[Report 1953] / School Medical Officer of Health, Cheshire County Council.

  • Cheshire (England). County Council.
Date:
1953
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1953] / School Medical Officer of Health, Cheshire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Mary Dendy School At this school 102 places are provided for educationally subnormal children within the I.Q. range of 55-75. Children are accommodated in three boarding houses, two for boys and one for girls, and attend daily for lessons at the special school. Children requiring admission are selected by the School Medical Officers at routine medical inspections. They can be admitted at any time during school life, but are rarely suitable before the age of seven years. Children usually remain at the school until the age of si.xteen years, the normal school leaving age for handicapped pupils. However, a minority are found, when subsequently reviewed, to be either ineducable on the one hand, and therefore excluded from school, or fit to be re-admitted to a normal school on the other hand. The Mary Dendy School can, of course, take only a small propor- tion of the educationally subnormal children in the County, and there- fore priority of admission is given to those who are either suffering from the effects of adverse home conditions, deprived of a normal home life, or actual or potential delinquents. The greatest problem encountered at this school is to make suitable arrangements for children after leaving. The very reasons mentioned above for admission invariably constitute good cause for further close supervision after leaving school—often preferably in an institution. The shortage of accommodation in such institutions has often neces- sitated educationally subnormal children being returned to unsuitable homes at a time in their lives when they are particularly prone to emotional instability. The Regional Hospital Boards, which are responsible for providing institutional accommodation for mentally defective persons, are aware of these difficulties and are making every effort to remedy the deficiencies. During the year under review the numbers admitted to and dis charged from the school were:— Boys Girls Total On Roll 31.12.52 64 31 95 Admitted during year 20 8 28 Discharged during year 18 5 23 On Roll 31.12.53 66 34 100