NUT general secretary Doug McAvoy has welcomed the Government’s announcement of its SEN and Disability in Education Bill and of an extra £220m over three years for the Schools Access Initiative. However, the Union warned that inclusion of disabled pupils in mainstream schools would only work if specific criteria were met and there were some children for whom special schools would continue to be appropriate.
The Teacher, December 2000.

As a Government overhaul of special needs comes into force, Cornish schools are finding they are one step ahead of the recent policy changes. The county has been unique in choosing to educate children with physical disabilities and special educational needs in mainstream schools wherever possible. The Cornish approach to special needs education is applauded as one which was ahead of its time. ‘People in Cornwall had great vision to establish inclusive provision for special needs children,’ said Geoff Hogg, head of individual needs policy for Cornwall.
Western Morning News (Devon), December 4, 2000.

A teacher forced to cope single-handedly with 11 special needs and disturbed children in a mainstream class has been awarded a record £254,362 compensation for stress. Jan Howell suffered two mental breakdowns and was forced to retire on medical grounds at 46. Speaking yesterday about her ordeal Mrs. Howell warned that there were thousands of other teachers ‘just as needy’, struggling to integrate special needs and disturbed children without the necessary resources. Among the 11 special needs pupils in her class of 28 were a 10-year-old boy with behaviour problems who had previously been excluded from two other schools and many who spoke English as a second language. She claimed she had been told to teach English to two Ethiopian refugee children – a brother and a sister – in her spare time.
Daily Telegraph, December 5, 2000.

Rossendale’s ‘worst’ school has hit back at education league tables that have left it with the reputation of failure. Shock results this week dumped St. Anne’s CE Primary School at the bottom of Rossendale’s table of achievement after years of comfortable mid-table performance. Headteacher Mary Livesey, said seven of 15 children tested for the tables had special educational needs – typically dyslexic or with other learning difficulties. Governors feared the Edgeside school would be tarnished with a low-achievement tag which would take years to shake off. According to Mrs. Livesey: ‘We see a very different picture of achievement when we look behind these details’. And Dick Stuart, a governor for ten years, said: ‘These results are unfair and misleading and I dislike these tables intensely. This school is anything but awful. Our children achieve as much as they can.’
Rossendale Free Press, December 8, 2000.

Single mother Karen Hart claimed today she was forced to withdraw her teenage daughter from mainstream education because the partially-sighted youngster could not cope at school. But Oxfordshire education bosses say they have done everything possible to cater for the special needs of Kayleigh, 15. Ms. Hart has been trying to teach her daughter but is struggling to cover the cost of correspondence courses for her GCSEs. She said: ‘Kayleigh’s confidence was smashed when she went to two mainstream comprehensive schools. She would not be able to cope in a formal classroom.’
Oxford Mail, December 13, 2000.

Sheffield Education Department is taking a step towards tackling official criticism with a publication of a blueprint for breaking down barriers in city schools. The strategy aims to set out workable procedures for educating as many youngsters as possible in mainstream schools, making allowances for any special needs, disabilities or learning difficulties they may have. Special educational needs was a heavily criticised area in this year’s Ofsted report on the LEA. The new procedures should be introduced over the next five years, making it easier for youngsters with difficulties to be educated in mainstream schools and to achieve their full potential. New funding arrangements will encourage schools to cater for pupils who have particular needs or problems rather than excluding them or going through the costly and time consuming process of having them statemented. At present children with statements of special educational need attract extra funding but new procedures should give schools the money automatically.
Sheffield Telegraph, December 15, 2000.

Teenager Kimbeley Jhally may have learning difficulties but she refuses to let them hold her back. The 15-year-old pupil at Orchard School in Canterbury has just been elected to the UK Youth Parliament and has already spoken in the House of Commons. Her manifesto includes hard-hitting issues such as tackling drug and alcohol abuse among young people and stamping down hard on pollution. Kimberley will represent Canterbury and Swale area for the coming year and is keen to find out what 11-to-18-year-olds in her constituency think. ‘I want to try and hold a meeting at school to find out what local children want and how I can help them,’ she said. ‘I have learning difficulties and have trouble with reading and writing but I am determined never to let that stop me doing things.’
Herne Bay Gazette, December 20, 2000.

A teaching union is warning that plans to cut special needs posts in Nottinghamshire will increase teacher stress and parent dissatisfaction. The county council is consulting on proposals to cut by a third the number of special needs support teachers who help pupils in special and mainstream schools with a range of disabilities and learning difficulties. The money saved from the cuts is expected to release more money to enhance special needs provision in mainstream. But the NASUWT insists that will not only put more pressure on mainstream schools but will ‘hasten the demise’ of special schools. There are also concerns that the introduction of classroom assistants to replace lost support staff will not provide the same quality of education.
Mansfield Chad, December 20, 2000.

A four-year plan to improve provision for Lincolnshire children with special educational needs has been approved by councillors. The document has been produced by education professionals and is designed to provide a coherent framework for developments of SEN in Lincolnshire. Priorities include recognising special needs work as part of the central objective of raising achievement and standards for all pupils and promoting a more inclusive educational system involving all phases and types of schools.
Lincolnshire Echo, December 21, 2000.

Secondary schools are struggling to cope with a large increase in the number of children assessed as having special educational needs, headteachers said today. The number of children with statements has risen by an average 16.7per cent. over the last three years, said the Secondary Heads Association. Geoff Price, head of Warwick Road Special School, in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, said: ‘We must ensure that inclusion is phased and paced so as to be manageable for schools. With adequate resources and a realistic timetable we can establish successful practice, but there is a danger that we overload the process of change by trying to do too much too soon.’ The Department for Education and Employment said that the increase in the number of pupils with statements in England reflected the overall rise in the number of children attending secondary schools. The total percentage had increased only slightly from 2.3 to 2.5 per cent. since January 1997. Cash earmarked for helping such youngsters will rise from £27m to £82m next year and the Government was providing £220m to schools to improve access for the disabled.
Newcastle Upon Tyne Journal, December 22, 2000.