Special Schools Over Subscribed.

[Anna B]

This is following the BBC news report (featuring a Rotherham school) that says that Special schools all over the country are oversubscribed and bursting at the seams, some with long waiting lists. I know from experience that these children are very genuine cases who need all the help they can get. The numbers of children attending mainstream schools who have a 'statement of special educational need' which is not easy to get, and can require months of testing and paperwork, is also rising exponentially.

 

My question is why the increase in children with special educational needs?

 

Is it just the general rise in the population, or is it something more insidious that we can do something about and needs to be addressed?

[XPertByExperien]

13 minutes ago, Anna B said:

This is following the BBC news report (featuring a Rotherham school) that says that Special schools all over the country are oversubscribed and bursting at the seams, some with long waiting lists. I know from experience that these children are very genuine cases who need all the help they can get. The numbers of children attending mainstream schools who have a 'statement of special educational need' which is not easy to get, and can require months of testing and paperwork, is also rising exponentially.

 

My question is why the increase in children with special educational needs?

 

Is it just the general rise in the population, or is it something more insidious that we can do something about and needs to be addressed?

Contrary to the inept opinions of the likes of Suella Braverman, there are more and more disabled kids being pushed into mainstream schools and as a result, being failed by the system!    

 

Also, contrary to popular belief, disabled kids are NOT "thick", they just need a little help or extra time to achieve good results.

 

 

Edited February 20, 2023 by XPertByExperien
Removed slightly "insulting" comment, I don't wanna get banned!

[Mister M]

7 minutes ago, Anna B said:

This is following the BBC news report (featuring a Rotherham school) that says that Special schools all over the country are oversubscribed and bursting at the seams, some with long waiting lists. I know from experience that these children are very genuine cases who need all the help they can get. The numbers of children attending mainstream schools who have a 'statement of special educational need' which is not easy to get, and can require months of testing and paperwork, is also rising exponentially.

 

My question is why the increase in children with special educational needs?

 

Is it just the general rise in the population, or is it something more insidious that we can do something about and needs to be addressed?

I think we are more aware of children's disabilities, learning needs etc - which is good, however, it does mean that there are resource issues.

The system of 'statementing' young people with special education needs changed in 2015, to 'EHC' plans. It does tend to be a bit of a lucky dip who gets an EHC plan. However, those with physical needs (such as wheelchair users, amputees) should get prioritised first. 

However the role of parents is crucial, often parents who are 'assertive' in ensuring that their child's needs are prioritised, and who know their legal rights has a massive impact

[Anna B]

Extra help with 'Education, Health, and Care' (EHC) is such a wide term that fails to recognise the many differing needs of children, as did 'Special Educational needs' (SEN) but I wonder how much it cost to hold the many Conferences, Seminars, discussions, and admin just to change the heading on the notepaper, without solving anything (as usual.)

 

 

Edited February 20, 2023 by Anna B

[XPertByExperien]

7 minutes ago, Mister M said:

I think we are more aware of children's disabilities, learning needs etc - which is good, however, it does mean that there are resource issues.

The system of 'statementing' young people with special education needs changed in 2015, to 'EHC' plans. It does tend to be a bit of a lucky dip who gets an EHC plan. However, those with physical needs (such as wheelchair users, amputees) should get prioritised first. 

However the role of parents is crucial, often parents who are 'assertive' in ensuring that their child's needs are prioritised, and who know their legal rights has a massive impact

Too late IMO.

 

Like the mere concept of me being mildly Autistic didn't even enter anyone's mind until my sister in law noticed it after working in a Home for Autistic adults in Gloucester, and said I was like some of her clients, eventually, she and my Brother took a load of info off Google up to the Doctor, and the formal diagnosis process started from there, in October 1999 I had an MRI up at the NGH, for which they promptly "lost" the results so I had to have another one  

 

Even as far back as the early to late 80s it was plainly obvious to most people that I had "problems", don't get me started on the level of bullying I suffered back then.

 

 

[ECCOnoob]

18 minutes ago, XPertByExperien said:

Contrary to the inept opinions of readers of the Daily Mail and the likes of Suella Braverman, there are more and more disabled kids being pushed into mainstream schools and as a result, being failed by the system!    

 

Also, contrary to popular belief, disabled kids are NOT "thick", they just need a little help or extra time to achieve good results.

 

 

So they should be.

 

As someone who has a relative with learning difficulties, unless they have a extremely serious condition, they should be attending the mainstream school system.

 

One of the worst things that happened to my relative, being a child of the 70s when life was very different, was to watch them being pushed into a "special" school surrounded by people with a mix of learning and behavioural difficulties and basically just left to sit there playing with crayons, sing a long nursery rhymes and playing in ball pits because that's all the teachers "thought" they were capable of.

 

Fast forward a few years, and we have now have many disabled children attending mainstream school, mixing and socialising and with 'regular' students, being encouraged to challenge themselves, albeit with additional support, with the results of many more coming out with at least some basic skills in reading and writing and even possibly going on to being able to manage basic jobs. It can potentially give them the ability to have a fulfilling life as opposed to simply being constantly segregated, constantly surrounded by their own and basically cast off from society the moment they are 5 years old onwards.

