[Report 1924] / School Medical Officer of Health, Lowestoft Borough.

  • Lowestoft (England). Borough Council.
Date:
1924
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1924] / School Medical Officer of Health, Lowestoft Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    48/70 (page 44)
    Licences for Children to take part in Entertainments. Number of children who performed at theatres during 1924 under licences issued by various Education Authorities—5. These 5 children attended Public Elementary Schools within the area during their stay in the town. Juvenile Employment. Close co-operation exists between the Juvenile Employment Burea and the Medical Department. Juvenile Employment cards are sent to the School Medical Officer for the medical report to be filled in and it is intended during 1925 to also issue a card stating the type of work for which the person is most suited ; this should be of great assistance to the Factory Surgeons. Blind, Deaf, Defective and Epileptic Children. Defective children coming under the above headings are brought to the notice of the medical staff by the head teachers, school attendance officers, school nurses, relieving officers and others. The parents are given appoint¬ ments and invited to attend the clinic bringing their children for examination. During the year 37 suspected mentally defective children were examined and classified. There are at present no special schools in this district for the defective. a list of children maintained in Institutions during The following is 1924 : — BLIND. London Society for Teaching the Blind Swiss Cottage. Boys Girls 1 — DEAF CHILDREN. East Anglian Institution Gorleston. Boys Girls 2 9 MENTALLY DEFECTIVE. Royal Eastern Counties Institution, Colchester. Boys Girls 1 — At the beginning of the year I gave my special attention to the collecting and recording of children of this group, and since this the Board of Education have drawn the attention of the various Education Authorities to the matter by means of Circular 1341 in September, 1924, and Circular 1349 at the beginning of the present year. Obviously the first step towards the adequate solution of the defective child is to have an accurate record of its extent. This is a very difficult matter from many points of view, as there cannot possibly be any uniform or universal standard which can be adopted. Each Authority will differ in various respects. This variation is undoubtedly due to the fact that the definitions of mental and physical defect given m the Education Act, 1921, can be so widely interpreted.