A number of Cambridge University academics say the NUT report on inclusion undermines the dignity of children and teachers. Writing in the Times Education Supplement, they say: “A policy of inclusion is generally understood around the world as part of a human rights agenda. We in the special needs and inclusion team at the faculty of education, Cambridge University, support this policy as an integral aspect of schooling that acknowledges the shared humanity of all learners … While ‘special needs education’ is defined as providing something ‘additional to’ or ‘different from’ that which is otherwise available in school, inclusive education challenges complacency about what is not ‘otherwise available’ and calls for new ways of working for the benefit of all.”
Times Educational Supplement, June 2, 2006

Hundreds of children with autism and Asperger Syndrome could be condemned to years of school isolation by a ‘watered down’ overhaul of special needs education in Norfolk, it was claimed last night. Campaigners say a blueprint for change has left out many crucial points that could boost schooling for youngsters with the two conditions. But education chiefs defended the consultation document and pledged to continue to improve special needs provision in the county. The campaigners said that key areas for success seemed to have been forgotten about in the blueprint. Areas that needed to be addressed included: lack of accurate and consistent data, inequality of access to provision, lack of co-ordination and consistency of support, the need to train all school staff to give them a minimum level of knowledge, and reducing the need to place pupils in specialist centres out of the county.
Eastern Daily Press, June 13, 2006

Children in Ryedale with special needs and behaviour difficulties will soon be getting an improved education package. North Yorkshire County Council is consulting with the public over the best way to create more local specialist services. County Councillor Caroline Patmore, executive member for children and young peoples’ services said: ‘We are committed to updating and renewing our special schools so that they are modern and fit for the 21st century. We are also proposing a whole raft of new provisions in mainstream schools so that more parents of children with severe and complex needs, such as autism, can choose high quality mainstream provision if they wish.’
Malton and Pickering Mercury, June 14, 2006

The resignation of Tony Manwaring, the embattled chief executive of cerebral palsy charity Scope, was not unexpected. For the past 12 months, rumours have been circulating that he was about to resign or be sacked. Last week Scope confirmed what had been the subject of a fresh outbreak of gossip: the man who set out to reform and transform one of Britain’s best known charities had departed. The Press statement said that he had completed many of the objectives of a three year programme of reform and renewal. But for many in the world of disability charities this was not the full story. Rachel Hurst, the founder of Disability Awareness in Action, claims that Manwaring has upset the ‘able-bodied’ status quo. ‘What he was trying to do was unique and he has a grasp of disability rights that is rarely seen in an able-bodied person. As far as I can see, he was supporting disabled people, rather than providing services they did not want and that were keeping them on the sidelines of society.’
The Guardian, June 14, 2006

Worried teachers today claimed that they would not be able to cope if hundreds of special needs children moved to mainstream schools as part of council plans. Earlier this week the Evening News reported on radical plans that could mean more youngsters are educated in mainstream schools. Norfolk County Council is proposing a school-based network of specialist units for youngsters with a range of problems including autism, hearing and sight loss and learning difficulties. Education officers hope more parents will choose mainstream but insist that children will not be forced against their wishes to integrate into the schools.
Evening News, Norwich, June 22, 2006

A school forced to fight a three-year battle after suspending a pupil for spitting in a teacher’s face has finally won its case – at a cost of £100,000 to the taxpayer. The parents of the 17-year-old boy took action against the comprehensive for sending him home after he attacked a male teacher. But the Court of Appeal has finally backed the school’s right to exclude the troublemaker. The boy was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperacitivy Disorder after he was suspended and the parents took the case to a tribunal, alleging discrimination. The Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal twice backed the school. But on each occasion the parents appealed to the High Court and the decisions were overturned. Then at a third hearing the tribunal backed the parents and ordered the governors to apologise – so the school appealed to the High Court. Now that court has overturned the tribunal decision. Mr Justice Crane said it was defective because the school did not know about the boy’s disability when it suspended him.
Daily Mail, June 24, 2006

Efforts to integrate sign language into day-to-day activities at a Sutton Coldfield school have been praised in a glowing inspection report from education watchdog OFSTED. Mere Green Combined School for children aged three to 11 has been rated as ‘good and improving’. Around a third of the 215 pupils have special educational needs, 38 with a statement of special needs. Twenty-eight are taught in the school’s speech and language resource base, and sign language is used to improve the quality of lessons for all children including those with communication difficulties. In the report, inspectors said that academic standards had ‘risen sharply’ in the last year and that pupils ‘behaved exceptionally well’ as a result of ‘good care, guidance and support’.
Sutton Coldfield News, June 30, 2006

Angry parents clashed with council officers at Bedale on Tuesday over a radical review of the special educational needs service in North Yorkshire. Senior education officers were repeatedly interrupted as they tried to explain proposals which could see the number of special schools in the county reduced from 11 to 6 and more integration of pupils into mainstream schools. Almost 200 parents of children at Mowbray School, Bedale, attended a three-hour meeting at which it was claimed the centre, regarded as highly successful, would suffer under new plans, designed to be phased in over ten years. The county council insisted it had not launched a cost-cutting exercise but was responding to Government requirements to remove education barriers. It said its proposals, involving an investment of £50m, would offer greater choice to parents of children with moderate or severe learning difficulties while maintaining opportunities for pupils with more profound problems.
Darlington and Stockton Times, June 30, 2006