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Rayners, Penn, Buckinghamshire is designed for deaf children with a second
handicap and in slightly more than 80 per cent. of the pupils this is educational subnormality.
The premises, a Victoria mansion house with 22 acres of grounds in pleasant
surroundings, have certain defects as a school and a major project is now in hand to bring
them into line with modern requirements and to provide additional places. New
classrooms, a gymnasium and a housecraft room are being built together with additional
dormitories, staff accommodation and new sick bays.
Penbury Grove, Penn, Buckinghamshire, is intended for children with more than
one handicap, other than deafness. A high proportion of the pupils have educationally
subnormality as one of their handicaps.
A similar situation applies at Hatchford Park, Cobham, Surrey and at Staplefield
Place, Haywards Heath, Sussex, where a percentage of pupils are educationally subnormal
as well as being physically handicapped.
The Wainwright Annexe of Wanstead House Boarding Open-Air School, Broadstairs,
Kent, provides short-term placements (one or two terms) for pupils from day
E.S.N. schools who are also delicate.
Despite the wide range of boarding school accommodation the demand for places
remains high and a waiting list is inevitable for many of the schools; however, this is
generally not more than one term.
Gorseway deserves special mention as it is the only boarding special E.S.N. nursery
school in the country. It is designed to take children of both sexes from two (although
children under three have not been placed there so far) to seven years of age of the
higher E.S.N. grade who have shown conduct or other difficulties, either in their own
homes or Council nurseries. The majority quickly become suitable for primary boarding
or day E.S.N, schools, whilst a minority become capable of ordinary school education.
It is housed in a modern mansion, standing in its own grounds of approximately
8½ acres. facing the sea-front. The healthy situation is evidenced by the almost complete
absence of minor ailments and by progressive weight and growth charts.
It is considered that this experiment has been completely justified but it is essential
that children for admission should be carefully selected, not only having regard to their
mental and emotional development but to the environment from which they are to be
transferred.
An indication of the changed attitude towards the training of mentally handicapped
children is a recent activity of the boys at Stockgrove Park School. Under the supervision
of the headmaster and other members of the staff, a 70 ft. canal barge which had
been acquired for the purpose was converted into a houseboat with living accommodation
for 16 boys and cabins for two adults, together with an efficient galley and a saloon
capable of seating 30 people. The enormous amount of work involved was undertaken
by the boys themselves of whom some 78 took part altogether under the supervision of
school staff. In July a party of the boys travelled with the boat from a point near the
school down the Grand Union Canal to Brentford and thence, with the aid of a tug,
to the Royal Festival Hall Pier. The 'Ark Royal', as the barge was named, in transit on
a reach of the Grand Union Canal, is shown opposite page 175.
Medical officers approved under Regulation 53 are appointed to visit one or more day
E.S.N, school so that each pupil in the school is mentally examined approximately every
9 months, but in any case at least once a year. In addition any special school pupil
will be specially considered at any time on request of the headteacher of the school
or the parent, provided the requests are not made with unreasonable frequency, e.g.
within six months of the last routine or special examination. Each child has a complete
physical examination yearly as routine school health service procedure.
All boarding E.S.N. schools are visited regularly by one of the Council's medical
officers specialised in mental deficiency practice who not only conducts the yearly
mental review of every child in the school but deals with all special queries and
examinations at the request of the headteacher, parents or officer of the children's
177
Medical
supervision of
children in
special schools