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
Walthamstow 1951
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Walthamstow]
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During the year 298 children were given individual tests (200
in Walthamstow). The percentage of boys as compared with
girls has significantly risen—69 per cent. boys and 30 per cent.
girls. The school placement and age-range of these children is
included in the following tables:—
Table I.—School placement of Children seen by Psychologist.
| Pre-School | Infants | Junior | Sec. Modern | Grammar | Technical | Special | Totals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boys | 6 | 36 | 47 | 25 | 5 | 4 | 20 | 143 |
| Girls | 3 | 18 | 10 | 5 | 5 | — | 16 | 57 |
Apart from these rather special figures, the normal tendency
to find the greatest number of problems in the Infant and Junior
School is borne out.
Table II.—Children seen by the Psychologist in the different Age-Groups.
| Under 5 yrs. | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Totals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boys | 5 | 7 | 10 | 26 | 14 | 13 | 16 18 | 16 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 143 |
| Girls | 3 | 5 | 10 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 3 6 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 57 |
The greatest number of problems are presented to the
Psychologist from the 7 and 11 year age-group. This is normal
expectation, and indicates the extent to which children have difficulty
in adjusting to a new school environment.
Head Teachers have again made the largest demands from the
Psychologist. More than half the total number of children were
seen at the teachers' request. Details of the referring agencies are
given in Table III.
Table III.—Cases Referred.
| Source | Boys | Girls | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Head Teachers | 75 | 34 | 109 |
| Medical Officers | 33 | 10 | 43 |
| Parents | 11 | 5 | 16 |
| Miscellaneous | 10 | 2 | 12 |
| Family Doctor | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| Speech Therapist | 6 | 2 | 8 |
| Juvenile Court | 5 | — | 5 |
Table IV, giving the numbers of children falling in each of
three main intelligence groups show an unusually large proportion
of children with poor intelligence. This is due to the fact that
during the year the Psychologist has done more work than