Education. Welfare Policy and working-class children: A study of Preston, 1919 to 1939. By D. Hughes. B.A. lions., University of Central Lancashire. A Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Philosophy at the University of Central Lancashire. March 2002. Abstract. Education, Welfare Policy and working-class children: A study of Preston. 1919 to 1939. By the first decade of the 20th centuzy, over thirty years of progressive reform since the 1870 Education Act had demonstrated the need for a system of welfare provision that would ensure working-class schoolchildren were sufficiently healthy to benefit from their education. There were also national security fears associated with the poor standard of fimess of many potential recruits for military service in the Boer War. Arising from these concerns the 1906 and 1907 Education Acts introduced school meals and the school medical service. These Acts were significantly reinforced by the 1918 (Fisher) Act, which also sought to expand working-class education. Although the provision of services developed considerably between 1919 and 1939 there has been recent criticism of the permissive nature of much of the legislation and the associated manipulations of the Board of Education. It has been claimed by historians that these resulted in varying local levels of provision and a 'convenient' emphasis on less expensive aspects of the services provided, to the detriment of more important considerations. Further to this, in his 1997 critique of the implementation of education welfare policies Welshman has suggested that there has been insufficient local research into the subject. The purpose of this thesis, therefore, has been to provide a local dimension to the research and also to put this in a wider context by associating it with the expansion of education. The thesis seeks to test the criticisms by investigating how the county borough of Preston fared in fulfilling its responsibilities to its working-class schoolchildren through the period. Account has been taken of existing interpretations of the application of national policies. Preston's experiences and performance have been examined and evaluated to determine 2 the extent to which they conformed to these interpretations, or were at variance with them. The thesis concludes that whilst the criticisms of the legislation and a manipulative Board of Education are generally borne out, the particularly difficult economic circumstances and the social issues were the greater tbndamental constraints. Preston took advantage of the flexibility offered by the legislation and the Board to achieve objectives that did not necessarily conform to the policy norms. In that respect, its working-class schoolchildren received a higher level of welfare provision than those in many other areas. However, its adequacy to wholly meet the problem of education disadvantage for many of those in the service remained an elusive target. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. I would like to thank my Director of Studies, Ian Levitt and also the other member of my supervisory team, Christine Kinealy, for their assistance and encouragement. I am also very grateful for the support given by my wife, Christine. Abbreviations. L.E.A. Local Education Authority. L.R.O. Lancashire Record Office. M.O.H. Medical Officer of Health. N.S.P.C.C. National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. P.E. Physical Education. P.T. Physical Training. V.A.D. Voluntary Aid Detachment. 5 Table of Contents. Page Acknowledgements. 4 Abbreviations. 5 Introduction. 9 CHAPTER 1. The development of education welfare policy 18 in England and Wales, 1906-1939. An overview. 1.1 Introduction. 18 1.2 Political and economic considerations 1902-1939. 19 1.3 The formulation of education welfare policy, 1902-1918. 24 1.4 The pattern of subsequent development, 1919-1939. 34 1.5 Conclusion. 48 CHAPTER 2. The 1918 Education Act and economic 53 retrenchment: the impact in Preston, 1919-1925. 2.1 Introduction. 53 2.2 Preston's response to the 1918 Education Act. 60 2.3 Economic retrenchment. 72 2.4 Conclusion. 80 CHAPTER 3. Expanding education and welfare provision 83 in Preston, 1926-1931. 3.1 Introduction. 83 3.2 Preston educational provision. 85 3.3 The Open Air School: an assessment of its contribution. 87 3.4 Serious issues affecting health addressed through the period. 97 3.5 Medical inspection and treatment development. Other services. 106 3.6 The Lancashire School Medical Service in 1928. 111 3.7 Conclusion. 115 CHAPTER 4. Education and welfare policy in Preston, 119 1932-1939: recognising the deficiencies. 4.1 Introduction. 119 4.2 Preston educational opportunity and the Hadow objectives. 121 4.3 Malnuthtion. 125 4.4 The Nursery School. 132 6 4.5 Physical Education. 