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27.
concerned was able to provide a classroom and a suitable
teacher at both Mission Grove and Woodside Junior Schools.
The location of these vacant classrooms resulting from the
changing density of the school population determined the age
range for admission to these special classes. i.e. 7-11 years,
but this coincided with our opinion of the optimum, that is
when children were old enough to co-operate in formal learning
yet young enough to secure full benefit from it. To avoid too
wide an age range the children were divided so that the younger
ones went to Mission Grove and the older to Woodside, irrespective
of place of residence. Thus in some cases transport was
required and this the Education Committee kindly authorised.
The results obtained by these two classes were so encouraging
that a third class was started the next year (September
1959) at Blackhorse Junior School taking mainly children from
the middle of the age range, i.e. 8-9 years, allowing a better
age grading throughout the three classes, all of which have
continued to function excellently and, by diverting the
remedial cases, have reduced the waiting list at Margaret
Brearley to manageable numbers.
THE SIZE OP THE PROBLEM
Intelligence quotients, mental age expressed as percent
age of chronological age, as measured on the Terman Merrill
Scale, range from 30 to 170 with a mean value (mode) of 100.
24 per cent. of all children fall within the range (I.Q.
95 104) of average intelligence. A further 20 per cent.
have I.Q.s. of 85-94 and 22 per cent between 105 and 114.
Thus two thirds of all children fall within the normal class
category from rather bright to rather dull.
Above and below this range the numbers fall off sharply.
Only 12 per cent. have I.Q s. of 115 124 and only 5 per
cent. score 125 134. Two per cent. have I.Q s. of 135
144 and less than one per cent. are above this. These
children (approx. 20%) are the potential grammar school
candidates. There remain about 14 15 per cent. of children
who are below 85 and of these 9 per cent. score between 75
84 and should make slow progress in normal schools. We are
more concerned with the lowest ranges; the 5 per cent. 65
74 many of whom need E.S.N. placement, and the one per cent.
below 65 who are frankly E.S.N, including, perhaps, 0.2 per
cent below 50 who are ineducable. For Walthamstow, with a
school population of about 15 000 (after deducting 3,000 out
area children attending grammar and technical schools) this
means that 750 children (5%) will be so dull as to need some
special help and 150 (1%) will need Special School placement