Douglas Silas,
Specialist SEN Solicitor 28th June 2021
I think that we probably need to learn to communicate properly again..
True communication, unfortunately, seems to be a bit of a dying art these days. Ironic isn't it, when the world that we now are currently living in has given us so many new forms of communication, like email, social media, etc. I sometime feel that people seem now to be drowning in so much communication 'noise' that they probably currently find it incredibly hard and time-consuming to actually find the 'signal' that they truly want to hear. Communication is also a two-way thing. Unfortunately, too many people see it (probably subconsciously) as a one-way thing, by truly believing that another person is going to be more interested in listening to what they have to say, than what the other person is saying to them. Really listening to someone (people often call it 'active listening') is more than just letting someone say to you what they want to say and then telling them what you want to say to them, especially if you actually have really been spending your time formulating in your mind what you want to say whilst they have been speaking and therefore not listening to them properly at all! Also, be careful not to always respond too quickly to something that someone else is saying to you - please be very wary of this, as they may, in fact, be going in a completely different direction than you at first thought and so then be ending up in a completely different place to where you think they were at first going. So what you were thinking about saying in response to them would be wrong anyway. And let me leave you with just one final thought today - remember that we have two ears and one mouth for a reason - it shows that we should be listening twice as much as we should be speaking!
In this week's SEN Update, you will find sections entitled:
I know how busy everyone always is, so please feel free just to read the sections that are of interest to you or read everything; the choice is always yours.
Don’t forget, to ensure that you never miss one, you can get my SEN Updates personally by completing your email details above,
or by following me on one of the social media platforms I use (i.e. Twitter/Facebook). You can also share this SEN Update with others (please only do so if it may be relevant to them) by using one of the icons, usually to the right or at the bottom of this page.
ANNUAL SEN STATISTICS
As you may know, it is about this time of year (a bit later I think this year) that the Department for Education (DfE) publishes its national statistics on SEN. It is again entitled: 'Special educational needs in England' and says in its introduction: "This publication combines information from the school census, school level annual school census, general hospital school census and alternative provision census on pupils with special educational needs (SEN). The publication includes breakdowns by type of SEN provision (either SEN support or EHC plan), type of SEN, age, national curriculum year group, gender, ethnicity, English as a first language and free school meal eligibility. While schools were only open for vulnerable children and the children of key workers on census day, schools were asked to record pupils on roll as if in normal circumstances.' It helpfully highlights two headline facts and figures for 2020/21 as:
and adds:
There are 5 files you can then download, as follows:
Or you can download:
There are also separate individual sections on:
If this is something of interest to you, you can read everything here.
SUMMER SCHOOLS
Again, Vicky Ford, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families, has this week written: 'An Open Letter to Leaders Of Special And Alternative Provision Schools' about summer schools , which says: '"Dear Colleagues, As we approach the end of one of the most challenging and extraordinary academic years in recent history, I wanted to write to you to extend my thanks for your continued dedication. The dedication and adaptability which you and your staff members have shown in uncertain circumstances never fails to amaze me. It has been invaluable in enabling some of the most vulnerable children and young people in special settings and AP across England to attend and re-engage in education, spending as much time in school as possible. As we look ahead to the summer holiday, I am sure that many of you will all be looking forward to the opportunity for a well-deserved rest. I wish you all the best and hope that you and yours have a pleasant time wherever you choose to spend it. I am, however, conscious that many of you are already thinking about how the children and young people that attend your settings can be best supported throughout the summer holiday. I want to use this opportunity therefore to remind you of two key areas of support which the government is offering this summer to pupils in your settings and ask for your cooperation: 1. Summer schools - Firstly, I would like to draw your attention to the £200m of funding which is available for secondary schools to deliver face-to-face summer schools this year to support children with their mental health and wellbeing and to catch up on missed face-to-face learning. For pupils in your settings (special schools, AP or special units in mainstream schools) funding is £1791 per pupil (3x the standard rate) for a two-week summer school (or £179.10 per day). This is in recognition of the importance and increased costs of providing high-quality support for pupils with additional or complex