[Report 1965] / School Medical Officer of Health, Bristol.

  • Bristol (England). Council.
Date:
1965
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1965] / School Medical Officer of Health, Bristol. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    INFESTATION The following table shows the number of children found to be infested in 1965 and the five preceding years. No. School population Per cent 1960 869 66,490 1-31 1961 748 65,853 1-13 1962 672 65,242 1-03 1963 606 65,671 0-92 1964 691 66,374 1-04 1965 717 66,710 1-07 MILK AND MEALS IN SCHOOLS J. A. Battersby The total number of meals served during 1965 was 7,470,203. This represents y daily average of 36,918 against 35,000 during the previous year. Sixty-one per cent of school children dine daily. This figure includes an average of 2,793 free meals daily. Under the milk-in-schools scheme 48,333 children took milk daily, representing 80 per cent of children in attendance. Food costs, particularly for protein foods, continued to rise during the year. It was considered that a claim for a higher unit cost should be supported by evidence showing that the food value provided was exactly in accordance with Department of Education and Science requirements. Meetings were held for supervisory staffs and new schedules were circulated increasing the daily issue of meat and other animal protein foods. By training, supervision and various means of control, every effort has been made to improve the menu by providing attractive dishes and increasing the variety of food and dishes served. A choice of food was introduced in September at Gotham Grammar School and this proved popular. Plans are going forward for specialised provision for sixth forms in the new comprehensive school buildings which are now at the planning stage. Cafeteria service with choice of foods is proposed, together with more free and unrestricted systems for dining for the older pupils. Accommodation problems continue to cause difficulties. With the regular annual increase in the number of pupils dining, many kitchens are getting close to saturation point in producing meals beyond capacity. Elmlea kitchen was closed for extension, and re-opened in September. It is hoped that similar schemes will follow. Accommodation for dining is similarly hard-pressed. Many Heads of schools have overcome this problem by introducing a double sitting and have found certain advantages in this procedure. There has been difficulty in recruiting staff, not only for supervisory posts in kitchens but also on both organiser and general canteen helper levels. All newly appointed staff need some training in the skills of their particular tasks. It is not always appreciated that women do not instinctively adopt clean and correct methods of work, nor are they naturally adept at devising swift and efficient labour- saving methods. Our need for skilled staff at all levels increases not only on account of the development of new kitchens, but also to replace staff' with long service now approaching retirement.