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51
HANDICAPPED PUPILS AND SPECIAL SCHOOLS
The year 1971 saw the implementation of the Education (Handicapped Children) Act 1970 which
became effective from the 1st April, 1971. Under this Act severely subnormal children became the responsibility
of the Local Education Authority. I have therefore included this year under the heading of Special
Schools, Kingsbury Day Special School and Balnacraig Special School.
The school population in Brent has continued to rise and has reached 43,700. Certain categories of
handicapped children still present problems in relation to the placement of these children as more children
are ascertained than can easily be found places. This has applied to children of junior age requiring day
placement as maladjusted. The number of places available at Vernon House is 40 and there has usually
been a waiting list of something between 10 and 15 children during 1971.
The accommodation at the two schools for severely sub-normal children has not been able to absorb
the waiting list of children requiring this form of special schooling.
Deaf children requiring day special schooling at Heston School for the Deaf have had to wait some
months before places have become available and in addition have to travel a considerable distance to Heston,
the only day placement now available to Brent.
blind children
At the end of 1971 there were four children, all of them boys, placed in residential schools for the
blind. It is interesting to note that while in all other groups of handicapped children there has been an increase
in their number over the last six years, an actual decrease in the numbers of blind children has occurred.
Two boys are at Worcester College, one at Dorton House and one at Rushton Hall.
partially sighted children
The number of children ascertained as partially sighted at the end of 1971 was 22, 14 boys and eight
girls, one less than in 1970. All these children attend day schools, 17 at John Aird and three at New River
School in the Inner London Education Authority. One boy attends a special class in Hogarth Primary School,
Chiswick and suffers with multiple handicaps being partially sighted and deaf.
deaf children
The number of children ascertained in this group has remained much the same as in the previous year
and at the end of 1971 there were 23 children receiving special education either at day or residential schools.
Three children were at Blanche Nevile School in the London Borough of Haringey, 12 at Heston School for
the Deaf in the London Borough of Hounslow, and four at Frank Barnes and Ackmar Schools in the Inner
London Education Authority.
Four children were attending residential schools at the Royal School for the Deaf, Margate, Tewin
Water School and Mill Hall School, one child was at home and receiving tuition from a teacher of the deaf.
partially hearing children
At the end of 1971 there were 37 children, 17 boys and 20 girls ascertained in this group. Thirtythree
of these children attended day special schools and 12 of the children were placed in special classes
attached to Kingsbury Green School.
Partially Hearing Unit, Kingsbury Green School
The two special classes for partially hearing children attached to Kingsbury Green School have been
most successful. It has been possible to arrange admission of children as young as 3½-4 years of age so that
they can receive regular special school as early as possible.
The two classrooms are large and well lit from both sides and the walls and ceiling soundproofed.
During the year soundproofing was further improved by the addition of soft flooring. Accoustic equipment,
such as the loop system, group aids and a radio microphone are used in the unit. Integration of the children
into the activities of the rest of the school is part of the programme planned for these children. In the early
stages following a child's admission this may be mainly in the social activities but is later extended to the
classroom situation and the gradual increase in the number of lessons which the child can manage. Several
of the children may not be fully integrated by the time they reach secondary age and provision of a
secondary age class for the partially hearing will require consideration.
There are 12 children attending units for the partially hearing attached to ordinary schools in Heston
and five children in partially hearing units in Tottenham.
Four children are placed at the Royal School for the Deaf in Margate.
A number of children attend ordinary schools in Brent and are supervised by the teachers of the
deaf who visit the schools and ensure that the children's difficulties are explained to the teaching staff and
that the children work under the best conditions possible. These children manage very satisfactorily with the
help of a hearing aid and are reviewed regularly at Neasden Audiology Unit where the teacher of the deaf
reports on school progress. When this is not satisfactory and other causes have been eliminated special "schooling
may have to be arranged and the child transferred to a partially hearing unit. After a period of
specialised help in the unit the child may be able to return to ordinary school.
educationally sub-normal children
Woodfield Day Special School
Woodfield School provides education for secondary age pupils with learning difficulties and the
school can accommodate 200 pupils.
At the end of 1971 there were 149 boys and girls on the roll. During the year there were 57 admissions
and 58 children left. Of this 58, the majority, 38, left at the end of their school life, ten moved out of Brent
and three transferred back to ordinary school. The rest transferred to either residential or other special schools.