what the feck are we to do about he lack of specialist schools?

[mercurymaze]

in the news this week so many kids without places and mainstream school can't cope.

any suggestions apart from the bleeding obvious?

I think what I find so frustrating is the insistence on age not developmental level driving what provision looks like.

Exactly!!

No ones mentioned another complete fuck up college, so after going through the trials and tribulations of your child going through mainstream with learning difficulties but you convince yourself it’s a good thing socialising etc on to get to gcse age where the chances are they’ll fail them as esp as they’ve become more difficult. So what happens then? They end up in the foundation dept of a college which is a special school for 16+ so your child goes from learning Shakespeare to learning hoovering and you’re left wondering shit what the hell was the point?

Something needs to be done ASAP. These poor children who need specialist schools are frequently getting lost and failed in mainstream education, mainly due to again, a lack of funding and ability to hire the specialised staff.

I teach in a mainstream high school. I have a bottom set year 8 class with 32 pupils.

If those 32, I have one pupil who is deaf to the point they can only lip read or sign. They have a translator in two out of 5 lessons. I have six pupils who have severe social, emotional and mental health issues. Ranging from serious abuse and neglect, to severe learning difficulties. None of those children have support. I have two pupils with asd, one mild, one more severe. This pupil is not able to use a bathroom effectively, and has actually wet themselves mid lesson 4 times since January, Again, no funding for either of these pupils to have any additional support.

It’s so difficult to teach that class, I plan 4 lessons to teach simultaneously. But effectively what happens is there pupils who aren’t getting pushed effectively as I can’t get to them to do it. Then pupils who are basically not getting the support they need to thrive. So no one wins. And it’s devestating to be honest.

Obviously meant devastating*

I was an educated in the UK, I have only done courses and further and Hyridge Acacian here. But even those have been very difficult to access, and people have not been very understanding about my needs. I can understand the lack of funding, but even basic things have gone totally wrong. I have a visual impairment and undiagnosed learning difficulties, the head of the disability department didn't know how to help properly. She was trained in dyslexia, at least one of them, but not in other needs. And I don't think it's just about lack of training, people need to be want to be trained. If you don't want to learn, there's nothing anyone can do about it. The people who work with us need to want to learn how to help us, not just do it to get a salary.

And just to add, educators should remember that disability is a lifelong thing and doesn't just stop at 18. There are many years where we won't be in education, and we need to have whatever skills we can for later on. Specialist school or mainstream. I'm 34, and yes, I do need a lot of support, but a lot of people think of me as a child when I'm not. And if I have the correct support, I can do a hell of a lot. Educators need to keep this in mind, children will grow up one day and then what?

DD1 is in Secondary Special School now, and I have to say that for her, it would be a disaster to be MS, simply for safety reasons. She has had so many incidents so far, already, in year 7, that have needed to be dealt with, and the thought of what they may have been in SS is just blood curdling.

For example, her site is secure, with CCTV. She still managed to climb over the school fence when she got angry with her peers at lunch time. She knew climbing the fence was naughty, but got very angry and wanted to get far away. Thankfully a teacher realised, opened the electronic gate and escorted her back in. When I spoke to the year head, their management plan was completely focused on learning why DD had felt the need to escape the playground (she was angry with peers) and combatting that, as well as preventing further episodes, rather than punishing her. They also did reinforce the rule of no climbing, and warned her that another time may mean exclusion (she didn't understand, so we said 'stay at home with mum').

Another child I know is at MS SS, has SEN, and walked out of the open school grounds after telling a teacher they would do so. That was not taken seriously, until the child was spotted by another member of staff outside school grounds. The proposed reaction was to punish the child because that was policy, despite the child clearly having no understanding of the impact of their actions.

Inclusive education, wherever it is, is about seeing the child and meeting them where they are. Not calling the child and expecting them to come to where you've called them to.

The trouble we've encountered with SS is that it is so generic, so under pressure, the needs are so different and so complex and the support and subsequent skill set so badly under resourced that there is no way any of the kids will make their full potential as it's just firefighting. It feels like we're just "serving time" until the next hurdle.