needs and ensuring that they can access the same opportunities as their peers in mainstream settings. Funding for your settings has now been calculated on the basis of 50% of your year 11 cohort, in recognition that your settings generally have few year 7 pupils. For any special settings or AP whose year 7 cohort is larger than their year 11 cohort, those schools’ initial funding allocations will stand. If you haven’t yet decided whether your setting will be running a summer school, I recommend visiting the GOV.UK page, where you can find published guidance and the funding allocation for your setting. The guidance also includes links to potential sources of support in planning and delivering a summer school. You can then confirm whether you will be running a summer school and secure your funding allocation here by 30 June. 2. Holiday Activities and Food – Secondly, I want to remind you of the Holiday Activities and Food programme which will be running once again this summer. We have made up to £220 million available to local authorities to coordinate free holiday provision, providing nutritious food, as well as activities like arts and crafts, sport, and music. The programme offers free places to children in receipt of free school meals in every local authority in England. Local authorities have flexibility to expand the reach of their programme beyond children who are eligible for free school meals, by using their funding to provide subsidised holiday club places. This may include children who are considered by the local authority as vulnerable or in need of this provision. Please contact your local authority for further information and consider advertising this to children and young people in your settings. I myself saw first-hand how local partnerships helped to deliver these excellent schemes last summer. Finally, I would again like to express my appreciation for your continued support, patience and dedication whilst we navigate through these challenging times. Yours sincerely, Vicky Ford MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families"
ATEST NEWS ONLINE
In terms of the other news, here are a few articles that I found of interest: Is the DfE deliberately ignoring pupils with SEND? Quarter of a million children in England missed school last week due to Covid Our defences are not ready for this tsunami SEND referrals
Again, aside from clicking on the relevant links for more information, I would also remind you of the very useful resources and information provided on the following websites:
- IPSEA - Council for Disabled Children - Contact - Scope - Special Needs Jungle I would also highlight again the fact that you can now get a digital copy of the magazine: Autism Eye which is very helpful to any parents or professionals involved with children/young people with Autism. Keep safe until next week. With best wishes Douglas
P.S. I understand that there are many educational items, news articles, or other useful resources on the web, so I would be very grateful if you could let me know of any that you find that you think that others may find useful, so that I can direct people to them.
How useful do you find my SEN Updates?
Created with Quiz Maker
Douglas Silas,
Specialist SEN Solicitor 21st June 2021
Your first reaction is always emotional…
Your first reaction to anything is always an emotional response - it is just human nature, we cannot hide our true initial feelings about anything when we are caught off-guard and not expecting something to happen. We need to realise that this is the same for every one. Some people's initial reactions to things (even just after a few milliseconds), especially when they are upset or angry, is often to try to be a bit 'passive/aggressive' and therefore try to look as though they are fine with things that have happened or been said. However, even though their response might at first seem alright to you or others, their body language, or the deeper and true meaning behind their words, usually gives them away; if you look close enough and pay proper attention to things. If you are really good, you will then be able to see their true and immediate reaction, even if it is very fleeting (called a 'micro-expression'), before they try to cover-up how they truly feel, using the words that they say. And remember, on some rare occasions, you come across people who may be 'passive/passive', but more often you will come across people who seem 'aggressive/aggressive'! But the real reason for me wanting to tell you all of this, is to try and highlight for you that it is our own reactions to things immediately that are also our emotional ones. We can try as best we can to hide them from others, but we should note how we immediately respond to things. We then might find ourselves blaming somebody else for something, only to realise a few seconds later that it was actually our fault, or we may find ourselves criticising somebody or something else, when really we should be the one being criticised, or what we are criticising is just plain wrong! Interesting isn't it? It is fascinating how much insight we can have about others, but how we often don't develop that same level of insight into ourselves and our own reactions to things. So go on, try and catch your own true first reaction to something emotionally - you may be surprised at what you find!
In this week's SEN Update, you will find sections entitled:
I know how busy everyone always is, so please feel free just to read the sections that are of interest to you or read everything; the choice is always yours.
