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"The Routine School Dental Inspection was carried out in
1936.
All the Babies except the recent admissions take the Dental
Inspection now as part of their daily routine, and no longer look
upon it with fear and distrust and something to be avoided if
possible.
The parents are still more in favour of extractions than conservative
treatment for their children because, they say, "Its only
the baby teeth," but they are more willing to listen to and take
the advice given to them on the importance of saving the temporary
dentition.
I wish once against to thank the Head Teacher and Assistant
Teachers for their valuable help and co-operation at all times at
the School, and in securing attendance at the Clinic."
I am indebted to Miss Bowen for an account on the daily
routine of the above School:—
The Nursery School opens at 8.30 a.m. so that elder brothers
and sisters may leave the little ones on their way to school.
Children continue to arrive until 9.30, and the daily contact with
parents at this time affords a means of co-operation between home
and school.
If a child is found, upon arrival, to be suffering from some
minor ailment, the parent is urged to seek advice at the School
Treatment Clinic.
Meantime the children, after removing their outdoor clothing
and putting on the coloured overalls provided for them, clean
their teeth, and wash themselves if necessary.
While some play with dolls and toys, others busy themselves
over household duties. Boys and girls alike don rubber aprons
and scrub tables and chairs with a zest which never ceases to
thrill their astonished parents.
Plants are watered, flowers arranged and the tables prepared
lor the morning milk and rusks. The children who have Cod
Liver Oil at this time, upon the recommendation of the School
Medical Officer, are regarded with envy by the rest.
Morning songs of greeting, occupation with sense-training and
creative materials, music, stories, toys and liberty to wander in
the garden fill the mornings until the children come in to prepare
for dinner.
Faces and hands are very grubby by this time, but washing
is no hardship when even the youngest child is encouraged to
take his own flannel from the hook (identified by its picture), turn
on the tap, and wash himself. This above all things, the child
likes to do unaided, and any offer of help is met by the injured
assurance, "I can wash myself."
Dinner is awaited with eager impatience, but even hunger
is forgotten in the desire to "serve." Great control is shown,
not merely of appetite, but of eye and hand in carrying dishes on
tiny trays made to fit the children's grasp.
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