View report page

BENTRY SCHOOL
Throughout the year the school medical officers and school nurse have attended the
school. A weekly session of medical examinations and/or intelligence testing has been
held, at which the parents and the headmaster are present, and the school nurse attends
for minor ailments for 3 sessions a week.
The number of physically handicapped children attending remains fairly constant
from year to year, but the severity of their handicaps has remarkably increased recently,
so that a fair proportion of the younger children are now chairfast or only just beginning
to walk. This means a great deal of extra work for and understanding from the staff,
and I would like to record my appreciation of their interest in the children's medical progress
and their co-operation in the training of the children in walking and self-help.
This year we have been fortunate in the extension of the physiotherapy at the school
to 4 sessions a week, while still retaining Mr. Brand's services for the therapeutic swimming
once a week. The reports of both therapists are given below.
Mrs. Cocker reports:—
The year 1960 saw the arrival of quite a number of new pupils at the Bentry School.
Mostly the children were victims of Anterior Poliomyelitis and were now in need of
general after-care and of maintaining at least their physical condition, and where possible,
improving it.
As always, my main aim has been to instruct children (with parents whenever
possible) in a general scheme of exercises so that all parts of the body are used, giving
special care to breathing and the awareness and importance of general good posture.
The individual schemes of exercises are revised whenever the condition of the patient
so decrees, and of course, to prevent boredom, for it is most important that these exercises
are continued for many years and the children are encouraged always to keep their
exercises going at home.
Most of the work with these children is purely physical, very little electrical apparatus
being of great value in their treatment, but I do feel that many, especially the spastic
and "chesty" children would greatly benefit from general ultra violet ray radiation during
the winter months; experience has proved that courses of ultra violet ray treatment
help to raise general resistance and so improve general health.
Mr. Brand reports:—
The swimming classes continued to be as popular as ever. We had a total attendance
of 311, including 14 new children.
71