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170
be given. The schools section of the Parks Department carries out
this task and is unstinting in its efforts to produce good playing
surfaces. However, in some areas of the Borough with a high water
table, months can elapse without any games taking place on a
particular pitch. This can mean the cancellation of outdoor
physical education for long periods. The solution lies in the
production of all-weather surfaces which can be played on whatever
the conditions. Many games benefit from being practised on
this kind of surface. The production of many of these pitches will
in the end be less demanding on land since one pitch can be
played on for ten hours a day without damage, whereas a grass
pitch is usually used for seven hours a week. Already experience
is being gained by schools playing on the Redgra pitch at the
Crystal Palace, and there is little doubt that similar all-weather
pitches on school playingfields would be invaluable.
SCHOOL MILK SERVICE
A survey taken for the Department of Education and Science,
on a suitable day between September 12th to 23rd, 1966, when
school attendance was normal, showed
Number of Pupils
Present Taking Milk
At Maintained Schools 38,656 31,397
Non-maintained Schools 6,412 4,355
SCHOOL MEALS SERVICE
The London Borough of Bromley now has 76 school canteens
and 30 serveries serving approximately 33,500 meals a day. In
the financial year 1966/67 over six million meals will be served.
HEALTH EDUCATION AND HOME SAFETY
Like all experimental social sciences, the field of health
education is constantly developing. Gone are the days during the
first half of the 19th century when the population of this country
was riddled with disease, but with the advent of ENVIRONMENTAL
CONTROL and SPECIFIC IMMUNISATION conditions
became better. These two weapons together with, and
contributing to, a rising standard of living, itself entailing improved
nutrition, account almost entirely for the substantial improvements
which have taken place in the health of the population of this
country over the past century. However, the solutions of these
problems have not brought the task of the Public Health Service
to an end, nor has it made its work easier.
Today we are faced with a new set of health problems,
different from those of the past, problems which stem largely from
the changing nature of our society. Prominent among these are