Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1854-1977 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
16.9 linear metres
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
In 1945 the Ministry of Education issued regluations determining which disabilities required special educational treatment, namely, "the blind, the partially sighted, the deaf, the partially deaf, the diabetic, the delicate, the educationally sub-normal, the epileptic, the maladjusted, the physically disabled and those with speech defects".
Not all disabled children needed to be educated in special schools. Children with partial hearing, who formerly attended special schools, were able after 1947 to attend special units in ordinary primary schools, and in 1959 arrangements were made for the attendance of partially hearing children at secondary schools. Similarly, of children with defective sight, only the most severely handicapped needed to attend special schools. Arrangements were made for the transportation of children from home to school, and if a child was so severely handicapped that travel to school was not feasible arrangements were made for education in hospital or at home. Children with cerebral palsy were provided with special classes, to which they were taken by ambulance.
The curriculum of the special schools was designed to give a basic education similar to that in ordinary schools. Children were encouraged to disregard their disability and to look upon themselves as normal. They went to the rural centres, on school journeys, and on educational visits, and had their share of concerts and other cultural activities. There were special medical care and treatment to facilitate the education of the deaf and the blind.
For children whose behaviour pointed to emotional disturbance, there were child-guidance clinics, of which the Council maintained seven, others being provided by hospital authorities. The Council was the first local education authority to appoint its own psychologist to investigate cases of special difficulty. This work was later undertaken by a team of educational specialists attached to the inspectorate. In 1962 the Council opened a special class providing therapy and education for young psychotic and autistic children. The Council was the first authority in the country to give financial assistance to the special home tuition groups run by the Society for Autistic Children.
Special schools also included industrial, reformatory and truant schools for juvenile delinquents or children found vagrant.
Repository
Archival history
LCC/EO/SS 1854-1977 Collection 16.9 linear metres LCC , London County Council x London County Council
In 1945 the Ministry of Education issued regluations determining which disabilities required special educational treatment, namely, "the blind, the partially sighted, the deaf, the partially deaf, the diabetic, the delicate, the educationally sub-normal, the epileptic, the maladjusted, the physically disabled and those with speech defects".
Not all disabled children needed to be educated in special schools. Children with partial hearing, who formerly attended special schools, were able after 1947 to attend special units in ordinary primary schools, and in 1959 arrangements were made for the attendance of partially hearing children at secondary schools. Similarly, of children with defective sight, only the most severely handicapped needed to attend special schools. Arrangements were made for the transportation of children from home to school, and if a child was so severely handicapped that travel to school was not feasible arrangements were made for education in hospital or at home. Children with cerebral palsy were provided with special classes, to which they were taken by ambulance.
The curriculum of the special schools was designed to give a basic education similar to that in ordinary schools. Children were encouraged to disregard their disability and to look upon themselves as normal. They went to the rural centres, on school journeys, and on educational visits, and had their share of concerts and other cultural activities. There were special medical care and treatment to facilitate the education of the deaf and the blind.
For children whose behaviour pointed to emotional disturbance, there were child-guidance clinics, of which the Council maintained seven, others being provided by hospital authorities. The Council was the first local education authority to appoint its own psychologist to investigate cases of special difficulty. This work was later undertaken by a team of educational specialists attached to the inspectorate. In 1962 the Council opened a special class providing therapy and education for young psychotic and autistic children. The Council was the first authority in the country to give financial assistance to the special home tuition groups run by the Society for Autistic Children.
Special schools also included industrial, reformatory and truant schools for juvenile delinquents or children found vagrant.
Acquired with the records of its parent body, the London County Council.
Records of the London County Council Education Officer's Department relating to special schools, 1854-1977, including: Acts and Regulations relating to mental deficiency; ascertainment and notification of mentally defective children; the organisation of emergency special schools in London during the Second World War; acquisition of country properties for use as residential schools; sex instruction in residential schools; blind and defective children formerly dealt with under Poor Law powers; use of school ambulances for physically defective pupils; corporal punishment in transferred residential schools and homes; the Education (Institution Children) Act, 1923; scholarships for physically defective children; scholarships for myopic pupils; scholarships for partially blind children; domestic training for blind and partially blind girls; diet at residential schools and homes; reservations for the handicapped at Government holiday camps; visit of 200 London delicate children to Adelboden, Switzerland; wireless sets and gramophones for special and industrial schools; Joint Parliamentary Advisory Council concerning physically defective children; Church of England Advisory Board on Spiritual Ministration; Building Programme for special schools; Regional Conferences on Special Schools; Meetings of Heads of Boarding Special Schools; visit of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands to John Ruskin School for partially-sighted children; visit to special schools in Belgium and Holland by Council officers; sickness at residential schools; residential school nurses; further education of handicapped children; enuresis (bed-wetting); cost of maintenance of special schools; juvenile delinquency and statistics. Also general papers relating to individual institutions, including photographs and histories.
