[Report 1972] / School Medical Officer of Health, Bristol.

  • Bristol (England). Council.
Date:
1972
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1972] / School Medical Officer of Health, Bristol. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Peripatetic Service and Clinic For some time we have felt the need for a person who is competent in education and social work, and can work in close conjunction with the families and schools of our children, particularly where there arc emotional problems together with the difficulty of communication. To fill this need, one of our peripatetic staff was seconded to an Advanced Social Studies Course in September. It is hoped that this will assist in alleviating some problems and bring about closer relationships and understanding. A shortage of staff made itself felt and numbers had to be reduced slightly. It may not be generally realised what achievements are made by the team at the Hearing and Speech Centre; but without their hard and successful work the effectiveness of the whole service we offer would be halved. Residential Schools for the Deaf In addition to the children at Elmfield, deaf children were being maintained at the following residential schools: Burwood Park School, Walton-on-Thames Larchmoor School, Stoke Poges, Bucks. Mary Hare Grammar School, Newbury Royal School for the Deaf, Exeter Boys Girls 1 — — 1 — 1 4 — Total 1 1 1 4 EDUCATIONALLY SUB-NORMAL CHILDREN—DAY SPECIAL SCHOOLS Henbury Manor School Miss J. K. Davis-Morgan The numbers on the roll have remained unchanged. Categories admitted have again favoured the maladjusted, multiple-handicapped and near S.S.N. child. Lack of places for the latter still remain our major problem, until such time as additional accommodation is arranged. Extra speech therapy sessions have been arranged and a cloakroom adapted for this purpose. Florence Brown School J N. Tolley The report last year laid stress on two aspects of the school’s work. Mention was made of attempts to ease the waiting list problem, and attention was drawn to the plight of school leavers faced with decreasing employment opportunities, and having in future to compete for these opportunities against more able children. Yet further efforts are being made, or have been made, to deal with these difficulties. In October we were able to take over the former Nursery School building on site, and as a result increase our Assessment Unit provision to 25 children. The building is old and dilapidated, but the staff concerned have made it into a delightfully warm and cosy place for our seriously handicapped tiny tots, who will tell you with great determination that it is “their” school! Moving the Assessment Unit out of the main building released a room which at the end of the year was being prepared for the establishment of a small group of seriously maladjusted children of junior age. Increasing numbers of these children present us with a problem, the answer to which we seek to find. What we do know is that, put into existing groups in the school, these children often succeed only in disturbing others, with little positive benefit to themselves. This new Remedial Unit should provide a unique opportunity for a quite unconventional approach to an increasing problem. For our leavers we plan to have by September 1973 a leavers’ unit and workshop training centre centrally situated in the city. This must offer adequate preparation during the child’s final school year for the move to employment, with provision for extending the workshop training beyond the statutory leaving date, for those who fail to secure work immediately or who break down early in employment. 1972 has seen the gradual development of contacts with industry and the acquisition of suitable work to do in the training workshop. Towards the end of the year our long standing search for suitable premises in the central area looked like reaching a successful end. The year has certainly been one of preparation and adaptation to try to meet the constantly varying needs of those we serve. Kingsweston School Miss I. M Bond In a previous report I gave details of the provisions in Kingsweston School for special education in the north of the city for senior girls and boys who cannot be accommodated in special classes. 1972 saw an increase of places here with the addition of another classroom and extra teaching and auxiliary staff. In the autumn term another class was formed to provide for the increasing number of school leavers. A school club has been formed and a start made orr the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. The new Field Study Centre in the Forest of Dean adds to the facilities already offered at school camps.