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afternoons and Wednesday forenoon and afternoon. One teacher
accompanies every 30 scholars. A Swimming Instructress has
been appointed for the girls.
Special arrangements are made to convey the scholars to
and from school by tramcar, and a programme of periods
allotted to each school is issued so as to prevent any unnecessaryloss
of school time.
11. PROVISION OF MEALS.
During the year meals have been provided for necessitous children
as required. In one school (Plashet Lane) a feeding centre
has been opened to supply the children in that district. Children
in other districts have been supplied by private caterers. The
School Medical Officer suggests a suitable menu for the children's
dinners and periodically visits the various centres to satisfy
himself regarding the quality of the food and the general arrangements
for distribution, but takes no part in the selection of the
children to be fed. This selection is left in the hands of the
school teachers through the Ward Committee.
Dealing with this matter in their Annual Report for 1912, the
Board of Education points out that an effective co-ordination
should exist between the work of the provision of meals and that
of the school medical service, and they consider no scheme as
wholly satisfactory unless the School Medical Officer
(a) has the right to nominate for school feeding any children
found at the routine medical inspection or on special examination
to be suffering from malnutrition due to insufficiency or unsuitability
of food.
(b) is consulted as to the dietary provided.
(c) has the right and duty of inspecting the actual arrangements
made in regard to the preparation, distribution and service
of meals.
(d) is consulted in all cases of doubt as to the necessity for
retaining a child on the feeding list owing to its physical condition.
During the year 1920 77,352 meals were provided for 800
children, compared with 35,711 meals for 210 children in 1919,