Schoolchildren with epilepsy could be given extra support in the classroom thanks to a team of specialist teachers. The highly trained staff would help boost the confidence of youngsters with this condition. And they would aim to remove the stigma surrounding epilepsy by educating other pupils about the illness. The proposals are outlined in a motion drawn up by the Linwood branch of the Scottish National Party which should be debated at the party’s annual conference at the end of this month.
Paisley Daily Express, September 6, 2004.
Headteachers are coming under increasing pressure to make their schools more inclusive. Ministers are currently considering revised national standards which place much greater emphasis on the role of heads in making their schools suitable for children with special needs. Personal qualities include being committed to ‘inclusion and the ability and right of all to be the best they can be’, say the proposed new standards expected to be published soon. The National College for School Leadership is bringing in a new SEN module to its headteacher induction programme to develop heads’ skills and knowledge in these areas.
Times Educational Supplement, September 10, 2004.
A teenager with special educational needs has been told he must stay in a mainstream school, even though he barely manages to attend because of his problems. Tim Marchant’s parents are at their wits end after a tribunal ruled their son who has multiple conditions, would have to stay at the Ridings High School, at Winterbourne. Tim, aged 14, suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder – a form of autism, dyslexia, balance problems and other difficulties. Russell and Debra Marchant said Tim had been sent home from school so many times because of his behaviour he only spent only 11 days in class during a recent 11-week period. But South Gloucestershire Council, Tim’s local education authority, and an independent tribunal, have both ruled he should stay at the Ridings.
Bristol Evening Post (Final), September 13, 2004.
British Blind Sport Athletics (BBSA) is warning that Britain’s inclusive education policy is making it more difficult to train the next generation of paralympians. While special schools made it easy for organisations like BBSA to identify potential athletes, educational inclusion has dispersed young disabled people into mainstream schools and made it harder to talent spot, says BBSA chairman, Tim Green. Education authorities, he says, are obstructive, quoting the Data Protection Act, when they are approached for contact details of visually impaired pupils. There are signs too that many mainstream schools fail to develop disabled pupils’ sporting interests. A 2002 Sport England Survey of participation in sport revealed that 36 per cent of disabled 6 to16-year-olds had not taken part in sport frequently, compared with 20 per cent. of the under-16-year-old able-bodied population. Only one in five of disabled young people had spent more than two hours a week in physical education.
The Guardian (Society), September 24, 2004.
The Youth Justice Board’s 2004 Youth Survey, published in July, revealed that 60 per cent of young people excluded from school have offended. This compares starkly with the 26 per cent of young people in mainstream education who commit a crime. Excluding a child or young person from school arguably contributes to the same disaffection that can foster offending behaviour. Exclusion is linked with poverty, low literacy levels and overall social exclusion. While children from better-off backgrounds may only skip the odd class, it is often the most disadvantaged pupils who find themselves permanently barred from school.
Community Care, September 30, 2004.
