[Report 1948] / School Medical Officer of Health, West Bromwich.

  • West Bromwich (England). Council.
Date:
1948
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1948] / School Medical Officer of Health, West Bromwich. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    15/32 (page 11)
    As mentioned in last year’s report, considerable difficulty is experienced in dealing with maladjusted children and those in need of child guidance. Conversations took place with representatives of the County Borough of Smethwick Education Committee in the hope of organising a joint child guidance clinic for the two Authorities. Up to the time of writing, however, no concrete proposals have been agreed. This is a matter which must be thought of in relation to the respon¬ sibilities of the Regional Hospital Boards and also to the difficulty at the present stage of recruiting qualified and experienced staff such as psychiatrists, educational psycholo¬ gists, and a psychiatric social worker. (b) Educationally Sub-normal and Mentally Defective. Formal examinations were carried out in 29 cases ; 14 children were re-examined. The findings were as follows : For notification under Section 57 (3) of the Education Act, 1944, for the purpose of the Mental Deficiency Act : Idiots .. . . . . . . .. .. .. 4 Imbeciles . . . . .. .. . . . . 5 Educationally Sub-normal : To remain in Special School .. . . . . .. 4 For statutory supervision on leaving school . . 9 For admission to Special School .. . . . . 5 For special education in ordinary school .. .. 5 Retarded : To continue in ordinary school .. .. 5 Normal: To continue in ordinary school .. .. 3 Maladjusted : To continue in ordinary school .. .. 3 Report on the Activities of the Special School (E.S.N.). For the Special School, 1948, has been a year of preparation and planning for anticipated developments expansion. In May, a fully qualified handicraft teacher with many years’ experience in Special School work was appointed to the staff of the school. It has thus been possible to extend the manual instruction which now includes woodwork, leatherwork, and metalwork. The number of pupils throughout the year has been about 60 and absences due to ill-health have been small. With a desire to eliminate any feeling of segregation on the part of the scholars, boys and girls were entered in the West Bromwich schools’ sports and a football team was selected to play in the Birmingham Special Schools' League.