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(5) The Establishment of Nursery Schools.— In my
opinion these should be established in close connection
with the already existing Infant Welfare Centres, from
which suitable children could be drafted. The possibilities
of infection in schools for children of 2 to 5 years
of age are considerable, and it will be necessary to have
them very completely under the supervision and control
of the School Medical Staff, if the spread of infection is
to be limited. The main condition which should be
observed in the creation of a Nursery School are:— (i.)
It must be easy for access from the children's homes,
(ii.) It must be an open-air school with ample garden
space. (iii.) Provision must be made for meals and for
rooms for rest and sleep. All children admitted will be
required to be fed at the School. (v.) Admission should be
limited, at least at the commencement, to those children
who are in unsatisfactory home conditions. (v.) Infection
should be avoided by daily inspection by a nurse of
every child entering the School. (vi.) Medical inspection
and treatment of all children admitted should be enforced
and in this way physical defects cured at their
earliest stage. It will be seen that Nursery Schools will
be expensive to maintain, and in the first place will be
of an experimental character. There is no doubt that
there are districts in Ilford where such schools would
serve a most useful purpose.
(6) The Establishment of a Special School for Mentally
Defective Children who can be Educated.—This
matter is now under consideration. It will be seen from
Table II. that there are 21 who have been certified
as mentally deficient but educable. A number
of children come under the notice of the School Medical
Officer who are not mentally deficient but backward, and
require more attention than is possible in a class of
normal children. Some provision should be made for
such children.