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51
It will be seen from the number of children currently awaiting admission
to special schools that the placement of a maladjusted child often
presents as many problems as his early detection. The commencement of
building works at the site of the Sir Cyril Burt School for maladjusted
children in Croydon was therefore most welcome.
During the year 26 children were ascertained physically handicapped
and recommended for admission to a special school. The majority of the
children had been placed in special schools by the end of the year. The
Committee again included in its building programme provision for a
Nursery Unit at St. Giles' School, and a decision from the Department of
Education and Science was anxiously awaited. It is unfortunate that, at a
time when all are agreed on the benefits to be obtained from nursery school
education for the handicapped child, the Committee's wish to proceed with
such provision has not yet been approved by the Department.
Reference has been made in previous Reports (1967 p. 43; 1968 p. 49)
to the impact upon St. Giles' School of the increasing number of severely
handicapped children, particularly those suffering from spina bifida. Whilst
it is clear that St. Giles' School will be able to accommodate the actual
number of children involved, providing admissions from other Authorities
are restricted, the character of the school must change in some important
respects. A reorganised physiotherapy service at the school is already
showing that dramatic improvements in mobility are possible with modem
techniques, but it remains true that the total amount of severe physical
handicap in the school must increase. During 1969 the Deputy Principal
School Medical Officer (Dr. J.S. Horner) visited St. Giles' School to talk to
all the professional staff about the condition known as spina bifida. On the
basis of the study currently being undertaken by the Research and Intelligence
Unit of the Greater London Council, Dr. Horner estimated that there
would be between 35 and 40 children suffering from spina bifida at the
school by 1979, with an additional 10 children in the proposed nursery unit.
All of these children will be too severely physically handicapped to cope in
an ordinary school, at least in the early stages of their education, and a
significant proportion may also be educationally subnormal. These figures
do not suggest - as some specialists have alleged - that schools for the
physically handicapped will be unable to cope with the numbers involved,
but they do indicate the extent of structural alterations and changes in
teaching techniques which will be necessary during the next five years.
PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED PUPILS
In Day Special Schools
In Residential Special Schools
Awaiting Placement
- 103
- 14
- 5