[Report 1957] / Medical Officer of Health and School Medical Officer of Health, West Riding of Yorkshire County Council.

  • West Riding of Yorkshire (England). County Council
Date:
1957
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1957] / Medical Officer of Health and School Medical Officer of Health, West Riding of Yorkshire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    73/184 (page 73)
    activkvlessons11 ^aSCCl °n,dle teachir^ °f four basic subjects. These are speech training, have bv dint of’sneech traininu hwn J” h as som? w^° Previ°usly were unable to utter more than simple words have by dint ol speech training been induced to use simple sentences quite clearly and distinctly others bv reason of Sfce1lav ,nt° reSrPTable mcmbers °Ve co—ity. 'ft is IfotSSytSSSS shape size or form in annreciatinu min reasoi?,° their innate disability experience no little difficulty in evaluating imrortam mm a needle or en8a8ing in play, and this fact makes it doubly trammL l nb is has hpln m be* T m any curriculum that it should involve an intense course of sense training. Until this has been mastered the art of joining in co-ordinated games, or exercises, is a closed book to them. desirable*thaf theiM n'H ah R S cann°t^satisfactorily be employed in their education, it is nevertheless ft . ‘ enconraoin^ 'to tnyhy, .Vlth numerals tf any progress is to be made in such subjects as handwork, and metical fnms8dea 1 if PwfhfimoIThh -?f hC o det, chlldren by the aid of counters have been enabled to perform arith¬ metical sums dealing with simple addition and subtraction. Owing to their educational immaturity they very readily one* sure ^ethcnE of retain hig ^ he?rinterest. * physical trainln^ Percussion band and eurythmics, whtch are in Sentfmhff Cthnf the ^ h^e f°r th? m0St part been anythir|g but satisfactory and in the influenza epidemic weekly aTtSL^ fot the ye^r was 156 W“ S°mC ^ ^ ^ WaS any improvement and the average pninv^^hv^h ZZt h,e]d d.UrLnfathe yeai inc!udTg a “Sports Day” which was a new venture, but one which was e joyed by both parents and children and again showed how these children can develop a team spirit and a will to compete. Prizes were given by the Parent Teachers’ Association and were distributed by Mrs. Bromley, j.p. The , n!\ua -j Da* airaAnPud °f September had to be postponed owing to the influenza epidemic and was eventually held on 3rd December. Although it was very foggy, a good proportion of the parents contrary to expectations turned up and items given by the children included physical training, percussion band, miming, country dancing and ball exercises. The staff relinquished voluntarily a great deal of their spare time in decorating the Hall for the Christmas Party with very pleasing results indeed. This year a Fancy Dress Parade was organised and the mothers co-operated very well 'P. l*s 0r2anisat.l0n- Pnzes provided by the Parent Teachers’ Association were given for the best costume and County Alderman Whittock once again acted the role of Santa Claus distributing gifts provided by the Parent Teachers’ Association. This was voted the best party ever held at the Centre. The annual outing financed by the Mental Health Sub-Committee and the Parent Teachers’ Association was again to Filey. The older children were taken on 2nd July and the younger on 9th July. Frequent visits have been made to the Centre by the Pontefract Social Workers and this is indeed much appreciated as these visits established a link with those parents who never visit the Centre. Branshaw View Occupation Centre, Keighley (Dr. McDonagh, Divisional Medical Officer) The number of children on the register in January was 42 and by the end of the year this total had risen to 47. During the year there were 11 admissions and 6 discharges. The following table shows the age groups attending:— Ages—Years Sex 4 5 6 1 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 M 1 — 1 3 — 2 3 3 3 2 2 2 1 2 1 1 1 _ 1 F 1 — — — — — 1 1 2 2 2 4 — — 2 2 — 1 — The average daily attendance was 35-6 and would have been higher had it not been for the ’bus strike in July which affected four school days and the epidemic of influenza in September and October which affected eleven school days. The Centre staff consists of a Supervisor, an Assistant Supervisor, three Nursery Assistants, one Handicrafts Instructor and a Coach Escort. The Instructor was appointed in January, 1957, to teach the senior boys in the new industrial section which had been set up in the upper part of the building. Six boys from the Junior Centre, aged 14 years and upwards, formed the first class and at the end of the year the number in the class was ten. The type of work undertaken by this section consists of simple carpentry, rug making, basketry, gardening and physical education and the value of this work is amply demonstrated by the happy demeanour of all the boys. The Parents’ Association (Shipley Group) gave a donation of £75 for a Myford Electrically Driven Lathe and Tools for use in the industrial section, ln addition they also provided a wall clock and a radio, all of which are greatly appreciated. The Instructor spent the October break attending the Leeds and Bradford Industrial Centres studying the methods and working arrangements there. Six senior girls, aged 14 years and upwards, were formed into a special group for handicrafts including rug making, basketry, simple weaving and scarf frame knitting. In addition the same six girls also took part in practical cookery and housecraft sessions on three occasions each week. The remainder of the children are divided into three groups. At the end of the year these groups totalled 12, 13 and 6. ln the smaller group two are suffering from spastic paraplegia and three are very low grade and are doubly incontinent. The curriculum for the younger children includes physical education, country dancing, playing percussion instru¬ ments, shopping procedure, recognition of numbers and letters by sight and hand and simple word making. Scrap book making included such projects as farms, zoological gardens, articles of furniture suitable for the various rooms of the houses, etc., and puppetry. The children were also trained to dress themselves and to attend to their own personal hygiene. A summer outing to Belle Vue, Manchester, took place in June and 36 children attended. The Manchester Branch of the W.V.S. received the party and gave excellent assistance. The children enjoyed their treat very much. The Christmas Party for the children was a great success as also was a social evening for the parents which has been found to be extremely valuable in improving the relationship between parents and teachers.