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to changing jobs and attending for interviews are
explained. Leisure activities, relationships with the
opposite sex, and personal budgeting are also
important items on which these children need
help and guidance. It is important that the visits
to factories and other similar places should
provide a true picture for the children so that they
may for themselves experience the noise and dirt,
and the constant activities in which they might
later become a part. If there is already there an
ex-pupil from the school it will help the children
to identify themselves more closely with the
situation.
Delinquency is always a very real problem at
an ESN school for in addition to those who come
from deprived homes where moral standards are
lacking and ignorance prevails, many of these
children are easily led by children brighter than
themselves. They are unaware of the advantages
that people take of them and are too slow to
excuse themselves out of suspicious circumstances.
The head teacher needs the closest co-operation
from the probation officers and together they can
often help the child and his family before matters
get out of hand. The spheres of action of an ESN
school cannot be limited by the school gates.
The Products of an ESN School
The Mental Health Act of 1959 introduced one
important change in procedure for dealing with
ESN children. Ever since education of feebleminded
children became compulsory in 1914 it
had been the duty of all education authorities to
notify the mental deficiency authority of all children
leaving special schools at sixteen who would
need further care and supervision. This statutory
supervision was abolished by the act in 1959 and
local authorities no longer have a duty to notify
leavers from special schools. The children themselves,
however, have not changed and most of
them can benefit enormously from some form of
after-care during this very critical stage of transition
from school to work. The child is moving
'from a society which has been geared to his individual
needs, and in which he has been taught and
guided by trained personnel, into one which
probably expects standards of achievement without
regard to his individual capacities. His connection
with adults who understood him and
whom he could respect and lean upon will be
broken and new associations made. He will be
parted from a group composed of individuals
with somewhat similar inadequacies and feelings
to his own and will now have to meet, in an
extremely different setting, the demands of a
more mixed group. These demands may increase
his feelings of inadequacy, loneliness and frustration,
and make apparent to others his general
immaturity.' (1)
The attitude of the child's parents is extremely
important and will influence him greatly. With
the poorer families if the wage is good then the
job is good, whether or not the child is suitably
placed. At the other extreme the parents may be
most fearful of exposing their child to the rigours
of the adult world, having over-protected him
since birth. Their attitude that there is no real
need for him to work may mean that they have
no confidence in the child's abilities and this certainly
spoils any chances of success. It is understandable
that they do not wish the child to be
exploited or ridiculed but how proud the child
becomes when he arrives home after earning his
first wage packet, proving his ability to compete
with the world.
Choice of employment is always very vital
when a child leaves an ESN school. Many
months before the break is made, the youth
employment officer (YEO) visits the school to
interview the child and see specimens of work
accomplished. Following this it is then most
satisfactory to have a case conference with all the
interested parties participating. The psychologist
and medical officer will submit their reports and
the head teacher will complete the portrait of the
child. The possibilities and limitations are then
discussed with the parents who in turn make
suggestions of the type of work they feel would
suit their situation. Perhaps the most important
consideration is to choose a place where the
chances of the child succeeding are very high.
They can always proceed for promotion but
failure is a tremendous setback and leads to loss
of motivation. The capabilities of the child must
be matched with a sympathetic employer who has
the patience to wait longer than usual for the
child to learn his job and become competent within
his limited field. The YEO is most
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