Manchester Grammar School has employed a School Doctor or Medical Officer since 1909. The first doctor to be appointed was Alfred Mumford. High Master J.L. Paton was keen to not just educate MGS boys but also ensure they were physically healthy. In the days before the National Health Service, the presence of a doctor in School would have been a huge advantage for MGS boys.
Dr. Mumford came to be viewed as a crucial asset to the School, and took part in the many camps and treks that the School began to offer under Paton’s leadership. As part of his job as Medical Officer, Mumford was required to deliver an annual report to the Governors on the health and wellbeing of the boys. The archive still holds a number of these reports, including this one from 1911:
The report gives us an insight into the activities of the School Medical Officer and his methods. He created a record system of cards for each boy, recording details of their physical health, what games and other recreation they were involved in and how they travelled to school. He wrote that a pupil’s card would “serve as a confidential communication between the form master and myself, and is always available for reference upon any question arising as to a boy’s physical powers or his school progress.” It is clear that the Medical Officer was a key part of what would now be called “pastoral care”.
Each new boy was given a full examination, including “eyesight, hearing, teeth, past and present states of health, condition of heart, lungs etc”. Parents were invited to these examinations so that they could give their own input and in turn be informed on any health matters as appropriate.
In addition to the medical care of the boys, Dr. Mumford was also fond of collecting and comparing statistics. The report includes fascinating tables that record and compare height, weight and measurements of pupils between the 1880s and the early 1900s (It is not clear where Mumford sourced the 1880s statistics):
Mumford was also interested in the social backgrounds of boys, collating a table listing the occupations of MGS parents from two admissions registers, twenty five years apart:
Mumford clearly believed that the role of parents in the health of their sons was vital:
“Other causes of the general improvement in physique are the better housing, the increased knowledge and use of foods, and a greater insight into the meaning of parental responsibility as regards health, which is certainly affecting a considerable number of homes in the present day. During the medical examinations of boys on their entrance to the school, I have many illustrations of this in my conversations with parents, who have been glad to have their attention drawn to any imperfection or weakness, in time to have them remedied.
I have, however, to record that there are also quite a considerable number who either do not realise their obligations, or who, for some other reason, neglect the opportunities of rendering the school life of the boys under their guardianship more efficient. This is particularly the case where I have to report the neglect of treatment of decaying teeth.”
Mumford also brought this wider interest in social factors to bear upon School life. He writes:
“In order to test the question as to whether the free scholars – two-thirds of whom come from the elementary schools – were of inferior physique to their companions, I made a series of comparisons, based on 250 cases, between the two successive years of life, and I found that, though the “free scholar” was slightly smaller at 11, 12 and 13, yet by the age of 14 he had equalled his companions in height, in in some cases surpassed him. The results of my enquiries were read at the International Congress of School Hygiene in Paris last July, and have been published in their “Transactions”.”
Another area of study and interest was the age of MGS boys on entry and the number of years they stayed at the School. Of course, during this period many boys left school at 14 or started late and only completed a couple of years education. Mumford asserted that:
“There is good physiological ground for urging that 13 years is the best age for a boy to come to the city school, for then his brain is still in the plastic and receptive stage. He should stay for a minimum of four years, if he is to adapt himself to the school methods and to profit adequately by the methods of teaching adopted. After the age of 14, the brain becomes more set; and it is more difficult for a new boy to adapt himself to his surroundings, both social and educational. It is very unsatisfactory that more than 31 per cent of the boys only stay two years or less. It is probable that the length of stay at the school is longer than a generation ago, but it could be beneficially prolonger to a further extent. On careful examination, I fail to detect any injurious effect on boys remaining five, six and seven years at the Manchester Grammar School, as is necessary in the case of boys who are to take University honours, with the single exception of long railway journeys, so long as they will take part in the school exercises and games.”
Nutrition was another interest, with Mumford noting that some boys were sent to him by Masters “on account of poor class work” and he had found that many had not had a proper breakfast or lunch. The same year, the School had opened a new dining hall with a cooked meal provided for sixpence. Mumford wrote that:
“the ample provision now being made for a cheap mid-day meal, in a spacious room, will have beneficial results in the health and school work of the boys.”
The new dining hall, c. 1910
The report contains a number of appendices in the form of tables of statistics and also a sample parental questionnaire for future collection of stats:
MGS has continued to employ a school doctor ever since. In addition the School employs two nurses so that boys and staff have access to medical care and attention. Paton’s vision of an holistic approach to educating boys continues in the twenty-first century.
Rachel Kneale
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