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fortnightly to see the Hounslow children. In April 1971 the
administration of the school was transferred from the
Health to the Education Authority.
In the main school the children are ambulant and their
health is good. Fourteen of the children are mongols and
the others have mental handicap often of unknown
aetiology. There are 20 children in the Special Care Unit
and these children require constant supervision or nursing
care. There is usually an organic cause for their handicap
such as cerebral palsy, meningitis or genetic disorders.
A nurse was appointed in 1971 and she spends most of her
time in this unit. A physiotherapist visits each week and
treats the children with neuro-muscular defects and the
children with speech and language delay have help from a
speech therapist and in addition all children have routine
audiometry.

Aftercare of handicapped pupils
Case conferences are called by the head teachers of the
special schools and the principal school medical officer
concerned to discuss the special problems which arise when
handicapped children reach school leaving age. The youth
employment officer and representatives of the social
services department attend and where appropriate, those
representing voluntary organisations such as the Spastic
Society and Fellowship for Poliomyelitis are also invited.
Arrangements are fully discussed with the parents and
where assistance from the Department of Employment and
Productivity scheme for disabled persons is required this is
arranged by the youth employment officer.
Martindale School is fortunate in having a further
education unit which provides largely for its own pupils
who on reaching the age of 16, require further instruction
before they can satisfactorily be placed in employment.
It has now become possible for pupils from the Marjory
Kinnon and Busch House schools to share the facilities
which this unit offers.
There remain as always some children who are so
severely handicapped that no employment is possible, and
for these particularly the social services department is able
to provide help.
Education otherwise than at school
Consideration is given to providing home tuition to
handicapped children awaiting admission to 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. Statistics relating to the provision
of home teaching are included on the handicapped pupils
table on Page 44.
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
Section 57 of the Education Act 1944 provided for the
exclusion of children from school as unsuitable for
education. No formal decisions have been recorded under
this section for many years, the preferred procedure having
been to deal with children informally.
The Education (Handicapped Children) Act 1970
provided that no further use be made of the powers
conferred by section 57 of the Education Act 1944 for
classifying children suffering from a disability of mind as
children unsuitable for education at school, and where
immediately before the appointed day a decision under
section 57 of the Education Act 1944 was in force, section
34(4) to (6) of that Act shall apply as if the decision had
been made under section 34.
The effect of this enactment is that such children are
now considered to be handicapped pupils and their
education is provided for in special schools by the Local
Education Authority.
Day Nursery
In some cases physically and mentally handicapped children
of pre-school age can benefit from the training, sheltered
atmosphere and the companionship 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.
Social Workers' Report
I am grateful to Mrs. D. Cooke, BA AIMSW, Mrs. J. Harding,
BSc(Soc) and Mrs. C. Wisdom, AIMSW, social workers, for
the following report. Mrs. Cooke, Mrs. Harding and Mrs.
Wisdom are seconded from the Social Services Department
for special duties with handicapped children.
This has been a year of significant change for us. The
massive reorganisation of the Social Services has of course
affected us, although more lightly than others. It has
brought problems, some of which have been ironed out
already, some of which remain to be solved. On balance I
think we can say that a foundation has been laid on which an
improved service to the handicapped child and his family
can be built.
On April 1st we became members of the Social Services
Department, but were seconded back on a permanent basis
to the Health Department. We retained our office at the
Health Centre, Bath Road, enabling us to continue the very
close links we had established with the medical and
administrative staff without disruption; at the same time we
have gained a fuller and better contact with our colleagues
in the Social Services Department. Thus we feel we have a
foot in both camps, which we regard as a very necessary
and important factor in our work in the Special Schools.
The increased contact with our Social Worker colleagues
has developed in several ways.
We have attended fortnightly meetings with Area Team
Leaders and specialist Social Workers at which we were able
to explain our respective roles and thus clarify our work
situation in some depth. We were also able to raise points
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