A new £70 million boost to improve facilities and access for disabled pupils in mainstream schools has been announced by the Government. This is the second phase of the £220 million Schools Access Initiative, which represents a seven-fold increase in the funding for disability access since 1996-97. The money will be used to fund a wide range of improvements, such a ramps, lifts and easy-to-open doors for children with mobility problems, enhanced paint schemes and adjustable lighting for partially sighted children, acoustic loops and tiling of classrooms for deaf children. It will also be used to buy information and communications technology equipment to benefit children with a range of disabilities.
Special, July 1, 2002.

A disabled student who came top of his class is planning to boycott his own graduation ceremony because of its wheelchair facilities. Mature student, Mark Womersley, is unhappy abut using a ramp at the rear of the stage when he receives his media studies diploma at the University of East Anglia on Thursday. While other students make their way on to the stage in front of friends and family, Mr Womersley will have to wait behind a curtain at the back before he is presented with his hard-earned certificate. Mr. Womersley, 34, who was the only person in is class to achieve a First after five years of studies, said he believed he was being singled out because of his disability.
Evening News (Norwich), July 3, 2002.

Governors are at odds with their own head teacher in a row over the treatment of a disabled pupil. Some governors at Carlton Primary, Barnsley, wanted to discipline head teacher, Anthea Traves, over alleged ‘inappropriate behaviour’ towards Samantha Norton, ten, who has cerebral palsy and learning difficulties. Her parents, Darren and Louise, claim that Mrs Traves has been making unpleasant remarks about her slavering and fidgeting – caused by her disability – and has implemented a behaviour chart which only notes negative actions, such as shouting and crying. At a meeting with the head teacher and Mr. Norton, the governors agreed that Samantha’s treatment was inappropriate and that she was subject to closer scrutiny than other children would normally be. But chairman of the governors, Roy Fellows, has been told by the education authority that he can not take further action against Mrs Traves. Mr and Mrs. Norton are now considering taking their concerns further by contacting the Secretary of State for Education.
Barnsley Chronicle, July 5, 2002.

Parents fighting to keep a Poole special school open were meeting with education chiefs today as part of a move to find ‘common ground’. As part of a £5 million proposal to develop new and existing facilities in the Rossmore area it was planned to shut Winchelsea School and relocate pupils into centres in mainstream schools. Terry Finn, the council’s project officer for the Rossmore scheme, said: ‘We have listened to the parents and we have heard what they are saying and we have gone away and done some work to put together proposals which fit the criteria of the Department of Education and Skills’. He added that the parents and the LEA both wanted what was best for both the children at the special school and those in other local schools.
Daily Echo (Bournemouth), July 8, 2002.

A teacher at an Aberdeen special-needs school who was sacked after a pupil complained he had bent his arm up his back and broken it, has been awarded £32,507 compensation after winning his claim for unfair dismissal. Andrew Porter, 32, a learning support teacher at Oakbank School was sacked for gross misconduct after rescuing a colleague pinned down on the floor by a pupil.
Aberdeen Press and Journal, July 9, 2002.

A Southport mother fears there will not be adequate care for her disabled daughter when she goes to full time school in September. Charlotte Ogden, 5, has cerebral palsy and is unable to walk or talk. She has been a part-time pupil at Birkdale Primary School for the past two years but now, as she moves on to full-time education, Charlotte faces the prospect of not having a carer with her all day. Although she has been offered a full-time place in the school, her mother, Tracey, is not prepared to accept it unless there is adequate care for her.
Southport Visitor, July 12, 2002.

Manchester education chiefs have decided they will close six schools for children with special needs, despite a six months battle by parents to keep them open. The council’s executive committee gave the final go-ahead for closure, bringing to an end a debate that has split the council. Now Castlefield Primary School for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties will close in August 2003. That will be followed, subject to public consultation, by the closure of three primary schools for children with moderate learning difficulties — Woodside, Gorton Brook and Richmond Park — and two secondary schools for children with moderate learning difficulties — Medlock Valley and Roundwood — 12 months later. The city’s young people’s scrutiny committee will monitor schools during the closure programme.
Manchester Metro News, July 12, 2002.

An autistic schoolboy declared too bright to attend specialist schools has been left with nowhere to go after being expelled from a mainstream school in Grimsby. Haydn Hackfath’s family had attempted for months to gain the eight-year-old the maximum amount of one-to-one care at South Parade Junior School. Last week came the news that North East Lincolnshire Council would provide 32 hours of one-on-one classroom assistant provision at the schools instead of the previous 27 hours. But just a day after the battle was won, Haydn was excluded from school, meaning he faces an uncertain future in an education system which is mother, Jayne, says does not cater for him.
Grimsby Telegraph, July 20, 2002.

Police officers will be based at four Westminster, London, schools to stop youngsters going off the rails. Government funding of £1.5 million will be poured into a behaviour improvement programme to tackle truancy, street crime and the number of youngsters excluded from school. Pimlico School, North Westminster Community School, St. George’s, and St. Augustine’s School will all get one of the new Behaviour and Education Support Teams (BEST) set up by Westminster Council. The teams aim to stop problem or ‘at-risk’ pupils from dropping out of the education system and will be staffed by learning mentors and education welfare officers in addition to the designated police officers.
Westminster and Pimlico News, July 25, 2002.

Children from Manchester schools played a crucial role in the spectacular opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games sending a clear message that the city was ready to host an event on this scale. According to education officials, beneath the pomp and grandeur of the ceremony was a lesson about the importance of inclusion in schools. For dozens of the children taking centre stage in the meticulously planned event at the City of Manchester Stadium had learning difficulties or physical difficulties. While the city’s education chiefs prepare to embark on a programme to close a number of special schools, they point to the participation of youngsters in the stunning ceremony as proof that inclusion works in and out of the classroom. Youngsters in a special school faced the same audition process as youngsters in mainstream schools and than a gruelling timetable of rehearsals. Head teacher, Jenny Andrews, said: ‘These games had such a focus on inclusion being the first games where disabled and able-bodied competed in the same arena. The organisers’ expectations and our expectations were that the children would do what they were asked to do and that they would do it well. This is about recognising that everyone is able to contribute’.
Manchester Evening News, July 31,2002.