Don’t forget, to ensure that you never miss one, you can get my SEN Updates personally by completing your email details above,
or by following me on one of the social media platforms I use (i.e. Twitter/Facebook). You can also share this SEN Update with others (please only do so if it may be relevant to them) by using one of the icons, usually to the right or at the bottom of this page.
SEND REVIEW
Ofsted and the CQC (Care Quality Commission) jointly launched a report this week entitled: 'SEND: old issues, new issues, next steps'. It looks at a number of issues, including whether children and young people with SEND and their families have been helped by the changes to the SEND framework brought in by the Children and Families Act 2014. The 'executive summary' states" "Children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), their families and those who work with them have faced significant challenges during the pandemic. The extent to which education, health and care providers in different local areas rose to these challenges to meet children and young people’s needs led to hugely varied experiences. Yet, few of the negative experiences that many children and young people with SEND and their families had during this time are new. There are long-standing issues in the SEND system. The pandemic has highlighted and intensified these issues. It has also deepened the effects that they have on children and young people with SEND. In 2009, in the final report of his inquiry, Brian Lamb called for a ‘radical overhaul’ of the SEND system. The report called for greater ambition for children and young people with SEND. It cited a culture of low expectations and a system that too often failed to deliver what children and their families really needed. The Children and Families Act 2014[ and the subsequent ‘SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 years’, also published in 2014, set out some key principles. A very important one was that children, young people and their families should play a much more central part in making decisions about the way in which needs could best be met. This is known as ‘co-production’. Alongside this, there was a strong emphasis on education, health and social care services working closely together to meet children and young people’s needs, rather than as separate entities. It was intended that children’s needs would be identified earlier and that support would continue until the age of 25 where necessary. Ofsted’s area SEND inspection evidence suggests that many local areas have struggled to implement these reforms successfully. From their introduction in 2016 through to March 2020, we routinely found local areas that were not properly implementing the requirements laid out in the code of practice and related legislation. Common weaknesses included:
Many local areas were not clear about who is – or should be – held accountable for services and provision. Problems with the identification and assessment of children and young people’s needs also continued to be prevalent. Successive area SEND inspection reports have commented on a continuing lack of ambition for pupils with SEND. Attendance at school for this group remained below national averages and exclusions were often high. There seemed to be greater opportunities for further education, supported employment, and training for young people with SEND in many areas. However, only a tiny minority ended up in sustained employment. Over time, the number of children and young people identified as having SEND has grown, in all types of settings. Most are educated in mainstream settings, although numbers in state-funded special schools are increasing each year. How well children’s needs are identified varies from one local area to the next, and one setting to another. Sometimes, needs are missed or are not identified accurately. For example, speech, language and communication needs may be identified as moderate learning difficulties. Underachievement, sometimes due to a poorly designed or taught curriculum, is sometimes wrongly labelled as ‘SEND’. Pupils who are not taught to read well in the early stages of their primary education are particularly susceptible to being wrongly identified as having SEND because they cannot access the curriculum. As numbers of pupils with SEND have increased, various stakeholders have questioned the sustainability and sufficiency of funding. Given this context, we know that many children and young people with SEND and their families were already experiencing flaws in the services that they were receiving before the first national lockdown began in March 2020. There were also many existing concerns about their outcomes. The effects of the pandemic and the related lockdowns served to exacerbate these issues enormously. Through our research visits to local areas, schools, early years settings, children’s services providers and further education and skills providers in the autumn term 2020, we found that children and young people with SEND were often not receiving education. Some important healthcare, such as physiotherapy, had also ceased. This left children and young people immobile and sometimes in pain. A lack of speech and language therapy, or communication devices not being available, left them unable to communicate properly. Social care and health-funded respite provision for families had also not been available. Parents and carers told us of their frustration and exhaustion, and sometimes of their despair. A few had found that the relative calm of being at home through the first lockdown had been beneficial for their children. However, this was more unusual. Many children and young people, including those with complex needs, did not attend school or college during the first national lockdown. Some did not have a place in school