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PROPHYLAXIS
79.2 per cent. of school children inspected were recorded as protected against smallpox,
88.9 per cent. of school children were recorded as immunised against diphtheria, 76.9 per cent.
against whooping cough and 87.5 per cent. against poliomyelitis.
B.C.G. vaccination was carried out on 13 year old children in secondary schools and in
a number of colleges and institutions of London University.
HEALTH EDUCATION
The Inner London Education Authority was invited to appoint a representative, preferably
a head teacher from a school in the Borough, to the Borough's Health Education and Home Safety
Advisory Committee.
The Department's health education officer embarked on a health education programme for
schools.
FURTHER EDUCATION
An advisory medical service was established in 1965 at Kingsway College for pupils in
the 16 to 18 age group. A doctor and a social worker attend the college for one session a week, see
individual pupils at their request, and advise the staff if required.
HANDICAPPED CHILDREN
Because of the emphasis placed by the Health Department upon the importance of the
early diagnosis of handicaps in young children and early recommendations for special educational
treatment for them, a significant rise became apparent towards the end of the year in the number of
young children found to be in need of nursery class placement in special schools. For the first
time in nearly twenty years a growing waiting list appeared for nursery class places in the day
school for physically handicapped children. Similarly, an increased number of young children with
hearing loss awaited placement in the partially hearing nursery units planned by the Education
Officer to open in 1966.
For reasons not yet fully established, there was an unprecedented rise in the number of
children found to be in need of special educational treatment as delicate and the conditions from
which these children were suffering were more severe than in former years.
Assessment and early training in the unit for mentally handicapped pre-school children in
the Corams Garden Day Nursery, led to two of the nine children being found suitable for education,
and it is hoped that others will have developed sufficiently by the age of 5 years to benefit from
formal education
It is planned to follow up all handicapped children, whether in ordinary or special schools,
by extending the Borough's Observation and Handicap Register to cover school as well as preschool
children. Details of handicapped children in schools are being obtained from each school,
and these children will be reviewed periodically to ensure both that their performance is commensurate
with their ability, and that their medical and social needs be fully met. This scheme will
eventually link with the proposed system of selective medical examinations.
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