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36
Toothbrushes
The sale of toothbrushes continued in dental clinics to
assist in furthering dental health education.
I have continued with one evening session per week for
mothers who are unable to attend during; the day session.
Specialist
Clinics
Specialists clinics for orthopaedic, ophthalmic, ear, nose
and throat and speech defects were held and details of attendances
are in Appendix 10.
The Council's
Day Nurseries
The Council is responsible for two Day Nurseries, one in
Ley Street and one in Goodmayes Lane. These are both prefabricated
buildings and have neither elegance nor architectural
merit when viewed externally. Inside, however, they are light
and airy. Each will accommodate 50 children and the average
daily attendance rate is 30. The discrepancy between the
average daily number and the possible capacity results from
periods of quarantine and infectious illness and the relatively
high (general sickness) rate in young children.
The great majority of these children are in the nurseries
because of the inability of the parents to provide a full home
life, either due to family troubles, illness, or the economics of
a single mother attempting to support a child. These nurseries
also offer emergency care for children when stress appears to
be precipitating mental illness in the family, or if it is felt
that the absence of a child from home for a short period may
prevent a family break-up. As such, they are a very important
part of our preventive services in the community.
Normally parents are assessed to pay a daily charge related
to their income, but each nursery has five places reserved for
children who are admitted on medical grounds. No charge is
made for these places, as they are regarded as part of the
child's general treatment. We find in this category children with
hearing and speech defects, and the peripatetic teacher of the
partially hearing visits the nurseries to give auditory training.
Also included in this class are children whose general condition
suggests the necessity for a full medical assessment
before determining the correct type of education for them at
the age of 5 years.
The nurseries are training schools for the National
Nursery Examination Board's examinations and this is an
incentive to a high standard of work by the staff. Several of
our private child minders and nursery proprietors have visited