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special schools children having a long convalescence
following acute illness. and others who for
some specific reason may not be able to attend
ordinary schools Five children were provided
with home tuition during the year
No hospital special schools are provided at
hospitals within the Borough but arrangements
are made for children to have tuition in the
wards at West Middlesex Hospital and Ashford
Hospital
Children excluded from school as unsuitable
No formal decisions were recorded under Section
57 of the Education Act 1944 excluding children
as unsuitable for education in school, nor were
any reviews conducted under the provisions of
Section 57A or any decisions cancelled under
Section 57A (2)
Three children however were found unsuitable
to attend either ordinary or special schools
and these were dealt with informally. Similarly
one child dealt with informally was re admitted
to a special school
Medical and dental inspection and treatment of
children excluded from school as unsuitable
The medical and dental facilities are available
to the severely sub normal children attending
the two junior training schools in the same way
as for those attending ordinary schools, A
physiotherapist attends each school to give
treatment to those children in the special care
units who additionally have severe physical
handicaps. principally cerebral palsy. It has
been possible to arrange for speech therapy at
both junior training schools for the treatment of
selected cases and to enable the staff to be
instructed in the constant use of speech therapy
techniques.
Day Nursery
In some cases physically and mentally handicapped
children of pre-school age can benefit from the
training sheltered atmosphere and the companion
ship provided by a day nursery. Where recommendations
are made for such admission for children
over the age of two years the cost is borne by the
Education Committee under Section 56 of the
Education Act 1944 Thirteen such chiIdren were
admitted today nurseries during the year,
74
School Meals and Milk
Except that the provision of milk to secondary
pupils ceased in September provision of meals
and milk in schools is now firmly established.
The milk supplied is pasteurised and is given
free A charge is made for school meals
A check on one day in September showed that
of 28 266 pupils present in school 16,658 (59%)
had milk and 19 989 (70%) had dinners There are
46 school kitchens and children are provided with
dinners by a container service at 26 dining centres.
The number of non maintained schools taking
milk was 13 and 88% of the pupils participated.
Further Education establishments were not included
in the check on this occasion
Recuperative Holidays
During the year the Borough Council accepted
responsibility under Section 48 of the Education
Act, 1944 for the maintenance of 45 children in
recuperative holiday homes Thirty-two were
admitted to such homes and 12 were cancelled or
withdrawn and one was awaiting placement at the
end of the year
First Aid in Schools and Colleges
During the year efforts were made to increase the
number of qualified first aiders in the schools and
polytechnic colleges
First aid courses of instruction were organised
at the polytechnic colleges and attended by members
of the staff all of whom passed the British Red
Cross examination at proficiency standard At the
close of the year it was considered that the number
of qualified personnel and the provision of equipment
for first aid purposes was adequate at both polytechnic
colleges
The principles of first aid treatment follow in
the wake of the general advancement of medical
science Hence qualified first aiders need to attend
courses of instruction at regular intervals for this
reason as well as to revise their knowledge of the
subject
The British Red Cross Society and the St John
Ambulance Association require their members to
follow a recognised course under the supervision of
a medical practitioner and to pass an examination
every three years. This is a wise policy. A teacher
or welfare worker in a school or college may have
to cope with an injury or illness where wrong treat