Ofsted and SEN accurate or not ?

[tallanddopey]

i think its about time a report like this came out. i only finished school 3 years ago and in my time there ive seen it go from a handful of people having SEN to 6-7 in a class.

every child that can't sit still or who is naughty more than once in a day is labelled as having ADHD. every child that cannot read or do maths very well has some kind of lexia.

 

i was labelled mildly dyslexic (and yes i did google the spelling of that) because in that period of my life i didnt read at all, and with all things in life it takes practice to be able to do properly. am i dyslexic, not in the slightest, but it was still thrown at me rather easily.

 

and this doesnt just happen in schools, im at uni now in my first year, and the amount of people who get financial and educational help was a bit of a shock to me. in my halls on the bottom floor there were around 30 people, and around 5-6 of them got special equipment such as laptops, printers and software and even chairs, adding up to around £1500 each.

 

i would love to know how much this is costing for one child from 4-5 years old, all the way to 21-23 for the state to outfit them for their education. and if the estimates of the amount of children who are missdiagnosed are true, this could be costing us millions, maybe even billions a year.

[chem1st]

i think its about time a report like this came out. i only finished school 3 years ago and in my time there ive seen it go from a handful of people having SEN to 6-7 in a class.

every child that can't sit still or who is naughty more than once in a day is labelled as having ADHD. every child that cannot read or do maths very well has some kind of lexia.

 

i was labelled mildly dyslexic (and yes i did google the spelling of that) because in that period of my life i didnt read at all, and with all things in life it takes practice to be able to do properly. am i dyslexic, not in the slightest, but it was still thrown at me rather easily.

 

and this doesnt just happen in schools, im at uni now in my first year, and the amount of people who get financial and educational help was a bit of a shock to me. in my halls on the bottom floor there were around 30 people, and around 5-6 of them got special equipment such as laptops, printers and software and even chairs, adding up to around £1500 each.

 

i would love to know how much this is costing for one child from 4-5 years old, all the way to 21-23 for the state to outfit them for their education. and if the estimates of the amount of children who are missdiagnosed are true, this could be costing us millions, maybe even billions a year.

 

I've seen people purposefully start spelling wrong and scribbling their text in order to take advantage of the financial benefits available to the dyslexic, not to mention the extra time allowed in exams and lenient marking of work.

 

The system is a disgrace.

[Darth Vader]

The government need to sort out the genuine cases that need help and don't get enough of it, from those that are 'wished' on their kids by parents who are willing to label their kids and use them as guinea pigs for drugs, in order to get a few more quid a week.

 

Unfortunately, the don't have the intelligence or courage to do this, so genuine cases will continue to suffer.

[Goon]

Soooooo lets start another teacher bashing topic.

I think this Ofsted opinion is very near to the truth.

SEN is a cop out for poor teaching and more funding. It's about time that this has been diagnosed.

 

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Special-Needs-Ofsted-Says-Half-Of-Children-Identified-With-Special-Needs-Are-Wrongly-Diagnosed/Article/201009215727325?lpos=UK_News_Carousel_Region_2&lid=ARTICLE_15727325_Special_Needs%3A_Ofsted_Says_Half_Of_Children_Identified_With_Special_Needs_Are_Wrongly_Diagnosed

 

The teachers do not have a great deal of say on who goes on the SEN register.

 

A few years ago when there was a chance that an SEN child was educated in a special school then I would agree with your comment. However, since inclusion was introduced, (we can argue the pros and cons of this another time), then the SEN children are part of the class. A major problem is that excuses are then made for poor behaviour and non-compliance, citing SEN as a reason for poor behaviour.

 

As well as this, there now exists a mountain of admin for all teachers of SEN children as the teachers have to identify SEN and modify planning around this.

 

If anything, it has made a teachers job more difficult.

[Goon]

I've seen people purposefully start spelling wrong and scribbling their text in order to take advantage of the financial benefits available to the dyslexic, not to mention the extra time allowed in exams and lenient marking of work.

 

The system is a disgrace.

 

I have witnessed this at university level.

[JFKvsNixon]

I've seen people purposefully start spelling wrong and scribbling their text in order to take advantage of the financial benefits available to the dyslexic, not to mention the extra time allowed in exams and lenient marking of work.

 

The system is a disgrace.

 

Dyslexia isn't diagnosed by the teachers, it's diagnosed by an educational psychologist.

[Number Six]

Every child is different. Sometimes those differences get called a Special Educational Need and become a bureaucratic stone around their neck for their school career and beyond. In the past they might have just been called 'naughty' - they might even have been below average in an era when those in authority understood that half of students are below average, and always will be.

 

If you don't label the child, the child doesn't have a label to lose. Obviously some children have special needs, but most of those I taught with a statement were just below average kids with short attention spans and no fear of authority.

[chem1st]

Dyslexia isn't diagnosed by the teachers, it's diagnosed by an educational psychologist.

 

But practise makes perfect.

 

It isn't diagnosed, it's often invented, accepted as being true by the non-jobbie, and benefit awarded.

[Darth Vader]

But practise makes perfect.

 

It isn't diagnosed, it's often invented, accepted as being true by the non-jobbie, and benefit awarded.

 

Please tell me what benefits are given to dyslexics.

 

It is diagnosed, by a qualified educational psychologist.

[medusa]

As long as the teaching in this country is provided with the bottom line cost in mind then anyone who doesn't fit in with that model of teaching will be labelled with something, whether that's dyslexia, ADHD or just plain naughtiness. Until teachers are taught to apply true inclusivity (that's not integration, they're totally separate concepts) then the children at all extremes of the spectrum will be failed by our system. That means the gifted being just as much at risk as those with a disability of whatever kind.

 

Inclusivity is the concept of offering true equality of opportunity to learners- so that means looking at each child's abilities, issues and strengths and offering them the time that they need to reach goals.

 

Teacher training these days is still along the pedagogical tradition and there is lots of evidence that this suits quite a wide range of learners, but this model of teaching has (and probably always will) fail children at both ends of the ability spectrum, one end who are struggling to understand and the other who are bored senseless and so get frustrated and lack motivation.

 

I sincerely doubt that 1 in 7 of the children have a disability, but I would imagine that 1 in 7 fall into the category of needing extra help because our model of teaching doesn't offer them inclusivity.

 

Sadly, bolting on a helper to a class does nothing to change a visual and auditory class into a practical one, which is what it would take to help someone with certain types of learning or developmental issues, so we're still failing them even if they have 'extra help'.

 

Broader teaching skills from teachers with less of a rod up their backs, a less prescriptive curriculum and more investment in teaching skills and numbers of trained teachers (not classroom assistants when a teacher is needed) to allow for smaller and more targeted groups would go some distance to offer more inclusivity in our schools, but unfortunately that would take a huge shake up of schools and budgets and somehow I can't see it happening, partly because it would mean measuring less and allowing teachers to use more of their own skills and deliver from less scripted material.

 

If 1 in 7 pupils struggle so much with a system that they need extra help to get through it, is it the children's fault or the system's?