving power to the School Medical
Officer to exclude children from school for health or
educational reasons, has, no doubt, still further influenced
the position which the Board now take up with regard to the
relationship between the School Medical Service and the
School Attendance Department.
In 1912 the Board of Education were in a position for
the first time to give grants in respect of the School Medical
Service, and in announcing the conditions on which these
grants would be paid they stated in Par. 6 of Circular
792 that the arrangements made for securing co-ordination
between the School Medical Service and the school attendance
department would be taken into consideration in
assessing the grants to be paid.
In my view arrangements for such co-ordination can be
made in the most effective and administratively most
economical manner in Willesden by placing the school attendance
officers under the direction of the School Medical
Officer, so that the latter may have all necessary information
required by the Board for the maximum grant, and
that there may be no overlapping between the work of the
school attendance officers and health visitors, to which I
have already drawn the attention of the Committee in my
Annual Report for 1912 on pages 13-20.
Causes of Non-Attendance.—Broadly the causes of
non-attendance at school may be classified as follows:—
(a) Ill-health.
(b) Exclusions—As a possible source of danger to other
children, e.g., a doubtful case of infectious illness
or contacts in cases of infectious illness.
(c) Wilful detention on the part of the parent—Usually
alleged to be due to ill-health or want of clothing or
foot-gear.
(d) Wilful absence on the part of the child.
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