View report page

174
Staffing
There are still only 2 full time Educational Psychologists. We
welcomed Mr. A. Bennett in September, 1967. He was to be our
third Psychologist, but Mrs. O'Kelly left for Surrey in August,
1967. We were able to secure the services of Mr. B. R. Good as a
temporary part-time Psychologist during the summer term and
hope that he may give us more of his limited but valuable assistance
in the future.
Regrettably it has as yet been impossible to remedy the
inadequacies of clerical assistance and housing.
Clerical Provisions
The School Psychological Service has no separate establishment
for secretarial staff.
Mrs. Lynn and her staff at the Education Sub-Office, Beckenham,
have helped regularly with typing and we have appreciated
their efficient service. The Typing Pool at Sunnymead has also
been called upon to help in emergencies and for major duplicating
work and we are indeed grateful for their willingness.
We learn with interest of plans to provide the School Psychological
Service with adequate premises at St. Paul's Wood Hill in
1968.
1967 is chiefly remembered for the stress and frustrations
experienced, and now with a waiting list of 205 children in schools
alone, and an increasing volume of work in the clinics, we face
1968 with some concern.
Service for Hearing Impaired Children
During the year liaison between the visiting Teachers of the
Deaf, who are on the Chief Education Officer's establishment, and
the School Health Service staff, has enabled the early detection
and assessment of the hearing impaired child to be made. It is
hoped that this liaison will ensure that every possible assistance
regarding treatment and education will be made available to every
child with a hearing defect.
It is hoped that when financial provision permits it will be
possible to appoint an Audiometrician to the staff of the School
Health Service. The Audiometrician would have time to test the
hearing of children more frequently and perhaps more important
to start testing at an earlier age than is possible at the moment.
I am grateful to Mr. G. V. Welbourne, Chief Education
Officer, for the following report on the Service for hearing impaired
children :—
At the beginning of the year, the Borough had the services of
one permanent Visiting Teacher of the Deaf, plus temporary help