[Report 1913] / School Medical Officer, Nottinghamshire County Council.

  • Nottinghamshire (England). County Council.
Date:
1913
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1913] / School Medical Officer, Nottinghamshire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    8/52 (page 6)
    of Leavers. Attention has been directed in several previous Reports to the large number of Leavers who escaped medical inspection, but it was only in the end of January, 1918, that I was enabled to apply a remedy. At that date the Committee sanctioned an alteration of the definition of Leaver from “ all children who are expected to leave school in the year” to “ all children who will attain their twelfth birthday during the year 1918.” The result has been completely successful. Since January 1st, 1914, the definition of the Board in Circular 828 has been adopted, viz. :—“ All children between 12 and 18 years of age, together with children over 13 years of age, who have not already been examined after reaching the age of 12.” Under this definition there should be no leakage when once arrears have been overtaken and every school can be examined at least once a year. It may further be noted that the increase of 2,397 in the total of Entrants and Leavers, as compared with the year 1911, is balanced by a decrease of a similar number in the total of Special Cases. These latter are children (other than Entrants or Leavers) who appear to the Head Teacher not to be benefiting by the education offered on account of some defect or from the state of their health. They comprise any delicate children, whatever the cause, and especially those whose sight or hearing is defective, who are unusually backward or subject to fits, and those whose attendance is irregular. While some of these prove to be trivial, or brought forward in error, many are difficult and serious cases, and need a careful and complete examination very much more than the ordinary run of healthy Entrants or Leavers. Their examination is not required by the Code and little credit is given for the time expended upon them, at any rate until the requirements of the Code as regards Entrants and Leavers have been fully satisfied. Every effort has, there¬ fore, been made to curtail the number of the “ Special Cases.” It was to be expected that as a larger proportion of the total children had been examined once as Entrants the number of Special cases would diminish, especially after the arrears of children with defective sight had been overtaken. That expectation has been amply realised, but it is doubtful whether the Special Cases can be reduced much below the present figures without some hardship to the children.