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62
"During the year five children were admitted, but one moved
from the district after attending for only three weeks.
"Two aphasic children, whose speech is now normal, were
transferred at the end of the year-—one girl to the Special School,
and one boy to the Open Air School. One deaf girl who has shown
considerable talent in her art work has been attending the Leyton
Art School for evening classes, has now been transferred there for
■one term with a view to becoming an embroideress.
"Two girls (deaf and partially deaf) and one boy (deaf) have
left,the school, and work has been found for them with a firm of
cabinet makers, who already employ several of our old scholars
and seem well satisfied with their work.
"One deaf girl, who is just fourteen and is very intelligent
and an excellent lip-reader, is attending the Wm. Morris Central
School, The Head Teacher and staff have been very kind in giving
her extra coaching, and her lip-reading enables her to follow most
of the class-work. She still attends the deaf centre for half an hour
a day for speech training. The deaf who have learnt to speak well
easily lapse into slovenly speech as they do not hear their own
mistakes, and this needs constant correction.
"The work of the school has necessarily been changed to
provide for the greater proportion of aphasic children now in
attendance, the problem of teaching these hearing children being
a very different one from that of educating the deaf.
"The multitone apparatus installed last year is still proving
invaluable as an aid to the teaching of speech to the deaf children.
Many who cannot hear the spoken voice normally have learnt to
listen and hear speech with this apparatus, as the sound can be
intensified or altered in pitch to suit each individual. This training
helps the children to produce more normal intonation and a pleasant
voice, which are two of the most difficult things for the deaf to
acquire.
"All the children have half an hour's physical training or
■dancing every day. Four of the bigger boys play football once a
week with those of the Wm. McGuffie School. It is good for these
boys to have to find their own level with pupils from a normal
school. During the summer months the senior boys and girls attend
swimming classes with the scholars of the Wm. Morris Central
School.
"The senior boys spend one afternoon a week at the Wm.
McGuffie woodwork centre, and the girls of twelve or over attend
their centre for housewifery and laundry.