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77
days between January 9th and 31st, lectures were given at 31 school
departments, a total of 4,396 children being in attendance.
(b) Twenty-four schools have requested publications from the
Health and Cleanliness Council, to which your Committee subscribes
one guinea.
19. SPECIAL ENQUIRIES.
(a) The clinical work done by your School Medical Officer
(acting as Medical Officer of Health) in the schools in connection
with diphtheria immunisation afforded an opportunity of assessing
the value of Alum Precipitated Toxoid used by the single dose
method. The method was found to be unreliable unless the results
were strictly controlled by the performance of posterior Schick tests.
The same prophylactic used by a two dose method was found to
be highly efficient. The results are summarised in Section 8 of
the report.
(b) An investigation into the causes underlying normal dentition
is discussed in Section 7 (g).
20. MISCELLANEOUS.
(i) and (ii) Employment of Children and Young Persons.—
Co-operation between School Medical Service and Juvenile Employment
and Advisory Committees. The action taken under Administrative
Memorandum 137 was fully discussed in the 1935 report.
Mr. R. Dempsey, the Juvenile Employment Officer, gives the
following report on the work of the Bureau:—
"School Conferences.—The Bureau obtains its first contact with
boys and girls when the vocational Guidance Officers visit the
schools for the purpose of seeing those who may be eligible to leave
school at the end of the term. This section of the Committee's
work has developed considerably during the year. The parents are
now invited to be present at the School Conference, and it is with
some gratification that one is able to record that, as each term
goes by, more and more parents are taking advantage of the opportunity
offered them of discussing their children's future career with
the officers of the Bureau. The total number of School Conferences
held during the year was 125, and the number of boys and girls
who were interviewed individually amounted to 2,195 (1,082 boys,
1,113 girls). In many cases the interest shown by the parents
present, and by the scholars themselves, in the advice which was
being given to them necessitated a second visit to the schools.
"Every effort is being made with a view to placing school
leavers in suitable employment before they leave school, so that
they are ready to commence work as soon as they are eligible.