Minutes of the Managing Committees of various industrial, reformatory and truant schools, children's homes, residential schools for deprived children, residential open-air schools, residential schools for children with mental or physical disability, day special schools and reformatory schools. Registers of admission and discharge, log-books, punishment books for various reformatory schools, residential schools and children's homes; and annual reports and inspection reports for various schools (please see catalogue for full list of the schools).
Specimens of progress record books for deaf children; sample of case papers for children reported on under the Mental Deficiency Acts, 1913-1927; sample of case-papers for children reported on under Section 57 of the Education Act, 1944; specimen sets of case-papers for handicapped children placed in residential schools; sample school leavers case sheets for Educational Special Needs schools under the Mental Health Act, 1959; and diagrammatic record of incidence of cases of infectious diseases at residential schools.
LCC/EO/SS/01: General; LCC/EO/SS/02-06: Minutes; LCC/EO/SS/07: Registers; LCC/EO/SS/08: Reports; LCC/EO/SS/09: Financial.
These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information are subject to access restrictions under the UK Data Protection Act, 1998.
Copyright: City of London.
English
Generally fit, some volume of minutes and registers have been microfilmed.
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
LCC/CH/D: London County Council Children's Department relating to places of detention such as industrial schools and reformatory schools.
For further information on the history of the LCC please see Achievement: A Short History of the London County Council by W Eric Jackson (1965), LMA Library reference 18.0 1965, The London County Council 1938, LMA Library reference 18.7 SER 4, and The Youngest County: A description of London as a county and its public services, 1951, LMA Library reference 18.0 1951.
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997. April to June 2009 Boarding schools Learning Learning disabilities Physically disabled Educational institutions Schools Special schools Disabled children Social welfare Child welfare Residential child care Childrens homes Education of the deaf Disadvantaged groups Disabled persons Mentally disabled Formal education Special education Education of the blind Social problems Delinquency Juvenile delinquency Reformatory schools Education School punishment Corporal punishment LCC , London County Council x London County Council Education Committee , London County Council Education Officer , London County Council Church of England Advisory Committee on Spiritual Ministration London England UK Western Europe School discipline Europe Educational environment
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Acquired with the records of its parent body, the London County Council.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Records of the London County Council Education Officer's Department relating to special schools, 1854-1977, including: Acts and Regulations relating to mental deficiency; ascertainment and notification of mentally defective children; the organisation of emergency special schools in London during the Second World War; acquisition of country properties for use as residential schools; sex instruction in residential schools; blind and defective children formerly dealt with under Poor Law powers; use of school ambulances for physically defective pupils; corporal punishment in transferred residential schools and homes; the Education (Institution Children) Act, 1923; scholarships for physically defective children; scholarships for myopic pupils; scholarships for partially blind children; domestic training for blind and partially blind girls; diet at residential schools and homes; reservations for the handicapped at Government holiday camps; visit of 200 London delicate children to Adelboden, Switzerland; wireless sets and gramophones for special and industrial schools; Joint Parliamentary Advisory Council concerning physically defective children; Church of England Advisory Board on Spiritual Ministration; Building Programme for special schools; Regional Conferences on Special Schools; Meetings of Heads of Boarding Special Schools; visit of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands to John Ruskin School for partially-sighted children; visit to special schools in Belgium and Holland by Council officers; sickness at residential schools; residential school nurses; further education of handicapped children; enuresis (bed-wetting); cost of maintenance of special schools; juvenile delinquency and statistics. Also general papers relating to individual institutions, including photographs and histories.
Minutes of the Managing Committees of various industrial, reformatory and truant schools, children's homes, residential schools for deprived children, residential open-air schools, residential schools for children with mental or physical disability, day special schools and reformatory schools. Registers of admission and discharge, log-books, punishment books for various reformatory schools, residential schools and children's homes; and annual reports and inspection reports for various schools (please see catalogue for full list of the schools).
Specimens of progress record books for deaf children; sample of case papers for children reported on under the Mental Deficiency Acts, 1913-1927; sample of case-papers for children reported on under Section 57 of the Education Act, 1944; specimen sets of case-papers for handicapped children placed in residential schools; sample school leavers case sheets for Educational Special Needs schools under the Mental Health Act, 1959; and diagrammatic record of incidence of cases of infectious diseases at residential schools.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
LCC/EO/SS/01: General; LCC/EO/SS/02-06: Minutes; LCC/EO/SS/07: Registers; LCC/EO/SS/08: Reports; LCC/EO/SS/09: Financial.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information are subject to access restrictions under the UK Data Protection Act, 1998.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copyright: City of London.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
LCC/CH/D: London County Council Children's Department relating to places of detention such as industrial schools and reformatory schools.
Finding aids
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Publication note
Notes area
Note
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English