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(7) Remedial Teaching :
There was a further expansion of the Remedial Teaching Service.
A fourth teacher was appointed in September although she did not take
up her duties during the present year. The service appears to be increasingly
valued by the schools and provide effective help for children with specific
learning difficulties.
(8) Special Schools :
Number of visits to special boarding schools : 7.
(9) Unit for Partially Hearing Children :
The Unit for partially hearing children of Infant School age, referred
to in my last report, was opened in September 1973, so that special educational
provision for all such children of primary school age is now available
in the borough.
(10) Conclusions :
As noted in my previous report, the main area of expansion has
continued to be in the provision of specialised remedial teaching. However,
it has become obvious that social and family problems are frequently the
reason for children being referred on account of learning difficulties with
associated behaviour problems.
Although it has not yet been possible to introduce a screening
procedure in connection with the teaching of reading, plans for this
have continued.
HANDICAPPED PUPILS
The Local Educational Authority has a statutory duty under the
Education Act 1944, of ascertaining handicapped pupils in their area and
of providing for the special educational treatment of such children.
Ten categories of pupils requiring special educational treatment are
defined in School Health Service and Handicapped Pupils' Regulations.
These are as follows:-
(a) Blind Pupils, that is to say pupils who have no sight or whose sight
is, or is likely to become, so defective that they require education by
methods not involving the use of sight.
Number of blind pupils newly assessed 1
Number of blind pupils admitted to special schools during
the year 2
Total number of blind pupils in special schools for the
blind as at 31st December, 1973 6