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Handicapped Pupils
It is the duty of the Council to make suitable provision for handicapped pupils in
the borough. The Handicapped Pupils and Special Schools Regulations 1959 specify ten
categories of handicapped pupils, namely:-
Blind, partially sighted, deaf, partially hearing, educationally sub-normal,
epileptic, maladjusted, physically handicapped, delicate and speech defect.
The Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act, 1970 requires the Education of autistic
and dyslectic children, neither of which are among the categories of handicaps listed in the
1959 Regulations.
Children who have one or more handicaps may require special educational treatment
if they cannot be educated satisfactorily in an ordinary school. The majority, however, do not
require to attend a special school since suitable arrangements can be made for them to receive
appropriate education in ordinary schools. Table XII giving full details is in the Appendix
to this report.
Under the Handicapped Children Education Act, 1970 the Local Education Authority
is required to make provision to bring within the Education system all those children who
were previously considered unsuitable for education in school. On 1st April, 1971, the
power to exclude such children from education ceased and Local Health Authorities ceased
to have power to provide training for them. No child within the age limits for education
therefore is outside the scope of the educational system.
The Education Committee therefore became responsible for Sutton Junior Training
Centre, re-named Sherwood Park E.S.N. School, and for the Fountain School (Training
Centre) at Queen Mary's Hospital for Children.
SPECIAL SCHOOLS
(a) Carew Manor School
This special school is a day school for 140 educational sub-normal boys and
girls aged from 7 to 16 years. The average number of pupils attending in 1971 was 139 (139).
Before a child is admitted to this or any other special school for
educationally sub-normal children a full medical examination is carried out and reports are
obtained from an educational psychologist and, if necessary, from a psychiatrist. Every
child attending the school has a physical examination annually and is psychologically
assessed every 2 years. At the request of the head teacher or the parents, these examinations
can be arranged at short notice at any time.
In addition to regular weekly sessions at the school by the Senior Medical
Officer and Educational Psychologists, three physiotherapy sessions are held each week
and four sessions are devoted to speech therapy. The teacher for the deaf also visits
regularly.
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