 

It's not so simple and there is no one size fits all.  "special" school can be the worst thing that could happen to development of someone with a disability so we should be very careful not to be pushing for such segregations.

 

Edited February 20, 2023 by ECCOnoob

[XPertByExperien]

7 minutes ago, ECCOnoob said:

So they should be.

 

As someone who has a relative with learning difficulties, unless they have a extremely serious condition, they should be attending the mainstream school system.

 

One of the worst things that happened to my relative, being a child of the 70s when life was very different, was to watch them being pushed into a "special" school surrounded by people with a mix of learning and behavioural difficulties and basically just left to sit there playing with crayons, sing a long nursery rhymes and playing in ball pits because that's all the teachers "thought" they were capable of.

 

Fast forward a few years, and we have now have many disabled children attending mainstream school, mixing and socialising and with 'regular' students, big encouraged to challenge themselves, all beat with additional support, with the results of many more coming out with at least some basic skills in reading and writing and even possibly going on to being able to manage basic jobs. It can potentially give them the ability to have a fulfilling life as opposed to simply being constantly segregated, constantly surrounded by their own and basically cast off from society the moment they are 5 years old onwards.

 

It's not so simple and there is no one size fits all.  "special" school can be the worst thing that could happen to development of someone with a disability so we should be very careful not to be pushing for such segregations.

 

In some ways I agree, I'm sure that back in the mid to late 80s, I would've hated being sent to somewhere like Oakes Park, which is a special school up Norton (with a very nice, rather large on site swimming Pool) however, having been sent by the fools in the Council to the "school from hell", aka Gleadless Valley, just round the corner from there, which was a mainstream school with a "Special needs Unit", sheer hell for most of nearly 5 years and if I hadn't made friends with my ex I'd have walked out at lunch break on the first day and refused to go back.

 

Thing is, there is NO "One size fits all" in SEN education in general, every kid is different and consequently has different needs.

 

There wasn't back then, and there still isn't 30 odd years later.

 

And it's probably a rubbish example, but you know Ralph Wiggum on the Simpsons? He's been portrayed for the last 30 odd years as "different" (I'm loath to use "special", I despise THAT word)

 

 

Edited February 20, 2023 by XPertByExperien

[harvey19]

I started school in the 1950s and there were no teaching assistants just teachers.

Some children were cleverer than others.

All pupils spoke the same language and had the same culture.

Parents did not question the school and teachers decisions.

 

 

[Anna B]

3 minutes ago, ECCOnoob said:

So they should be.

 

As someone who has a relative with learning difficulties, unless they have a extremely serious condition, they should be attending the mainstream school system.

 

One of the worst things that happened to my relative, being a child of the 70s when life was very different, was to watch them being pushed into a "special" school surrounded by people with a mix of learning and behavioural difficulties and basically just left to sit there playing with crayons, sing a long nursery rhymes and playing in ball pits because that's all the teachers "thought" they were capable of.

 

Fast forward a few years, and we have now have many disabled children attending mainstream school, mixing and socialising and with 'regular' students, being encouraged to challenge themselves, albeit with additional support, with the results of many more coming out with at least some basic skills in reading and writing and even possibly going on to being able to manage basic jobs. It can potentially give them the ability to have a fulfilling life as opposed to simply being constantly segregated, constantly surrounded by their own and basically cast off from society the moment they are 5 years old onwards.

 

It's not so simple and there is no one size fits all.  "special" school can be the worst thing that could happen to development of someone with a disability so we should be very careful not to be pushing for such segregations.

 

I agree with a lot of this. I think most would benefit from mainstream school. But also think we are guilty of pigeonholing state school children into a big box marked 'normal' and giving them the 'one size fits all' education.

 

A lot of kids simply don't fit, but that is not necessarily a disability, and with the right tweaks, their particular talents and personalities can be made to flourish. But that's not easy in a class of 30. 

 

We could start by reducing class sizes to 12, which is the average size of classes in private school education. 

That way the kids are individuals with individual needs that can be nurtured by a teacher with the time and expertise to do it.

[Mister M]

16 minutes ago, XPertByExperien said:

Too late IMO.

 

Like the mere concept of me being mildly Autistic didn't even enter anyone's mind until my sister in law noticed it after working in a Home for Autistic adults in Gloucester, and said I was like some of her clients, eventually, she and my Brother took a load of info off Google up to the Doctor, and the formal diagnosis process started from there, in October 1999 I had an MRI up at the NGH, for which they promptly "lost" the results so I had to have another one  

 

Even as far back as the early to late 80s it was plainly obvious to most people that I had "problems", don't get me started on the level of bullying I suffered back then.

 

 

That's not unusual. I've certainly known adults in their 50s diagnosed with autism. It was a revelation to them to know this as once they knew, so many things fit into place.