A new report from the Department of Education and Employment, the National Union of Teachers and Scope shows that all pupils — not just those with disabilities – are benefiting from making schools accessible. Richard Brewster, chief executive of Scope says: ‘The report shows the government was absolutely right to invest so significantly in access to education for disabled children. It is heartening to see that all pupils and teachers at schools funded through the Schools Access Initiative are reaping the rewards from the money spent so far.’
Disability Times, April/May 2001.

Swimming world record holder Elaine Barrett made a big splash at a swimming gala. Barrett, who won a silver and bronze medal at the Sydney Paralympics, demonstrated her prowess in front of pupils from all Bromley’s special schools and seven mainstream schools. Howard Marshall, Bromley council’s advisor for physical education and chairman of the Bromley sport’s school council, said the gala brought mainstream and special schools together in a competitive yet enjoyable event.
Bromley and Beckenham Express, May 2, 2001.

The Special Educational Needs and Disability Bill is due to receive royal assent next week. The bill strengthens the rights of children with special needs in England and Wales to be educated in mainstream schools where the interests of other children can be protected.
Community Care, May 3, 2001.

Many schools are failing children with special educational needs according to the findings of a new survey conducted by Rathbone and Manchester Metropolitan University’s Centre for Inclusive Education and Special Educational Needs. Rathbone embarked on the research after an increasing number of calls from parents indicated that the SEN system in mainstream schools was causing problems. The research involved 572 schools. Joyce Bryan, Rathbone’s advice line co-ordinator said: ‘Although we found pockets of good work, the general picture is a disturbing one of poor communication, lack of parental involvement and lack of appreciation and interest in the views and contributions of committed parents.
Chester Chronicle, May 4, 2001.

Dundee teachers are concerned that changes in arrangements for dealing with disruptive pupils could make matters worse. They argue that if they have to spend more time dealing with challenging pupils, time they spend with well-behaved pupils eager to learn will suffer. Under proposals by Dundee Education Department, schools would do more to keep SEBD pupils in the mainstream with help from a range of specialist teachers. Off-site units for pupils with severe problems would still exist but no pupil would be placed in such a centre for more than 12 weeks and they would be expected to return to their mainstream schools.
Dundee Courier and Advertiser, May 8, 2001.

In a letter to the Editor, staff at the School of the Good Shepherd in Liverpool which is under threat of closure say that their pupils could not cope within a mainstream school because of their problems and would be isolated if placed in a ‘unit’ alongside a mainstream school. According to the staff: ‘In our opinion, failure of a child in an inclusive setting is the worst kind of exclusion.’
Liverpool Echo, May 9, 2001.

Increasing numbers of schools will soon have to reassess their attitudes to disabled children when the Special Education Needs and Disability Bill becomes law in September. Richard Rieser, director of the charity Disability Equality in Education, is working with schools and colleges to train staff in preparation for the reforms. He believes that only one or two per cent. of the country’s 24,000 schools are ready to cope with the changes brought by the Bill. ‘The Bill will mean real change for many schools,’ he said. ‘Historically, some schools have simply taken on inclusion but even more have not. They have just told parents of a child with special needs, ‘we can’t take you but we know of a school down that road that can’, so there has been a clustering effect. The old idea was that the child with special needs had a problem. The solution was to diagnose the problem and support the child in order to cope with it. The new way of thinking starts from the premise that every child has the right to attend their local school. The school must look to see what are the barriers keeping that child out and work to remove them’.
The Independent, May 10 2001.

A special school threatened with closure is to be visited by inspectors. The team from the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) will conduct a full five-day study of Bownham Park in Stroud later this month. Meanwhile teachers and parents are still waiting to here about the school’s future under Gloucestershire County Council’s plans to reorganise special education in the area. The government-appointed adjudicator who will decide Bownham Park’s fate is expected to give a decision within a month. Graham Barton, chair of the Special School Protection League, said the inspection was the ‘cruellest irony’ for staff already struggling to maintain morale.
Gloucestershire Echo, May 10, 2001.

Parents have formed an action group to make sure pupils with severe medical problems get what they need. Western Park School parents claim that Leicester City Council proposals for changes to the special education service would put the lives of children with severe medical needs in danger. Pete Rodwell, action group chair, said proposals in the council consultation document did not take sufficient account of medically delicate children. The proposed shake-up aims to transfer most children currently in the city’s nine special schools to mainstream schools. Mr. Rodwell said it was unacceptable that the only guidance on how medically-delicate children’s needs would be met in mainstream was a statement that teachers would be offered training to give medication on a voluntary basis. Western Park head, Jane Booth, said: ‘I understand parents’ concerns and feel confident we can work with the LEA to ensure their views are considered as part of the consultation.’
Leicester Mercury, May 17, 2001.

The Indian government is to abandon separate education for disabled children and has asked all states to integrate such pupils into mainstream schools by the next academic year. The dramatic change of policy could eventually raise the number of disabled children in school in India by 30 million. Ninety-eight per cent. of disabled children do not go to school. Most Indian schools use various pretexts to refuse admission to children with any form of disability. There are only 2,000 special schools, of which 500 get a Government grant and the rest are run by voluntary agencies. While educationalists have welcomed the move to integrate disabled children into mainstream they have asked the government to look into the needs of these children carefully. Little progress has so far been achieved on 1995 legislation to give disabled children access to mainstream schools and other educational programmes.
Times Educational Supplement, May 18, 2001.

Barking and Dagenham Council is one of five local authorities accused of operating a blanket policy on special needs by refusing to specify the extent of additional help available to children with special educational needs. Other authorities being investigated by the Department for Education and Employment are Derbyshire, Essex and Kent. Officials have already written to Barnet telling the Council it needs to change the way it writes statements to comply with the law. Derbyshire and Essex are believed to have been cleared of acting unlawfully by the DfEE and inquiries into the actions of Barking and Dagenham and Kent are said to be continuing. All four authorities deny operating blanket policies. More than 250,000 children have special needs severe enough to warrant a statement setting out the extra help they should be given. Although the law does not require LEAs to specify the number of hours of additional provision each child should receive, it says the need should be assessed separately and provision quantified where necessary. The number of children in England with statements has increased by 45,000 since the general election. New figures from the DfEE this week show that in January 2001, 261,000 pupils had statements compared to 253,000 last year. More are also being educated in mainstream schools, 61 per cent. this year, compared to 57 per cent. in 1997.
Times Educational Supplement , May 18, 2001.

Parents of children at a school for children with physical disabilities which has been threatened with closure, were granted permission to mount a judicial review to challenge the decision by a high court judge last week. Lambeth Council wants to merge Thurlow Park Special School in south London with three other special schools in the area, including two that cater for children with severe difficulties.
Community Care, May 24, 2001.