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52
The majority of children who attend the Speech Unit should leave to go
on to ordinary school before or by the time they reach secondary school age.
Before they leave they are gradually integrated into one of the classes at
West Thornton School so that they are accustomed to normal school life.
There will, however, be the occasioned child who will need further special
education."
I am grateful to the Chief Education Officer for the following report-
Unit for Speech Disordered Children at West Thornton Primary School
For most of the year the Unit has had its full complement of twelve
children, two new boys being admitted in the Autumn term. At the present
time the remaining twelve children may be grouped as follows:—
Three have no intelligible speech at all; three have a certain amount
but it is difficult to interpret - even by those who know the children well;
three have a fair amount of intelligible speech and three speak almost
normally. In addition three children have little or no comprehension of
spoken language and one has great difficulty in understanding speech.
This indicates that there has been an increase in the number of very
severely handicapped children in the Unit. The need to develop, on an
experimental basis, a special language programme for use with these
children is seen by the teacher and senior speech therapist as the main
priority during the present school year.
Three of the less handicapped children are working for a limited
period each day in the Junior School and two children now spend the whole
day with normal classes of their own age group, returning to the Unit for
speech therapy. This is made possible by the continued co-operation of the
staff and children of West Thornton School whose kindness not only creates
confidence in those children who are able to work in normal classes but
also provides a very real incentive for those who are not yet ready to do so.
Miss Evans, the teacher in charge of the Unit, has obtained secondment
to a Course and her place has been taken very ably by Miss Fenn who
brings considerable knowledge and experience to the task.
DELICATE PUPILS
In Day Special Schools 38
In Residential Special Schools 4
Awaiting Placement 5
During the year nine children were found to be delicate and recommended
for admission to a suitable special school. This is the smallest number ever
recorded in Croydon, and the number receiving special educational treatment
in this category is similarly the lowest yet reported. Comments in previous
Reports suggesting that this category could be discontinued seem fully to be
confirmed.