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In addition 58 special examinations for assessment of intelligence were carried
out in respect of children attending the Faircross Special School.
Mentally defective children are, after consultation, transferred to Faircross
School (Mentally Defective Section), but before certification takes place a sufficient
time must elapse and investigations must be made to lead up to the necessary action
being taken. It is during this probationary period that the question of any physical
insufficiency becomes a matter of pertinent enquiry, and it is at this stage I am
persuaded that the advice of the medical officer should be obtained.
The introduction of A, B and C streams in the schools has unquestionably
helped considerably towards the problem of giving each child a course of education
specially suitable to his or her needs.
If a child under the age of sixteen years is certified incapable, by reason of
mental defect, of receiving benefit or further benefit from education in a special
school, it is necessary to notify the County Authority. In these cases the parents
are usually offered an opportunity of sending the child to an Occupation Centre run
by the Essex Voluntary Association for Mental Welfare in the Central Hall,
Barking.
It is maintained that some people do not like their children to attend this Centre
as they consider it places a stigma on the child, and it is suggested that this difficulty
might be met by holding this Occupation Centre at Faircross School.