(6) Grassington (Yorkshire)
Sample Menus[[545]]
Monday. Haricot bean soup; bread. Steamed suet pudding and treacle.
Tuesday. Meat and potato pies with crusts on. Rice pudding.
Wednesday. Onion soup; bread. Steamed ginger pudding; sweet sauce.
Thursday. Meat and potato pie with crusts on. Sago pudding.
Friday. Yorkshire pudding; gravy; mashed potato. Marmalade pudding; sweet sauce.
Monday. Potato soup; bread. Steamed ginger pudding; sweet sauce.
Tuesday. Meat and potato pies with crusts on. Cornflour pudding.
Wednesday. Pea soup. Plain plum puddings; sweet sauce.
Thursday. Meat and potato pies with crusts on. Rice pudding.
Friday. Shepherd's pie (minced meat, mashed potato). Sago pudding.
APPENDIX II
THE PROVISION OF MEALS IN SCOTLAND
The Provision of Meals Act of 1906 applied only to England and Wales. As we have seen, the attempt of the House of Commons to extend its operations to Scotland was defeated in the House of Lords, and it was not till 1908 that the Scottish School Boards were granted power to utilise the rates for the provision of food.[[546]] By the Education (Scotland) Act passed in that year it was enacted that a School Board might, either by itself or in combination with other School Boards, provide accommodation, apparatus and service for the preparation and supply of meals.[[547]] Where it appeared that a child was unable by lack of food or clothing to take full advantage of the education provided, the School Board should, after due warning, summon the parent or guardian to appear and give an explanation of the child's condition. If the explanation was not forthcoming or was insufficient or unsatisfactory, and the condition of the child was due to neglect, the Procurator Fiscal should prosecute the parents under the Prevention of Cruelty Act.[[548]] If, however, it appeared that the parent or guardian, through poverty or ill-health, was unable to supply sufficient food or clothing, the School Board, if satisfied that the necessities of the case would not be met by voluntary agency, should make "such provision for the child ... as they deem necessary" out of the school fund.[[549]] Temporary provision might be made by the School Board pending completion of procedure against the parents, and the cost of such provision might be recovered.[[550]] The powers conferred upon Scottish School Boards thus differed in several respects from those conferred on English Local Authorities by the Act of 1906. The School Boards were granted power not only to provide food but also clothing, and no limitation was placed upon the amount which might be spent out of the rates on the provision of these necessaries. Moreover, the Act was not permissive. In England, when in any area school children are suffering from lack of food, and voluntary funds are not forthcoming to meet their needs, the Local Education Authority may provide food out of the rates; in Scotland the School Board shall make such provision.
No report has yet been published by the Scottish Education Department as to the action taken either by the School Boards or by voluntary agencies in the work of the provision of meals. As far as we can gather from the reports of the Chief Inspectors, though several Boards co-operate with voluntary agencies and provide apparatus and service, in only some half-dozen towns, e.g., Edinburgh, Glasgow, Govan, Leith, Perth, has the system of providing food out of the rates been adopted to any extent.[[551]] The increase in expenditure on the provision of meals, etc., for necessitous children under the Act of 1908 is shown by the following table:—[[552]]
| Providing Accomodation for Meals, Sec. 3(2) | Food, Clothing or other expenditure (for necessitous children) Sec. 6 | Total. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1908-9 (Part of year only.) | £ 67 | £ 11 | £ 78 |
| 1909-10 | 290 | 921 | 1,211 |
| 1910-11 | 3,777 | 3,768 | 7,545 |
| 1911-12 | 4,586 | 3,172 | 7,758 |
In Edinburgh, the necessity for feeding underfed school children was recognized[[553]] very soon after the passing of the Education Act of 1872. The Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor early undertook to deal with cases reported by the Attendance Officers. In 1878 Miss Flora Stevenson started a scheme for feeding and clothing destitute children, on condition that children so assisted must attend school.[[554]] Towards the close of the nineteenth century numerous other voluntary organisations appear to have been established.[[555]] As in other towns the provision by these voluntary agencies proved inadequate and unsatisfactory. Meals were supplied only for about ten weeks in the year. They were served in eating-houses, where the food was poor and the arrangements of the roughest description. The children were selected by the teachers and attendance officers, and there was no adequate investigation into the cases. In the autumn of 1909 the Lord Provost summoned a conference to discuss the question, and a scheme of co-operation between the School Board and the two chief voluntary agencies, the Flora Stevenson Committee and the Courant Fund, was drawn up, by which the voluntary funds were pooled, and cases were decided by a committee consisting of representatives of the three bodies concerned. In the following year the School Board undertook the entire responsibility for the provision of meals, though it still relied on voluntary contributions. It decided to establish a cooking centre of its own instead of entrusting the supply of the meals to caterers. Care Committees of voluntary workers were to be appointed for each group of schools to investigate all cases of destitution, and to "keep in continuous and sympathetic touch" with the families. Cases were to be recommended by the medical officer, school nurses, teachers and attendance officers, in addition to applications made by the parents; the Care Committee was also itself to take the initiative in searching out cases of destitution. To secure uniformity of treatment a Central Care Committee, composed of representatives of the School Board and the voluntary agencies, was appointed to give the final decision on all cases; this central committee was also to supervise the collection of the necessary funds, and to rouse general interest in the problem of school feeding.[[556]] The Courant Fund declined to act with the Board under this scheme, but the Flora Stevenson Committee co-operated cordially.
