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In 1900 there was a case of Scarlatina, an illness resembling Scarlet Fever but less severe. The school was closed for two weeks in September 1905 when there was a further outbreak in the village.
Mumps was last recorded in 1916. There were six outbreaks and the school was closed for a while in 1896. There were twelve instances of chickenpox, the most serious starting at the end of December 1937. The school was closed for two weeks at the beginning of the following term in January 1938. Whooping cough was recorded in eleven years. The first was in 1882 and the last in 1954. From June to August 1915 the school was closed for five weeks because of chickenpox, whooping cough and a case of measles. The Christmas party was postponed at the end of 1954 because most of the children had whooping cough.
Ten outbreaks of measles were recorded. On November 19 1890 only 16 children out of a school roll of 33 were present and before the end of the day six more were sent home. The school was closed and did not re-open again until after the Christmas holidays on January 12 1891. Even then nine children were still absent with two children suffering from scarlet fever and the other seven could not get to school because of the bad weather. Again in January 1908 the school was closed for a month, opening at the end of February with only nine children out of twenty-three attending. There were three further instances of closure the first was in 1919, the second in 1934 for three weeks and the final outbreak in 1959, which lasted from the end of May until July when the school again closed for three weeks.
German measles was only mentioned once in 1940 when Miss Mapstone the head mistress and one boy were away for two weeks. In 1920 some children stayed away from school with 'breakings out on the body' which may have been German measles or scabies. Impetigo was mentioned three times in 1938,1943 and 1954, although in 1921 and 1922 one or two of the children had 'breakings out on the face', which the doctor said were contagious. The 1943 impetigo outbreak was probably started by an evacuee and there seems to have been a dispute between the Rector (as manager of the school) and the medical officer. The medical officer advised that the school should stay open and the children with impetigo should attend. The Rector countermanded the orders of the medical officer instructed all the children to stay away from school. The result was that the impetigo sufferers were at school and the well children stayed at home.
Meningitis was recorded twice one girl was ill in 1923 and was away for several months. In May 1939 there was an epidemic of vomiting and one girl did not recover and died of meningitis in May during the Whitsuntide Holiday.
In August 1921 several children were ill and one boy was taken to the hospital at Bristol where he died of 'Drinking Diabetes'.
There were also one or two cases of broken arms and legs, gastritis, jaundice, pneumonia and laryngitis.
From 1919 a nurse who checked the general health of the children and inspected their skin and hair for lice visited the school on a regular basis. There were only two occasions when head lice were found, once in 1922 when a family of four were excluded from school until the children's hair was clean. The second case was in 1940 when lice were found in the hair of an evacuee. The nurse also visited the children who were ill. Regular Medical Inspections by a doctor accompanied by a nurse started in 1911.
The teachers and monitors were also sometimes ill. Miss Mapstone seemed especially unfortunate, she had two car accidents and was away for about 6 weeks on each occasion. If the mistress was absent for a short time the auxiliary teacher or monitress took over the teaching, but if she was likely to be away for a long time a supply teacher took over.
A few group photographs of school pupils can be found in the picture gallery section.
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