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12
After consideration of this report the Children's Care Committee instructed the School Medical
Officer to ascertain whether there were sufficient stammering children in the Kilburn area of Willesden
to justify a class for stammering children being formed in that district. On enquiries being made
at Kilburn Schools, 47 stammering children were reported. The Education Committee at their
meeting on the 3rd December, 1924, resolved that subject to the approval of the Board of Education
a class of 10 children from the Kilburn area be formed at the Percy Road Council School under the
charge of Mr. A. D. Bradfield and that at the end of three months a report be obtained on the cases
treated with particular reference to the benefit each child has derived. The consent of the Board
of Education was subsequently obtaintd and the class was formed early in 1925.
OPEN AIR SCHOOL.
The need for an open air day school in Willesden has been frequently before the Education
Committee. During the financial year 1925-26 a sum of £500 has been provided in the estimates
for the establishment of such a school. In these circumstances it is desirable to set out briefly the
information the Committee have had before them from time to time together with the action they
have recommended.
On the 5th July, 1911, a Sub-Committee of the Children's Care Committee was appointed to
visit various "special" schools, including Open-Air Schools in London and the Provinces. Owing
to the resignation of Dr. Butler, the Medical Officer of Health and School Medical Officer, this SubCommittee
did not report. On the 21st October, 1912, a report on "Physically Defective Children"
and "The Open Air School" was submitted to the Children's Care Committee by your present
Medical Officer. This report gave details as to the suitable class of case for admission to an Open-Air
School, the estimated number of children in Willesden who would benefit by attendance at this
type of school, the principle on which Open-Air Schools had been established, the type of buildings
required and details as to the special curriculum of the school.
The report was adopted by the Education Committee on the 4th December, 1912, and the
following resolutions were passed :—
(a) That an Open-Air School be provided.
(b) That the school be equipped for 240 places.
(c) That the use of the existing premises used as a "special" school at Furness Road
be discontinued and the physically defective scholars accommodated at the
Open-Air School.
(d) That a site of six acres be acquired for the purpose of the school and that the
District Council be approached with a view to land, which is already their
property, being utilised.
The particular site the Education Committee had in view was not considered suitable by the
Council as it would have interfered with the development of the land required for sewage disposal
and it was too near the storage tanks.
On the 2nd July, 1913, the Education Committee resolved to ask the Council to negotiate
for the purchase of a site of 7.3 acres at the junction of Denzil Road and Dudden Hill Lane for the
purpose of an Open-Air School at an estimated cost of £5,500. On the 1st July, 1914, the Board
formally approved of the site, and the District Council was asked to proceed with the purchase of
the land. On the 7th October, 1914, the Board of Education approved of the plans and arrangements
of the school buildings and the administrative block, and the Education Committee, considering
the provision of accommodation for physically defective children to be very urgent, directed that
a letter be sent to the Council calling attention thereto and urging the necessity of their taking
immediate steps to raise the money required for the site.
Owing to the war, the Education Committee on the 2nd June, 1915, deferred action in connection
with their scheme for the provision of an Open-Air School.
Two years later in July, 1917, it was proposed to establish a temporary Open-Air School in
King Edward VII. Recreation Ground, but the Middlesex County Council would not give their
consent to this scheme in view of the great importance of preserving intact the public open spaces
of the County for the health and welfare of its rapidly increasing population.
In July, 1918, the Ecclesiastical Commissioners were approached with a view to their consent
being obtained for the use of "Mapesbury House," Willesden Lane, as an Open-Air School for the
duration of the War and pending the erection of a permanent school at Denzil Road. Owing to
certain objections raised by the adjoining tenants the Ecclesiastical Commissioners did not see their
way to grant a tenancy of "Mapesbury House " for the purpose of an Open-Air School.
In connection with the Education Act, 1918, the Board of Education issued a Circular No.
1119 on the 3rd July, 1919, in which they required Local Education Authorities to provide a programme
of educational development for a period of at least 10 years, and inter alia they desired information
as to proposals for enabling certain classes of children to obtain suitable education in special schools,
including physically defective children, including delicate children for whom an Open-Air School
is desirable.
Dr. Buchan reported on the subject and a Sub-Committee of the Children's Care Committee
was appointed on the 7th January, 1920, to consider this report and to visit certain selected special
schools. The Sub-Committee visited 6 Day Open-Air Schools, one Day School for Cripple Children,
one Day Open-Air School for Pulmonary Tuberculosis, 5 Residential Open-Air Schools, 3 Residential