ABSTRACT
Arthur was a student at a school of art, who had only been at the hostel five months when he was removed by his father, and taken to live with him. I kept in touch with him by occasional visits, and after a few months discovered that he had been expelled from the art school following some rowdyism in a pub. Poor Arthur was in a very depressed state, making no effort to earn a living, staying at home ostensibly working at his art, but actually getting very little on to canvas, and elaborating totally unrealistic plans for getting to college, for which he had no qualification. We discussed this situation at the case conference. My wife, who is an art therapist, had a high opinion of Arthur’s talent, but this was not shared by the head of the school. It was felt at the case conference that we should try to get Arthur back to school, and I tried to see the head, but without success. He simply ignored my approaches, so at last in desperation I wrote to the chief education officer, explaining the circumstances and asking whether it was not possible for the expulsion to be changed to one year’s suspension. This was eventually agreed to. Arthur duly returned to school and in the ensuing two years not only redeemed his artistic reputation in the eyes of the head, but gained enough ‘A’ levels to secure a college place. He has just finished his first year at art college.
