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elsewhere, it is at school that a child learns its niche in life, and that very possibly
this is the most important thing that any child does learn at school.
Where you have schools with a sufficient number of children in each age group
to have "A", "B" and "C" classes it is amazing the wide variation of intelligence
that can be taught in one and the same school and, of course, in some of your
schools in Barking special arrangements have been made for children who are even
lower than the " C " streams, and this—with certain reservations—I believe to be
good.
There are, however, some backward
children who cannot keep step with even
the lowest grade children to be found
in ordinary schools, and these must unquestionably
be taken away from the ordinary
schools, or otherwise the whole of their
mental outlook on life is going to be warped.
Many of them too must, of course, be taken away because they require
individual tuition and there literally is not the staff in an ordinary school to educate
these children who do require special individual attention.
I am strongly of opinion that the intelligence of the child, as such, is only one
factor in determining whether he can remain at an ordinary school or must go to a
Special School. I think the child's adaptability must be taken into account; so,
also, his reaction to school life, particularly as to whether he is conscious or not
of his deficiency when compared with the other children.
Faircross School does also meet the special needs of delicate and physicallyhandicapped
children who, because of their physical disability are unable to fit into
the life of the ordinary school, but there have been many happy instances where,
after a time at Faircross under open-air conditions and constant medical supervision
a child has made such progress physically that it has been possible to allow him
(or her) to transfer back to an ordinary school.
Question:—What provision is made for the blind children of
Barking?
Answer:—It makes me very happy to be called upon to answer this question
because although tragically it is still a problem which has to be faced, the problem
has been so reduced that, compared with when I was a young man, it seems as
though we have no problem at all.
As a matter of fact, out of all the thousands of school children in Barking,
there are only 3 partially blind requiring special educational treatment, and one only
who is totally blind—this last case is particularly tragic because it was as the result
of war injury.
FAIRCROSS SPECIAL SCHOOL
Number admitted 43
Number discharged 30