Students having medical check ups at Thebarton Primary School. Most of the students are unidentified, but standing in the front row at the right hand shoulder of the dental nurse is Peter Humphries.

School health services in South Australia were introduced in 1913, but expanded rapidly in 1925. A doctor and nurse visited each school, examined students on site and sent letters to parents of children who presented with medical problems. In the late 1940s half the children had bad teeth and the poliomyelitis epidemic was at its worst.