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teaching unit for some specific category is to create a waiting list
within two years irrespective of how enlarged the unit has become. This
has certainly been the case in the Redbridge area, as the purpose and
value of the unit has become more apparent the more candidates are put
forward for consideration by Head teachers and school medical officers.
The exception to this pressure is the Treeside Unit for maladjusted
children where a waiting list cannot be built up as help must be offered
in some other form if no early vacancy is available.
This problem of the waiting lists has been particularly pressing
over the last year, partly on a cumulative basis and partly because three
psychologists see more children in a year than two. All this has meant
that a re-assessment of the handling of waiting lists and the possibility
of more part time attendance for children is under consideration. This
is a trend that is evident wherever specialized units have been set up
and it has not been detrimental to them or the children that they are being
considered more astringently and less as an umbrella system to give the
less educationally robust child a sanctuary. We are very fortunate in
being able to have a full time remedial teacher at the Clinic who sees
between 35-40 children for hourly sessions each week for remedial work
in reading and mathematics. Approximately two-thirds of these children
come from the school psychological service and the teacher also visits
a local school for one morning a week to help groups of children with
their reading. The average length of attendance is from 2-3 terms. The
psychologists have also seen 21 children for remedial work during the
year, so a great deal of extra help is available but even so the waiting
list grows.
During the last 2½ years the psychologists have given some assistance
in a research project being undertaken at Manchester University
to devise a new individual intelligence test for children intended for
psychologists use. The research project is financed by the Department
of Education and Science. Initially with the agreement of the Redbridge
Education Committee, Miss Watt went on a short course at Manchester
University in order to learn about the new test and to be briefed about
the work to be done locally — Miss Gascoyne and Mr. Azam helped in
the try out testing stage. Local Authorities selected for this purpose
were chosen to provide a representative cross-section of the whole of
Britain. There were a vast number of items to each test as only onethird
of the number will ultimately be included in the final result which
will take one to one and a half hours to administer. The lengthy try outs