[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.

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    scheme for crippled children, of which there are 83 in the area, 78 being at Public Elementary School, 4 at no school or institution, and only one at a special institution. For the benefit of the Committee I am taking this opportunity of giving an extract of Sir George Newman’s report on the organisation and treatment of the crippled child, and also on the equipment of an Orthopaedic Clinic. This will be found at the end of the Report in Appendix 2. Should the Authority consider the question of a special school or clinic, I should like to point out that in all but the largest Urban areas the most satisfactory way of dealing with this provision is by co-operation with other areas ; and also that the Board of Educa¬ tion are desirous that the transference of a child from ordinary school to special school, and from special school to ordinary school should be as elastic and as easy as possible. Mentally Defective Children. The Board drew the attention of the Authority, in September by Circular 1341, to this group of children, of whom (as so far recorded) we have 27 in the district either at ordinary elementary school or at no school at all. The requirements of the Board are summarised at the end of their Circular, and are as follows : — 1. Authorities who have not already done so, should perfect their arrangements for the ascertainment of all mentally defective children in their area in accordance with the general principles outlined in this circular. 2. Children in attendance at Special Schools should be passed periodically under review in order that suitable cases may either be returned to the ordinary school or notified to the Mental Deficiency Committee under the provisions of Articles 3, 4 or 6, as the case may be, of the Mental Deficiency (Notification of Children) Regulations, 1914. 3. In t the case of mentally defective children who are suitable for admission to Special Schools but for whom for the moment no Special School is available, especially for those who are in no school at all, the Authority’s arrangements for the ascertainment of the children and for school attendance should cover arrange¬ ments for the supervision of the children by means of home visits, whether by school nurses, care committees, paid welfare workers, or voluntary organisations. 4. The main objects of such supervision are two : (a) to give advice to parents, and (b) to provide means by which all cases are reviewed from time to time with a view to the notification of suitable cases to the Mental Deficiency Committee under the Mental Deficiency Act, 1913. In this connection special attention should be given \