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75
close co-operation here can be of great assistance in the
childrens' treatment. Mention should also be made of the
children who are admitted to special boarding schools on
psychiatric recommendation; these children continue to attend
the Clinic at intervals in their holidays and our psychiatric
social workers maintain contact with the parents. Often it is
necessary to work intensively for a time with these children
and their families so that they may get the full benefit of the
therapeutic environment of their boarding school. We work
closely with the staff of these boarding schools and this year
we have been able to make rather more visits to the children
and their schools, and so have discussed the children more
fully with the schools' staff. Unfortunately there is a shortage
of such schools, particularly for older girls and for E.S.N,
boys, and at times distance has prevented the close co-operation
between school, family and Clinic which we would like to
maintain.
We continue to take our part in the practical work training
of students, and this year have had students from the Certificate
of Social Work course at Barking College and from the
Social Science Department at London School of Economics.
Although student training takes up staff time, we welcome this
contact with students and college tutors and find our students
can bring us ideas which are both stimulating and challenging.
Only a few of our students intend to work in Child Guidance
Clinics, but during their stay with us, they have an opportunity
to study in depth the dynamics of the family and the use of a
casework relationship.
We have been glad to give hospitality this winter to a
social workers discussion group which was initiated by the
Redbridge Association of Professional Social Workers. This
has proved to be a valuable forum for social workers to air
their views and to learn about each other's sphere of work,
and we welcome these visitors to the Clinic.
School Psychological
Service
This year has seen the start of a small specialised unit
for Autistic children and the expansion of other units for
disturbed children.
There is still no provision for E.S.N, day pupils within the
Borough and at the beginning of 1967 there were 36 children on
the list for this type of education. We have some hope that two
classes may be opened in 1967.
Miss S. V. Gascoyne and Miss C. H. Watt, Educational
Psychologists, report as follows:—