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187
ing and has weekly sessions with all those who have speech
difficulties.
Physical education, swimming, woodwork and pottery are
popular activities, and the cover for the heated outdoor swimming
pool is in the process of being built which will enable swimming
to take place all the year round.
"Old" boys and girls of the school meet the two senior classes
once a month at the St. Nicholas Club held in the school during
an evening, and a link is maintained with the school, staff and
friends for as long as they would like to belong to the Club.
Grovelands School, St. Paul's Cray
There are now 121 children on roll including thirty-two who
were admitted during the year. Of those who left, nine entered
employment, one is unemployed and no information available
about one; one child was transferred to a Training Centre and
another went to a Residential School. Eight left the area and five
went back to normal schools.
The 121 children at Grovelands cover a wide range of ability.
I.Q.s are between 46 and 80 with ages of 7-16 years. Many
children have multiple handicaps including cerebral palsy, epilepsy,
poor sight, various physical handicaps and a high proportion
have difficulty with speech.
The Welfare Assistants have divided their time between
helping in Class I, carrying out speech practice as instructed by
the Speech Therapists and contributing to the general physical
well-being of the children. This included assistance on outings
in the minibus. They also arranged hair-dressing sessions for the
senior girls.
There have been no staff changes this year which has done
much to maintain continuity of lessons.
Drama has been less practical than usual but there has been
considerable interest in Art. Pupils have visited exhibitions and
taken part in outings for painting and sketching subjects of their
choice. The corridors in school have been enlivened by some of
the results.
Independence has been encouraged by allowing pupils to find
their own way to and from school, and going shopping in Sidcup
and Orpington to purchase the ingredients for cookery classes
with the purpose of giving some idea of home budgeting. One
class combined cookery with geography by preparing and eating
a traditional dish from the area being studied. This was a great
success. Boys and girls find their way around the district with the
aid of maps, time-tables and telephones, training which will be
useful to them when they leave school.
A clocking in and out scheme has been started for senior