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22
somewhat different viewpoint, and differences of opinion
are almost inevitable.
Co-operation of Attendance Officers.
The assistance of the School Attendance Officers in
seeing attendance at the Clinic of children who are not
attending regularly, has been considerable, and the services
of these Officers have also been utilized in obtaining
signatures to consent forms for dental treatment, and thus
the time of the School Nurse formerly devoted to this work
has been rendered available for more purely technical
duties.
On the other hand, many of the visits of the School
Nurse to homes, especially visits to children reported to be
absent through infectious disease, has been of much value
from a school attendance point of view. In each case where
exclusion is considered necessary or where it is found on
visiting that there is no reason for further absence, a
certificate is sent to the Head Teacher.
In this aspect of the work, the advantage of visits by
an experienced Nurse is obvious. She can see the patient,
take the temperature if necessary, and advise as to length
of exclusion, whereas the ordinary School Attendance
Officer has to take the word of the parent, and cannot
verify this. In consequence, there has been a natural
tendency on the part of the Head Teachers to derive
information from the Nurses' visits and reports for the
purposes of school attendance, and in order to prevent overlapping
this appears to be a side of the question to which
the Education Committee might pay attention with
advantage.
Co-operation of Voluntary Bodies.
There is no School Care Committee, and the work of
giving recommendations to hospitals, to relieving officers,
or convalescent homes, has again fallen to the lot of the
School Medical Staff.