In Don't Send Him in Tomorrow, Jarlath O'Brien shines a light on
the marginalised, disenfranchised and forgotten children of today's
schools. The percentage of children achieving the government's
expected standard in benchmark tests is national news every year.
The progress that children with learning difficulties and SEN make
is never discussed, because it is not understood. That is a
problem. The bone-crushing infrastructure which professionals have
to negotiate is a problem. The fact that so many parents have to
fight tooth and nail so that the needs of their children are met,
something the rest of us would consider a basic entitlement, is a
problem. This book describes how the system and can be improved if
and when these marginalised children are given higher priority by
the powers that be. There is a widespread lack of understanding
about special schools, the work they do, and the children they
educate - the sector is largely invisible. Jarlath O'Brien has
become increasingly frustrated by this, and the varying quality of
provision for children with learning difficulties and SEN in
mainstream schools.The successes of special schools and pupil
referral units in Ofsted inspections are just not celebrated or
analysed in the same way that mainstream schools' are. While,
mainstream schools have their hands tied by fears over progress
measures. There is a human cost to the accountability culture that
reduces schooling to data and judgements: this is felt most
profoundly by children with SEN and their families. Jarlath shares
some of the problems he's witnessed with inclusion and exclusion:
mainstream schools actively encouraging children with SEN to look
elsewhere, parents reporting their children have been formally or
informally excluded from school and socially excluded by the
parents of other children, children asked to leave their mainstream
schools because of their behaviour - usually behaviour that is
caused by their needs not being adequately addressed, children who
are in school but isolated from their peers. If a child can't
participate in activities or trips with the rest of the class, or
spends much of the day working one-to-one with a teaching
assistant, is this really inclusion?The Pupil Premium has been
established to ensure that children in receipt of free school meals
are not disadvantaged - why does something similar not exist for
children with SEN?Every health and wealth indicator that you could
use to measure people with learning difficulties and special
educational needs (SEN) reveals something alarming. They die
younger. They work less. They are more likely to live in poverty or
end up in prison or face mental health difficulties. They are much
more likely to be excluded from school. They are more likely to be
bullied at school. This has to end. We all have to choose to commit
to recognising that society, as it is today, is a difficult place
for young people to thrive. When you have autism, or Down syndrome,
or any physical or learning difference, it's even harder - and the
system as it stands isn't helping. We need to acknowledge that this
is not right; that such a state of affairs must change; and that we
all have a part to play in making that change happen. Jarlath
offers suggestions for politicians, Ofsted, local authorities, head
teachers, SENCos, teachers and teaching assistants about what they
can do to make a difference.For all politicians, head teachers,
SENCOs, teachers and parents.
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