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Crippling Defects and Orthopedics.—No general scheme for the treatment of such defects
has yet been adopted, work of this kind being at present limited to the provision of instruments in
necessitous cases and the maintenance of crippled children in special institutions, such as the Heritage
Craft School Chailey, Sussex, and the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Great Portland Street.
These institutions provide not only treatment for the medical conditions of the children, but also
education, being certified for this purpose by the Board of Education.
Open-Air Education.—For the financial year 1927-28 a sum of £184 has been provided in
the estimates for the provision of an open-air school. In January, 1925, the Board of Education's
Circular 1,349 was received, drawing attention to the lack of open-air accommodation for defective
children in some areas. In October, 1925, the School Medical Officer was instructed to report on a
site in Pound Lane as regards its suitability for the purpose of an open-air school, and in view of the
report made the Children's Care Committee came to the conclusion that this site was not large enough
for this particular purpose. At the present time another and larger site is under consideration.
Abnormal Children.—Under this category are included the following classes of children—merely
dull or backward, Mentally Defective (feeble-minded), Imbecile, Moral Imbecile, Idiot, Physically
Defective, Blind or Partially Blind, Deaf-mute or semi-mute or semi-deaf, and Epileptic. These
cases are reported to the Authority by Parents, Head Teachers, Health Nurses, School Attendance
Officers, Hospitals and similar Institutions, Voluntary Societies and Private Medical Practitioners.
They are submitted to a special medical examination and are placed in a Special Day or Residential
School or ordinary elementary school according to the character and degree of the abnormality.
During the year 1926, 397 special children were examined or re-examined. Of the 118 original
examinations included in the 397 examined, 51 were found to be physically defective, 12 mentally
defective, 1 partially blind, 1 epileptic, 22 dull or backward, 23 debilitated and anaemic, 3 defective
vision and 5 normal.
Leinster Road Mentally Defective School.—The certified accommodation at this school
is for 90 children, and during the year under review the average number on the roll was 97, the actual
number on the roll at 31st December, 1926, being 85. The average attendance for the year was
83. There were no children awaiting admission to this school at the end of the year.
The staff which was reduced by one full-time assistant in 1923 remains at one Head Teacher
and three full-time assistants. Arrangements were made for the provision of a part-time assistant
to train a class of boys in bootmaking, and this assistant started work early in 1925.
Nine children were reported to the Local Control Authority as incapable of receiving further
benefit from instruction in the school, 1 was reported with a view to being placed under guardianship,
3 were allowed to leave school, and 1 was transferred to a residential institution.
The certifying officer visits the school weekly for the purpose of revision of classification and
for medical examination of the children. The parents are notified of any defects requiring attention.
75 such examinations were made during 1926.
The school dinner is provided at the Granville Road Mission. On an average 34 children take
dinner, 20 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 47, the actual number
on the roll on the 31st December, 1926, being 48. The average attendance for the year was 39 and
there are no 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.
I have called attention to the unsatisfactory nature of the school premises in several of my
annual reports, including that for 1925.
During the year 4 children were allowed to leave school before reaching the age of 16 years.
The school dinner is provided at the Furness Road Feeding Centre. 36 children have their
dinners there, 8 bring their own lunch and the remainder go home.
Leopold Road Physicali.y Defective School.—The certified accommodation at this school
is for 40 children. During the year the average number on the roll was 46, the actual number on
the roll on the 31st December, 1926, being 44. The average attendance for the year was 40, and
there were no children awaiting admission at the end of the year. 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.
During the year 10 children were transferred to ordinary elementary schools.
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 supervises 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