This film is part of Free
Eyes of a Child
Young imaginations run wild at School for Blind Children.
Overview
This is a film about life at Dorton House, a residential school for blind and partially sighted children, at Seal, near Sevenoaks, Kent. This documentary confounds common expectations by showing the wide range of activities that the children are taught, which include creative writing, mathematics, music, physical education, athletics, cricket, cooking and chemistry. The regime appears strict, for example, there is a daily ‘shoe parade’ for a teacher to check if the children have cleaned their shoes, and there is a reference to punishment for being late in getting up in the morning. However, some of this reflects the formality of all schools at the time, and there is evidence that the children are being equipped with useful skills; they are also encouraged to play outside and to use their imaginations, and this is demonstrated by a young girl’s story of a ghastly murder, which has some touches worthy of Roald Dahl.
Dorton House was purchased by the Royal London Society for the Blind in 1954 and was used as the Society’s Headquarters and as a residential home until 2013. The modern day successor organisation is the Royal Society for Blind Children which has a focus on independent living.
Related
An Ordinary Life An Ordinary Life
1985 29 mins
“I’d much rather work at a computer than make wicker baskets” – disabled people hit the mainstream in 1980s Britain
It's a New World It's a New World
Instructional film/TV programme 1977 30 mins
Early attempts at inclusive swimming for disabled people.
Three for Society Three for Society
1969 29 mins
Feisty and free-spirited, three disabled people talk frankly and directly about the barriers they experience in the 1960s
Like Other People Like Other People
Documentary 1972 51 mins
Man Alive! moral panic, sex, and when professionals ruled – life as a disabled couple in 1972
The Contact The Contact
1963 12 mins
Spot the film and soap stars of the future as John Hurt plays a disabled teenager befriended by some biker boys.
Artificial Limb Making Artificial Limb Making
Non-Fiction 1916 1 mins Silent
Occupational therapy turns full circle, as amputee soldiers learn to make artificial limbs for others
China O'Brien: The Reunion China O'Brien: The Reunion
Documentary 2024 60 mins
Cynthia Rothrock, Richard Norton and Keith Cooke reunite three decades on from the groundbreaking martial arts classic.
Women in Action Panel Discussion Women in Action Panel Discussion
Inside Film 2024 28 mins
Action Xtreme - the UK's leading action film studio - hosts this panel discussion with four leading women in action cinema - Soo Cole, Jo Rolison, Jadey Duffield and Ioanna Karavela.
Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 24 mins
Daniel Kokotajlo talks to Nia Childs about Starve Acre, his folk horror about a couple digging deep into grief in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.
Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 30 mins
Sky Peals director Moin Hussain and lead actor Faraz Ayub talk to Tomisin Adepeju about their magic realist drama.
Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell
Documentary 2024 42 mins
Documentary exploring the BFI National Archive’s role in rediscovering and remastering the early films of Michael Powell.
Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels
Short documentary 2024 12 mins
Bryony Dixon, curator of silent film at the BFI national archive, explores the origins of a series of comic travelogues, and Michael Powell's involvement in making them.