Pupils with physical disabilities / a report of the Advisory Council on Education in Scotland.

  • Great Britain. Advisory Council on Education in Scotland
Date:
1951
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Pupils with physical disabilities / a report of the Advisory Council on Education in Scotland. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    school. With these considerations in mind we are of opinion that a residential _ school for children between five and fifteen years of age should have an enrol- ment not exceeding 100 pupils. This is the smallest number that permits adequate classification for this range of age. It would be possible, however, to have a smaller school if the age range were limited. Thus if the residential school contained 40 pupils it might cover an age range of five years. The general principle should be that the school ought not to exceed 100 pupils when the pupils range from five to fifteen years, and that smaller schools might be established provided that they did not require an average age range per class of as much as three years. The maximum size of class should be 20 pupils, and they should be enrolled for periods ranging from six months to two years o more in exceptional cases. | | 91. Residential schools should be located in the country. In choosing a site or in proposing to adapt an existing building it is important to select a healthy location, but it should not be so remote as to make day visits difficult for medical officers and specialist teachers or to create problems of professional or domestic staffing. 92. We recommend that | (1) residential schools have a roll not exceeding 100 pupils if their ages range from five to fifteen years; (2) in smaller schools the average age range per class be less than three years; (3) the maximum size of class be 20 pupils; | (4) the school be in a healthy and accessible location in the country; and (5) pupils be enrolled for a period of between six months and two years, or more in exceptional cases. 6. Day and Residential Schools: Accommodation 93. In planning schools for children of lowered vitality it is important that careful thought be given to their physical welfare. Dining halls should be attractive, dormitories and rooms for the mid-day rest should be airy, playrooms should be ample, classrooms should permit free movement, a gymnasium should be available, rooms should be provided for physical examination and for physio-therapy and other forms of treatment. It would be a serious miistake in policy to plan accommodation with the needs of ordinary children in mind. Children of lowered vitality have special needs, and they cannot be met unless plans are drawn with these needs clearly in mind: Accommodation in resi- dential schools must be devised with the happiness of the whole community in mind. We have suggested that the needs of the children be met; it is also necessary to provide suitable quarters and amenities for the professional staff and for the domestic staff. We recommend that in planning new day and residential schools or in adapting existing buildings careful thought be given to the physical needs of the children and to their educational and recreational interests, and that due attention be paid to the comfort of the professional and domestic staffs, especially in residential schools. 7. Day and Residential Schools: Grounds 94. The outdoor activities of children of lowered vitality play an important part in their recuperation. Their needs are not fully met by providing a hard playground or a playing field for team games. It is desirable that they should have facilities for team games, but provision should also be made for the less organised enterprises of free play. Building a makeshift shelter, bird-watching, tracking, playing on the see-saw or the swing, performing acrobatics on the climbing frame, digging in a patch of garden are among the occupations that may tempt a child to exercise his returning vigour. Playgrounds or playing fields that are carefully planned are of use for many purposes, but they do not meet all the needs of children. There is much to be said for a purposeful
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