The cooking centre was opened in January, 1911, and by the end of the year the system of Care Committees was in working order. Voluntary subscriptions rapidly decreased, however, and in May, 1912, the Board resolved that recourse must be had to the rates. The Central Care Committee thereupon ceased to exist, its duties being transferred to the Attendance Committee. The local Care Committees, of which eight had been appointed, were continued for a time, but at the beginning of 1913 the duty of investigation was entrusted to the Attendance Officers,[[557]] and the local committees also were given up. The system had not worked entirely without friction. The method of investigation was cumbersome and slow, and the local committees were not in sufficiently close touch with the Central Committee. The committees were too large; from one to nine schools were allocated to each, and the membership usually numbered about twenty-five. But it is to be regretted that the system has been entirely abandoned. Apart from the work of investigation, which, as we have shown elsewhere, is not a task which can suitably be entrusted to voluntary workers, there are many matters connected with the welfare of the school child in which the volunteer's services can be of the greatest value.
The meal given is always dinner, though in one of the poorest districts breakfasts have recently been started; for these a halfpenny is charged, except to those children who are on the free list. Till lately two courses were supplied at dinner, but now usually only one is given. The meals are served ordinarily in the schools, but in one or two places in halls hired for the purpose. From reports that we have received the arrangements seem to compare very favourably with those obtaining in most English dining-centres. The teachers frequently take a great interest in the question and supervise the meals. Some of the elder boys and girls help to serve the food and wait on the children. The infants are served at a separate table or, perhaps, in a separate room. Attention is paid to cleanliness and tidiness, and the children's manners are very good.
Provision is made not only for necessitous[[558]] children, but for those who can pay part or the whole of the cost. Non-necessitous children may obtain a dinner on payment of 2d., while the "semi-necessitous" may pay 1d. It is noteworthy that the number of free dinners is decreasing, while the number of penny dinners is on the increase. Of the 413,000 meals supplied during 1912-13, nearly 50 per cent. were supplied to "semi-necessitous" children on payment of 1d.; about 25 per cent. were given free, the remaining 25 per cent. being supplied to children whose parents were receiving relief from the Parish Council, children in Higher Grade and Special Schools, and the elder girls who helped in serving the meals.[[559]] The work of investigation has been greatly reduced by the introduction of the penny dinner, and it has been suggested that the provision of a halfpenny dinner would still further diminish the need for free dinners, and consequently the need for investigation.
For many years before the School Board undertook the responsibility for providing for its underfed children, the Parish Council was supplying meals to the children of mothers who were receiving parish relief. The Report of the Royal Commission on Physical Training in 1903 had drawn attention to the question of underfeeding among children, and the Parish Council determined to provide meals for the children for whose relief it was responsible, in order to ensure that no complaint might be brought against it.[[560]] Hot dinners were provided every day except Sunday.[[561]] They were intended chiefly for children whose mothers were at work all day, but tickets were also given in cases where an increase of relief would not have benefited the children, or where the children had a consumptive tendency.[[562]] The dinners were served in eating-houses where "the conditions as to the serving of the meals, and the manners of the children—entirely without supervision—" were "anything but civilising."[[563]] When the School Board took over the general arrangements for feeding, it seemed at first as if the Parish Council would still continue its own methods, but the superiority of the Board's scheme was soon apparent, and the Parish Council made an arrangement with it by which children whose mothers were receiving relief would have meals at school, the Council paying 1-1/2d. per meal to the School Board.[[564]]
In Glasgow, as in Edinburgh, the provision of meals was very early undertaken by voluntary societies. As far back as 1869 the Glasgow Poor Children's Dinner Table Society was founded,[[565]] and in 1875 another philanthropic society established Day Refuges, which were intended chiefly for children of widows or widowers who were at work all day, and at which three meals were supplied daily.[[566]] The Poor Children's Dinner Table Society continued to be the chief agency for supplying meals till 1910, when voluntary contributions proved inadequate and the School Board took over the provision of the meals. A central cooking centre, with modern labour-saving appliances, was built, the food being distributed to the different centres by motor waggon. The meals are served either in the schools or in halls hired for the purpose. The supervision is usually undertaken by the attendants; at some centres assistance is given by members of the old dinner societies, but the numbers are falling off. Only necessitous children are fed. Each case is decided on its merits, but dinners are not usually granted if the family income exceeds 3s. per head.[[567]] The children are selected by the school doctors, nurses, attendance officers or teachers, and enquiries are made by the attendance officers, immediate provision being made in urgent cases. Boots and clothing, which up to 1912 were supplied by the Poor Children's Clothing Scheme, are now provided by the School Board.[[568]] In the special schools for the physically defective, dinner is provided for practically all the children, and the parents pay. The food is good in quality and served in an attractive manner, tablecloths of some kind and flowers being provided. The supervision is undertaken by the nurses and teachers.
