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Susan Goes to Sompting

Veteran tennis commentator Peter West takes us on a journey around a boarding school for disabled children.

1961 13 mins

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Overview

Sompting Abbey was a boarding school providing respite for disabled children's families in the 1960s. Although the language around disability is clearly dated, the tone of the film is quite enlightened for its times - Susan generally attends a mainstream day school but goes to boarding school to give her parents a break. This was unusual for its day, when the inclusion of disabled schoolchildren wasn't routinely considered.

The Invalid Children's Aid Association who commissioned this film began as a Victorian philanthropic charity. It still exists and is now renamed I Can, and more recently did pioneering work on the diagnosis of dyslexia.

Featuring

Peter West

Country

United Kingdom

Location

FolkestoneSompting Abbotts

Language

English

Subjects

Children Disability Housewives Mothers Social work Boarding schools Residential care

Accessibility

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