SPECIAL CLASS WORK

Taranaki Daily News, 4 March 1935, Page 11

SPECIAL CLASS WORK

FEATURES OF WEST END SCHOOL. ARTS AND CRAFTS AND HOSPITAL. Attached to the West End school are, two special classes. The. first is for children who find difficulty, in dealing with the ordinary school syllabus because of retarded progress. during their earlier school days, caused perhaps by sickness or late mental development. -If placed in a suitable environment and taught by the right type of teacher, these retardates often give an astonishing response for they regain confidence in their own powers. The curriculum centres round handwork, and the annual display each, year at “break up” time is proof of their latent' capabilities with their hands. Linked with the manual work is practical work in arithmetic; indeed, in the opinion of the headmaster (Mr. W. A. Brown),-in this respect the special class syllabus is ahead of the main school work as' far as. practical application to the affairs of life is concerned. Reading, spelling, writing, composition and drawing are all taught but with special reference to the individual aptitudes of each child.

It was on April 1, 1927, that a special arts and crafts class for the tuition of non-academic children was started at West End. It was one of the first such classes in New Zealand and there was therefore keen interest in its development as an educational experiment of considerable importance. The class was inaugurated in the gymnasium by Miss Irene L. Hansen, D.Sc., an > American specialist in such work. Later she hand-

ed the work oyer to Miss Fowles, who carried on the class, which in 1930 was transferred to the fresh-air room it now occupies. The present teacher is Miss K. Downs.

The great aim of teachers of special classes is to- make decent citizens of children who in after life might easily become misfits in society. Miss W. A. Ballantyne, supervisor of these classes, told the headmaster on one occasion that her researches showed that over 85 per cent, of the ■■ children who had passed through the special classes and of whom the department had kept records, were doing well in -various walks of life. Miss Downs, an old Bell Block school girl, has earned well deserved commendation frcm all qualified to judge her work with the class.at West End. Another development of particular interest was the inauguration of a class at the New Plymouth Hospital on February 5, 1934,’ Miss Heather Horrax the teacher in charge, being attached to the staff at West End. . _ In 1933, while a patient in the hospital, Mr. A. Bain, senior inspector of Taranaki schools, noticed how heavily time hung on the hands of convalescent child patients. Often they were naughty and troublesome,' the outcome f sheer boredom. It was as a result of Mr. Bain’s representations that the Education Department placed Miss Horrax in charge of the hospital class. It may be objected that it is wrong to worry sick children with school lessons, but'they are not worried. The freedom of which A. S. Neill speaks so feelingly in “A Dominie’s Log” really exists in this class. If when Miss Horrax comes round in the morning a child patient does not feel equal to sums that day she is allowed to read a bright storybook

provided for hei' by the teacher, or she works with her hands, or perhaps does nothing at all. The average child who does nothing is really and truly sick! As with the special class, handwork is the predominant feature of the hospital class, and some most wonderful work of that kind has been done by these pupilpatients. A cripple patient most of whose days have been spent in hospital can now read. But no compulsion is used. In the hospital class it is shown how children, if only rightly influenced, want to do something useful. To cater for this urge taxes the ingenuity of Miss Horrax to the utmost. It is obvious that ordinary school equipment would be of little use to a child in a hospital bed. A visit to Miss Horrax at the hospital provides a revelation of what an enthusiast can do to provide for these special needs. Miss Horrax has the close co-operation of the inspectorate, the board’s officials, especially Mr. H. W. Insull (secretary) and Mr. C. H. Moore (architect), and of the West End school committee. So impressed is the Hospital Board with the value of the class that as soon as possible a special classroom is to be fitted up to facilitate the work of the teacher.