[Report 1965] / School Medical Officer of Health, Essex County Council.

  • Essex (England). County Council.
Date:
1965
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1965] / School Medical Officer of Health, Essex County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    35/64 (page 35)
    The total number ascertained as requiring special educational treatment was 12.5 per thousand of the school population. Blind and Partially Sighted Pupils Thirty-two pupils were on the register at the end of 1965, having been ascertained as blind. Of these, 26 were at special residential schools, one at a special day school and 2 elsewhere at school; three under five years of age, were awaiting placement. There were 45 children ascertained as partially sighted. Of these, 22 were attending special residential schools and ten special day schools; two were at ordinary schools, and four over five years of age were awaiting placement. The remaining seven children were not thought to require special educational treatment. Deaf and Partially Hearing Children During 1965 six children were newly ascertained as requiring special educational treatment because of deafness and at the end of the year 40 children were so ascertained; of these, 13 were at day special schools, 23 at residential special schools, one was receiving education elsewhere and 3 were awaiting placement. In addition five children were on the register but were not thought to require special educational treatment. Thirty-eight children were newly ascertained as partially hearing and at the end of the year, 83 were receiving special educational treatment, 30 at day schools, 35 at residential schools, 12 at ordinary schools and six elsewhere. Eighteen children were awaiting placement and 38 were on the register as partially hearing but not considered to require special educational treatment. The following is a copy of a report which has been submitted by Dr. D. A. Smyth, Divisional School Medical Officer for South-East Essex in con- nection with the special Nursery Unit at Glebe School, Rayleigh for Deaf Children : — “ The Child with Loss of Hearing. The Glebe Nursery Unit for Deaf Children continues to function effectively, although its operation is still hampered by the inability to recruit a further trained teacher of the deaf. Some improvement was effected, however, by the appointment of a full-time teacher (untrained in the teaching of deaf children) to assist in the unit. It was also decided that in order to provide facilities for a greater number of children, to extend the numbers attending on a part-time basis. These changes made it possible to increase the number of children attending the unit from 13 in January, 1965, to 20, which number was maintained to the end of the year, and of this number, 16 are attending on a half-day basis. Audiometric Testing. The practice of testing the hearing of all new entrants to school as a matter of routine has continued smoothly through- out the year. 1,489 children were seen at routine sweep test and a further