[Report 1925] / Medical Officer of Health, Surrey County Council.

  • Surrey (England). County Council.
Date:
1925
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1925] / Medical Officer of Health, Surrey County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    127/186 (page 97)
    the county with regard to the facilities whereby children can partake of their midday meal on school premises. The report is as follows: — Dinner Arrangements. Enquiries have been made into the dinner arrangements in rural schools as directed by the Committee. It must be remem¬ bered that the children who remain between the morning and afternoon sessions are divided into two classes : (i) those who live in the immediate neighbourhood but stay as the house is. locked during the absence of the employed mother, (ii) those who remain as their homes are far from the school. Arrangements for Dinner. The attention paid to the dinner children varies considerablyr and the schools may be divided into: — (a) Those where the premises are open and the children are allowed to sit in the warm classrooms and eat their dinners without any supervision. (b) Those where supervision is paid for by the Committee at the rate of 2s. 6d. per week. The Managers make this payment to teachers or caretakers for remaining in the building during the dinner interval, but it is not com¬ pulsory for the supervisor to sit with the children. (c) Those where the supervisor or elder girls prepare cocoa or meat extract. The cocoa or meat extract may be brought by the children or provided by the school and sold at cost price. (cl) Those where the supervising teacher lunches with the children and controls their general behaviour. With this, arrangement it is found occasionally that table-cloths,, mugs, and sometimes plates, are provided. Food. * The food brought by the children varies considerably in quality and quantity, according to the class of home and interest of the mother. Many children bring a well balanced meal consisting of sandwiches (egg, meat, cheese or paste), a slice of cake, some- fruit and a flask tilled with cocoa, milk, or meat extract; others- bring potatoes to be roasted in front of an open fire, in addition to bread and butter, whilst still too many are dependent on bread