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59
notice the presence of Adenoids, but takes no part
in their removal. On the other hand his work
should extend far beyond mere investigation of the
sanitary state of the buildings, or the excluding of
unhealthy or diseased children. The methods of
education, requirements of physical exercise, avoidance—particularly
in the very young—of overstrain
from prolonged fatigue or from improper tasks, are
all matters in which improvement can only be
obtained by the Medical Officer acting, not as an
authority to shut or close, to disturb or interrupt the
proper work of the school, but as a counsellor and
adviser, with a knowledge of school routine, and of
the requirements for health; to assist and collaborate
with the Committee, and it is with this in his mind
that he should enter any sohool."
Thus it is seen that it is most important for the Medical
Officer to work in harmony with the teacher, and really their
object is the same in the long run, though on the surfaoe,
occasionally, their ideas may be opposed. They are both
anxious to help and assist the individual child and to maintain
the attendance at the best point possible.
In most areas where medical inspection is organised, the
School Medical Officer does not examine each individual
child; he relies very largely upon the teachers for information
as to the children who need his attention, and in a district
like Ilford, with 10,000 children and 16 schools, which the
Medical Officer is expected to visit once a month, it is
obviously impossible to examine each child individually. In
Section 21 of the Report attention is drawn to another aspect
of the matter as follows:—"We have received information
from several towns, where the staff of the Sanitary