The Government has won mixed reviews for its response to a report on special educational needs by an influential committee of MPs. The response outlined plans for more training for SEN co-ordinators within schools, for local authorities on SEN provision and the need for more independence for officers who provide special needs. But Barry Shearman MP, chairman of the Education and Skills Select Committee, said he was extremely disappointed that the Government had failed to properly address issues in the committee’s report publishes in July. Tara Flood, director of the Alliance for Inclusive Education, said she was ‘disappointed but not surprised’ about the Government’s call for a range of SEN provision, including ‘special’ schools, which she felt was not in line with its inclusion policy.
Disability Now, November 1, 2006

Governors from Bexley schools were brought up to speed this week on plans to shake-up the borough’s provision for special needs pupils. The proposals could mean more children with special educational needs in mainstream schools. The Consultation ends on November 15 and if proposals are agreed the plans could be put into action over the next three years.
KM Extra (Bexley), November 10, 2006

A mother in Bedfordshire has launched a controversial legal action against a school alleging that her six-year-old daughter was physically restrained repeatedly by staff at her primary school. Jade Chambers, who understands language at the level of a child half her age, was held down or ‘handled’ at least 25 times by staff over a six week period, according to her mother, Michelle, who was told nothing about what was happening. Next month Michelle Chambers will launch a landmark tribunal case when she accuses the local authority and Heathwood Lower School in Leighton Buzzard of discriminating against Jade who has special educational needs. In a case which will reignite the debate around how far teachers should be allowed to use physical force with children who are misbehaving, the local authority will say staff did nothing wrong. Force was only used as a last resort, where necessary, they will argue.
Observer, November 12, 2006

Placing children with special needs in mainstream schools is the norm, but what happens if the teachers struggle to give them the extra help they need? The March Foundation based at Dogmersfield, near Oldham, aims to give schools the support they need. The foundation takes children with special needs on residential trips. They work on the principle that by taking children out of their school environment, even for a short time, it can drastically help with their development and improve self-esteem. Robert Glossop, co-founder of the charity, said: ‘We work to draw out their individual talents on these trips and they soon realise they can achieve things they never thought possible before. Self-esteem is one of the main benefits. They are different people as soon as they get on that mini-bus.’
Aldershot Mail, November 14, 2006

Plans to dramatically reduce the number of special schools in North Yorkshire are set to go ahead, despite concerns from some parents. Councillors will be asked to approve plans to close two schools and merge others cutting the overall number from 11 to seven. The move is part of a long-term plan to place more children with special needs in mainstream schools supported by specialist staff. Cynthia Welbourn, director of the county’s children and young people’s service said: ‘There is not question of us either forcing children into special schools or mainstream schools’. She added that the time scales involved would mean no children already in special schools having to be moved. The Council would review how placements into mainstream schools were going before’re-shaping’ of special schools started. Under the plans 31 primary and secondary schools have been identified which could cater for children with special needs.
Yorkshire Post, November 15, 2006

All five secondary schools in the Isle of Man will be able to accommodate students with special needs when a new unit opens at St. Ninian’s High School, Douglas. The unit, part of an extension to St. Ninian’s, includes two good sized classrooms, a multi-sensory area and a life-skills facility. Derek Norton, deputy head of the DoE’s special needs and psychology service said that the unit would be used flexibly with some pupils being supported in their subject classes and others requiring more specialist support being taught within the unit itself.
Isle of Man Examiner, November 28, 2006