Kendal I'm actually crying for your DS and you...thank GOD for Patrick but it's only a drop in your son's ocean isn't it? One lad helping him....:(

@Taibrini, I think, as I always find, DD1 is one of the lucky ones. Her SS is quite incredible at always reacting to her outbursts, predicaments, etc., and looking at them in the context of 'what is DD1 communicating to us in this?', then they change her rules/accommodations/teaching/support to reflect that.

CatkinToadflax my dd like yours would not have been able to cope in ms.
i always had a fear of them being "poor little dd"
at the sn school they were just like everyone else, everyone used a wheelchair (ok so dd stood out as she loved to eat lol) but having gone through ms with nt ds....I would pick sn every time. Ms is awful

what is DD1 communicating to us in this?', then they change her rules/accommodations/teaching/support to reflect that

This should Ben standard practice not 'special'

Every pot burst should follow with a
What did we do right
What could we have done better
What changes could we make to prevent/lesson the impact

Then written up and parent advised

I agree Green, but there is no way a ms teacher, like the pp with 32 in one year 8 class, has time to do that on top of everything else. It all comes down to money - there is no way those 32 children should be so poorly supported, yet there doesn’t seem to be any way of squeezing more funding out of the pot.

It was obvious when they shit the majority of special schools hired a bunch on TAs under 'inclusion' that they would eventually be squeezed out because 'teachers didn't have TAs in the 50's' We lost an awful lot of experience.

Not because they had smaller classes full of kids ready and able to learn - a lot of conditions weren't even diagnosed as needing help puls if you were deaf or partially sighted it was a special school without question.

Then we have behavioral issues which takes up a lot of teachers time - it's not good for the child or their class mates (and none of the parent awould dare confront the school - more likely you'd get the same at home)

We should stop trying to squeeze all children into one conforming box and expect them to thrive.

Look at the job market - not all jobs are academic - so why do we push accedemic schools in to every child?

Why not hands on school or forest schools science schools or engineering (whatever) and not turn them off education before they hit year 9

It's all wrong and we are failing more that the SEN kids

My son spent 4 years in mainstream and for most of that time he was on his own with a TA who didn't have enough training in his needs. It was pretty much baby sitting and trying to stop the self harming. After 2 years of fighting the LA he got a place in an independent specialist where he now has a class of 5, weekly SALT and OT and a curriculum specifically for his needs. I wish we could have got him in when he was 4 and that he had never had the trauma of mainstream.

The lack of special schools has had a huge impact on educational standards. Not all children are suited to main stream education . The view that inclusion is the best way forward has meant that resources have been devoted to this , teacher time is spent on children who would be better served through other settings.
Quite often children can attend primary only to find that at secondary they are cannot cope - the only reason primary was possible was due to huge additional help which at times is at the expense of others in their class

Independent special is not always the holy grail though. A number of the ones around me run on supply staff who do not necessarily have and specialist training or experience (I know people who work in them and have done supply in them).

I did not give a permanent job to a supply teacher we had in the setting that I run because they didn't have enough experience to use even basic specialist teaching strategies with the class (even under my guidance- think refusing to implement structure for pupils with autism..), couldn't manage challenging behaviour and was very, very judgemental about the parents. The person went on to become Head of Education at a local Independent. . I have no idea how they train and advise the staff there.

"Independent special is not always the holy grail though."

I think you have to look carefully at any school you are considering and continue to monitor closely when your child goes there.

Agree with you Lowdoor. The one specific independent specialist school that my son goes to is our holy grail - but the other schools in the area would not be. Equally my son's school would not fit the needs of many, many other children. We are very lucky that his school is only an hour away from us, as some pupils have to travel far further for the provision they need.

The one specific independent specialist school that my son goes to is our holy grail - but the other schools in the area would not be.

Maybe unintentional, but there is still the tone there that all of the independent SSs are good, just for different children. That is not the case and some of them are dire for all. Another local one to me (not the one my not-so-great colleague went to lead) recently had to be emptied by County because it was just downright unsafe.

Of course there is rubbish in-county provision near me too, including bases (NOT mine) and a SS where some children are taught only by TAs.

The proportion of complex pupils who actually get really top notch, completely appropriate provision is sadly probably quite small. Vanishingly so in my County, and they wonder why their outcomes are shit

Maybe unintentional, but there is still the tone there that all of the independent SSs are good, just for different children. That is not the case and some of them are dire for all.

Agree - I certainly didn't intend to suggest otherwise and don't think I did.