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Within the building there are increased facilities for the medical auxiliary work essential for so many
of the children. The Physiotherapy Department has a large room for massage and exercises and adjacent is a
hydrotherapy pool which has provided great enjoyment and physical treatment for many children who previously
were unable to attend ordinary swimming baths with the rest of the school. There are three full-time
Physiotherapists who carry out a very comprehensive programme of treatment.
A large sound proofed room is provided for the speech therapists and there are now two therapists
attending the school giving a full-time service.
The medical suite comprises a medical room with a large adjoining room used for treatment and
for the children's rest periods. In the Summer, the bed s can be taken outside onto a small terrace. Shower
accommodation and facilities for washing and drying are in an adjoining room.
A large hall serves the dual purpose of dining room and assembly hall and the kitchens are so
arranged that they will be shared with the Junior Training School next door.
The Domestic Science Room is equipped with a variety of cookers and provides the girls with the
opportunity of using gas or electricity for cooking. Next door is a needlework room, a large woodwork department
and a science laboratory. There is a flourishing art department and delightful paintings and art work is
displayed along the corridor walls.
As part of the school there are two special classes, one for children who are partially hearing and
have a physical handicap in addition, and the other a diagnostic class for young children who have communication
difficulties and may have multiple handicaps requiring some period of observation.
During the year the number of children in the school rose and by the end of 1968 there were 134
children on the roll at the school and a waiting list for admission. Of the children in the school 77 were Brent
children and the other places were taken by children from Ealing, Harrow, Barnet, Hillingdon and Heston.
Each of these areas has experienced a rise in the number of children with physical handicaps judged by the
number of applications received from them for admission to Grove Park.
During 1968, 18 children left and 35 children were admitted. There were four leavers aged 16 or over,
four children transferred to other schools for physically handicapped children, six children were deemed fit to
return to ordinary school and three left the district.
As in 1967 the bulk of the new admissions this year, and those on the waiting list, is comprised of
children in the younger age groups. By the end of 1968 there were in the school 43 children between the
ages of 4 and 7 years, 48 between the ages of 8 and 11 and 43 between the ages of 12 and 16 years.
There is particular need for a nursery class at Grove Park. Handicapped children suffer deprivation
during their early years because they are unable to take part in normal play activities and experiences with
others of their age. This is particularly true of the children who are usually immobilised by their handicap
such as the children with cerebral palsy and spina bifida. A nursery class is planned and it is hoped that this
will be added in the near future.
The children with cerebral palsy form the largest single group in the school, the next two largest
groups being children with spina bifida and those with muscular dystrophy.
Medical inspections are carried out every other week in the school and the children are regularly
assessed, close liaison being maintained with Consultants in charge of the children at the various London
Hospitals and Centres.
The Orthopaedic Consultant attends the school several times a term and operative treatment is carried
out by him at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital at Stanmore. The Ophthalmologist visits the school
twice a term.
Regular visits are made by the Audiometrician and hearing defects and the children in the two special
classes are supervised by the Consultant Otologist at Neasden Audiology Unit.
Residential Schools for Physically Handicapped
There are five children placed in residential schools—at Hatchford Park School in Cobham, Tylney
Hall School near Basingstoke, St. Michael's School, Eastcote, St. Thomas De La Rue School, Tunbridge, and
at Wilfrid Pickles School in Lincolnshire.
children with speech defects
There were at the end of 1968, 727 boys and 255 girls who were considered to suffer from speech
defects and who received speech therapy. Of these children, 736 attend primary and secondary schools in
Brent, and seven at independent day schools. 236 of the children are under five.
Speech defects due to deafness are not of course included in this group.
There are no children placed residentially, purely because of a speech handicap.
delicate and diabetic children
At the end of 1968, there were 30 boys and 12 girls in this group, of which 26 were placed in residential
schools and 16 in day open air schools. Among the schools attended daily by these children are John
Keats and Wood Lane Schools in the Inner London Education Authority, and Hazelbury School in the London
Borough of Enfield. Two children are placed as delicate at Grove Park School.
The residential schools attended by the 26 children placed out of London include Elmers Court,
Lymington, Suntrap School, Hayling Island, St. Dominiques School, Surrey, Park Place, Henley-on-Thames,
Port Regis School, Broadstairs, Tylney Hall, Nr. Basingstoke, St. Patrick's, Hayling Island, St. Catherine's,
Isle of Wight, and Palingswick Diabetic Hostel.