Perth was one of the earliest School Boards to use its powers under the Act of 1908 and to provide food and clothing out of the rates, the system being begun in 1909. A Care Committee was appointed in 1911 to assist the School Board in looking after the welfare of the children and to take part in the distribution of the meals; the members visit the homes, but apparently have no voice in the selection of the children.[[569]] The dinners are mostly served in a Church Hall and are supervised by the Care Committee and members of the School Board. Most of the dinners are supplied free, only a small proportion being paid for.[[570]] In the matter of boots, if a child is found improperly shod, a notice is sent by the Board to the parents. If they do not provide boots themselves, the Board supplies them and calls upon the parents to pay[[571]]; about two-thirds of the money thus spent is recovered from the parents.[[572]]
In most towns, as we have said, the cost of the food is still borne out of voluntary funds, whether the School Board itself undertakes the provision of meals, or whether this is done by a voluntary society.
In Dundee provision has been made by "The Free and Assisted Dinner Fund" since the winter of 1884-5.[[573]] The meals are given usually in the schools, but sometimes in coffee houses. The prevailing menu appears to be soup. In view of the large number of married women who are industrially employed at Dundee, the school meal is a great convenience. A large proportion of the children, something like two-thirds in fact, make some payment towards the meal.[[574]] But the price charged is very low; a single bowl of soup costs a halfpenny, while the payment of a penny a week secures a bowl daily.[[575]] At Paisley also a large proportion of the children pay. Soup and bread, or, if the children prefer, cocoa and bread, etc., is provided for the sum of one halfpenny, the poorest children receiving it free. The balance of expenditure on food is met from voluntary funds; the School Board pays all expenses of administration.[[576]] In Aberdeen the work of providing meals, which had formerly been undertaken by the Aberdeen Educational Trust, was transferred in 1909 to the School Board, together with the income which the Trust had devoted to this purpose.[[577]] At Greenock the School Board have raised a voluntary fund for the provision of books, boots or food for necessitous children, but it has not been found necessary to supply any meals within the last two years. In Inverness provision is made by a voluntary organisation, the children being sent to local eating-houses.
Turning now to the rural districts, we may mention an early experiment somewhat similar to that at Rousdon, to which we have already referred. In 1878 the minister of the small country parish of Farnell came to the conclusion that the attendance at school would be more regular, and the children would derive more profit from the education given if a hot midday meal were provided. Accordingly a soup kitchen was instituted at the school, the plant being provided by voluntary contributions. A charge was made of a halfpenny per meal or 1d. per family, where there were more than two children. Practically all the children availed themselves of the provision. The effects were soon visible, not only in improved attendance—the grant earned rose from £89 in 1878 to £99 in 1883—but in greater immunity from epidemics and illness than in neighbouring schools, and in the greater buoyancy of spirits of the children.[[578]]
In this matter of providing a midday meal for the children attending rural schools, Scotland would appear to be, on the whole, in advance of England, though the extent of the provision made varies considerably in different districts. Thus, in the Border Counties, very few schools make any arrangements,[[579]] while in Fifeshire, where the Inspector "has consistently pressed upon managers" the necessity for providing dinners, the attitude of most of the rural Boards is one of "stolid apathy."[[580]] In Aberdeenshire, on the other hand, a cup of cocoa or a plate of soup is provided in most of the country schools,[[581]] and in the county of Inverness almost all the schools provide some sort of hot liquid.[[582]] In Kincardineshire it was reported in 1906 that the soup kitchen was a "universal institution."[[583]] The meals may be paid for by the children, these payments being supplemented by voluntary contributions in money or in kind.
But even where it is the rule to find cocoa or soup supplied, it is inadequate for the wants of many of the children, who require a more substantial and nourishing midday meal. Moreover, the provision appears as a rule to be confined to the winter months, a limitation patently absurd, since the raison d'être of the meals is not so much the poverty of the parents, a condition which may fluctuate according to the seasons, but the fact that the distances are, in many cases, too great to allow the children time to return home at midday—which condition is, of course, constant the whole year round.
APPENDIX III
THE PROVISION OF MEALS ABROAD
We have not been able to make any original enquiry into the systems of school feeding existing in other countries. The following history of the "Cantines Scolaires" in Paris and brief notes as to the provision made in other foreign towns may, however, be useful for purposes of reference, and as showing how widespread has been the movement for the feeding of school children. The information as to foreign towns other than Paris is derived mainly from Prize Essays on Feeding School Children, 1890; Report of London School Board on Underfed Children attending School, 1899, Appendix ix., pp. 255-272; Feeding of School Children in Continental and American Cities (Cd. 2926), 1906; The Free Feeding of School Children, a reprint of the reports by the Special Sanitary Commissioner of the Lancet, 2nd edition, 1907; while fuller and more recent information is to be found in School Feeding, its Practice at Home and Abroad, by Louise S. Bryant, 1913.