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The school dinner is provided by arrangement with the Granville Road Mission at a cost of
3 Ad. per head. On an average 23 children take the dinner, 32 bring their own lunch, and the remainder
go home.
Furness Road Physically Defective School.—The certified accommodation at this school
is for 60 children, and during the year the average number on the roll was 46, the actual number
on the roll on the 31st December, 1924, being 48. The average attendance for the year was 38 and
there are 13 children awaiting admission.
This school takes the physically defective children over 12 years of age, the younger children
attending Leopold Road Physically Defective School. The staff consists of one Head Teacher and
one full-time assistant. The Head Teacher also acts as Head Teacher for the Junior School, the
latter being in the care of an Assistant-in-Charge.
The school premises at this school are unsatisfactory from several points of view. The class
room is situated between two playgrounds which are used by the children attending the ordinary
elementary school, and the following time-table shews how much the work of the physically defective
school is being interrupted :—
10.30 a.m. Commencement of the Physically Defective School's morning
session.
10.30 a.m. to 10.45 a.m. Playtime for Furness Road Ordinary Elementary School.
12 noon Ordinary Elementary School dismissed.
12 noon to 2.0 p.m Games in the playground, e.g., football, netball.
1.0 p.m. Dinner hour for the Physically Defective School.
2.0 p.m. Ordinary Elemental School re-assembles.
2.30 p.m Physically Defective School re-assembles.
3.0 p.m. to 3.15 p.m Playtime for the Ordinary Elementary School.
During every day that the weather is fine, drill and organised games for the pupils attending
the ordinary elementary school are held in the back playground. These drills and games are held
both during the morning and afternoon sessions and are of 20 to 30 minutes duration.
More accommodation is required. As a minimum two ordinary class rooms ought to be provided
with a rest room, a work room and a dining hall. At present a part of a cloakroom is improvised
as a Doctor's and Nurse's room, which is unsatisfactory.
During fine weather it is desirable in a physically defective school to conduct the classes in
the open air. Owing to the playground at this school being also used by the ordinary elementary
school it is not possible for this arrangement to be carried out.
During the year 3 children were transferred to ordinary elementary schools and two were
allowed to leave school before reaching the age of 16 years.
The school dinner is provided at the Furness Road Feeding Centre. 27 children have their
dinners there, 5 bring their own lunch and the remainder go home.
Situations in the following occupations were obtained by pupils leaving the school during the
year :—cabinet maker, motor engineer, French polisher, stone mason and waitress and one boy is
continuing his education at a private college.
Leopold Road Physically Defective School.—The certified accommodation at this school
is for 40 children. During the year the average number on the roll was 41, the actual number on
the roll on the 31st December, 1924, being 38. The average attendance for the year was 33, and
there are 9 children awaiting admission. The staff consists of two assistant teachers, the senior
being in charge. The dinners are brought from Strode Road Feeding Centre and are served in the
Laundry Centre of Leopold Road School. All the children take the school dinners. The lack of
a heating apparatus for the Doctor's room has now been remedied, a gas stove having been provided.
An inside lavatory is required as some of the younger cripple children are unable to proceed to the
outside latrine unescorted. During the year 7 children were transferred to ordinary elementary
schools and one child was granted permission to attend a private school.
A trained nurse who also acts as ambulance attendant is attached to each of the Physically
Defective Schools. She treats such minor ailments as require it and supervise? the personal cleanliness
and the care of the teeth and hair of the children. She arranges for the repair of surgical instruments
and boots and undertakes the massage of the children who have been ordered this treatment by their
Surgeon and who are unable to attend a Hospital for this purpose. She also gives the children the
medicines and nutritive drugs ordered by the Doctor, such as Syr. Ferri Phos. Co. Virol and Cod
Liver Oil.
Both schools are visited by the Certifying Medical Officer once a fortnight and each child is
seen every six months. The parents are notified of any defects found which require attention.
The majority of the children at these schools who are actual cripples attend periodically
either an Orthopaedic Hospital or the Orthopaedic Department of a General Hospital. In a few
cases difficulty is found in getting the parents to keep their children under the care of an Orthopaedic
Surgeon. The cost of travel and the distances to the nearest hospitals are the chief factors in
preventing this being carried out. Difficulty also arises when a case is ordered special daily treatment
which can only be carried out in an Orthopaedic Department. When the Orthopaedic Clinic to be
established in Willesden is in working order, these difficulties will disappear, and it will be practicable
for every cripple child to be kept under the care of a Specialist and also to have such treatment
as is considered necessary for the particular defect.