135 4.6 Preston elementary school attendance. 140 4.7 The Preston School Medical Service, 1937-1938. 142 4.8 Conclusion. 145 CHAPTER 5. Conclusion. 149 5.1 introduction. 149 5.2 How well were Preston's schoolchildren served? 150 5.3 Conclusion. 163 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 168 A. Primary source manuscripts, Kant Reference Library. 168 B. Primary source manuscripts, Lancashire Record Office. 168 C. Secondary source books. 170 D. Secondary source written articles. 172 E. Secondary source letter. 172 F. Pharmacopoeia. 172 APPENDICES. 173 1. Selection procedures for Preston secondary and central schools, 1934-1939. 173 2. A case study: Leo Hall, Preston schoolboy from 1926 to 1936. 179 LIST OF TABLES. I. Analysis of local education authority school welfare services in 1919. 61 2. Analysis of Preston school medical clinic attendance during 1920. 64 3. Analysis of Preston school dental inspection and treatment during 1920. 65 4. Analysis of weight gain and loss of Open Air schoolchildren. 94 S. Weight comparison, Open Air School entrants with 'normal' Preston children. 94 6. Analysis of children's weight when discharged from the open Air School. 94 7. Analysis of range of crippling defects found. 101 8. Analysis of changes in medical examination strategy, 1920 / 1927-30 110 9. Analysis of nutrition standards, inspected Preston elementary schoolchildren 129 in 1935 and 1936. 10. Analysis of milk supply, Preston elementary schoolchildren in 1936. 130 11. Analysis of Preston elementary school attendance patterns in 1938. 141 12. Analysis of Preston quarterly elementary school attendance by town district. 141 13. Analysis of public elementary school attendance in England and Wales, 141 Year ending 31 March, 1938. 14. Analysis of nutrition standards amongst inspected Preston elementary 144 schoolchildren in 1938. 15. Comparison of Preston elementary schoolchildren medical examination 155 policies in 1920 and 1938. 16. Analysis of Preston elementary schoolchildren medical examination 156 and treatment policies in 1920 and 1938. 17. Examples of treatment/observation policy for routine medical examinations 157 in 1920 and 1938. 18. Analysis of Preston school dental examination and treatment in 1920 and 1938.158 19. Percentages of schoolchildren requiring treatment in each age group in 1938. 158 20. Preston Education Budgets and the General Rate. 162 21. Analysis of Preston Education Budget, education welfare expenditure. 162 22. Preston education welfare expenditure, percentage growth, 1924-1939. 163 23. National education welfare expenditure, percentage growth, 1924-1939. 163 24. Analysis of parental choice of school for I examination success children. 174 25. Analysis of take-up of awarded places. 174 26. Analysis of Preston Borough Scholarship examination procedure in 1934. 177 27. Analysis of Preston Borough Scholarship examination procedure in 1939. 178 Introduction. 'The State has now come to see that it is not enough to impart knowledge, but that it must also see that the child is capable of assimilating that knowledge, and that his environment is not such that it will entirely undo the effect of the school training'. 1 (The Education Officer of the London County Council in 1911). The latter part of the 19th century saw the beginning of a sustained process of education reform that continued until the end of the First World War. In 1870 the Forster Education Act, requiring at least five years fill-time elementary school attendance, was introduced. This was followed by other Acts that in particular stimulated an awareness of the necessary health of the child to undertake compulsory schooling. It was discovered that much school attendance, particularly from the working classes, was disrupted by outbreaks of infectious disease such as diphtheria, scarlet fever and measles. Often these outbreaks led to the complete closures of schools for periods of time. In an effort to combat these outbreaks some school authorities appointed medical officers, the most notable being Dr James Kerr in London. The need for such appointments and the general drift of concern about the schoolchild was underlined by the introduction of such measures as the 1893 Elementary Education (Blind and Deaf Children) Act. A further impetus was given by the 1902 Education Act, which replaced school boards by local education authorities and strengthened links with local public health authorities. Hanis has commented that by 1902 there was a much greater public health involvement in the health of schoolchildren, which led to the appointment of some Harris, 'The Health of the Schoolchild', 1995, p. 4 9 school medical officers before this became a legislative requirement in 1907.2 Subsequent developments received a major impetus in the