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MENTALLY DEFECTIVE CHILDREN
This graph gives the number of Hornsey children in attendance at Oak Lodge Special School, Finchley, on the
31st December each year from 1916 to 1938.
In the early years of this school the numbers increased rapidly from 21 in 1916 to 37 in 1919. In the following
years to 1925 the numbers fell continuously to 17. From that year there has been a fluctuating increase to 38 in 1937.
The higher numbers of Hornsey children at the Special School in recent years is not due, to any measurable extent,
to increase in the incidence of mental deficiency amongst the school population. The chief cause is the more complete
ascertainment of mental defectives. The initiative in this process lies with the teachers. If the Head Teacher of a school
has reason to believe that a child is so retarded mentally as to be incapable of receiving proper benefit from the education
provided in an ordinary elementary school, it is his or her duty to report the case to the Director of Education on a
special form, giving details of the child's scholastic attainments.
At the request of the Director of Education, the School Medical Officer or his deputy (if approved by the Board
of Education for the purpose of certifying mental deficiency) examines the child by mental tests to ascertain its Intelligence
Quotient'—a process requiring skill, experience, tact and patience in dealing with children.
At Oak Lodge the children get a special education suited to their ability, and some make remarkable progress in
manual work. They often improve considerably in physique and general health—no doubt as a result of the excellent
dinner provided at the school.