because they did not have an EHC plan. Some did have a place, but did not attend because their parents were too anxious to send them in. Others could not attend because schools said that their health or personal care needs could not be met. Some received remote education and coped well with this; others did not. When schools and colleges opened fully to all pupils in September 2020, not all those with SENDreturned. Those who did return were sometimes given a narrower curriculum than usual. By the time of the third national lockdown in spring 2021, we heard even greater concerns from parents and carers in the 4 local areas we visited than we had in 2020. For many, life had become more difficult over time. Children and young people, particularly those who had moved to a new school or college in September 2020, were feeling isolated and lonely. The issues that were raised in the autumn term visits to local areas – a lack of health and care provision, inconsistent provision from schools, long waiting times for assessments – continued. Many parents expressed concerns about the now-evident impact of these issues on their children and on their own physical and mental health. Throughout the pandemic, local areas have had to adapt their ways of working frequently and significantly to continue to provide services for children and young people with SEND. The success with which they adapted appeared to be closely related to the quality of their work with families before the pandemic. It also depended on the extent to which they had implemented the 2014 reforms in a way that created the right relationships, systems and structures. Some areas quickly managed to adapt; others struggled. Nevertheless, families clearly appreciated the support and care given to them by individual professionals. Even where systems seemed to be overwhelmed by the challenges of the pandemic, families praised some individuals from education, health, social care or wider children’s services for the great efforts they had put into supporting them. However, although there were areas where professionals managed to adapt well and where different parts of the system worked together effectively, it is evident that children and young people with SEND are now even more vulnerable than they were before. Missing out on education – in some cases, missing vast amounts – means that these children and young people will be further behind their peers. Missed support for physical health, communication needs and mental health has had a seriously detrimental, and in some cases potentially permanent, impact. Some children and young people with SEND have been out of sight of safeguarding professionals. Preparation for adulthood, including for education, employment and training, has been adversely affected. Delays in identifying needs have meant that some children and young people’s needs may not have been properly assessed or even noticed. As recovery from the pandemic begins, we cannot underestimate the importance of good-quality universal services for children and young people with SEND across education, health and wider children’s services, alongside more specialist health or social care support where needed. The availability and effectiveness of these universal services can prevent a child or young person from needing something additional or different. A child or young person should never be labelled as having SEND because of a poor-quality curriculum or ineffective teaching, or weaknesses in universal health or care services. This was something that we saw too frequently in 2010 and, worryingly, something we still too often find. Further reform to the SEND system has become even more urgent than it was before the pandemic." You can read the full report here. (Or you can watch the accompanying video here).
SOCIAL CARE REVIEW
There was also another report issued this week entitled: 'Case for Change' which was issued by 'The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care in England', whose tagline says it is: 'a once in a generation opportunity to transform the children’s social care system and provide children with loving, safe and stable families.' The best summary that I found was on the National Children's Bureau's website, on a page entitled: 'Children’s social care review makes for ‘depressing reading’, which stated: "Too many previous reviews, reports and researchers have made the same points. We know what’s wrong with the system, what we need is the political will and urgency to change it. The ‘Case for Change’ makes for depressing reading. It is unacceptable that so many children and families are being let down and denied the support that could allow them to enjoy healthy and stable lives. Too many previous reviews, reports and research have made the same points. We know what’s wrong with the system, what we need is the political will and urgency to change it and invest in children’s futures. The Independent Review has again underlined how children’s social care is increasingly focused on investigating serious cases and putting children into care, rather than supporting struggling families to prevent harm from happening in the first place. This isn’t simply the result of a more risk-averse system. It is inescapably linked to the devastating erosion of central Government funding for children’s services over the past decade. There is also an important acknowledgement that children from poorer backgrounds, disabled children, and those from black and ethnic minority communities are often hardest hit by the cuts in early intervention. NCB fully supports the Review’s call for a more effective and compassionate response to families facing conditions of adversity. We cannot avoid tackling thorny issues like poverty and discrimination if we are going to reduce the number of children coming into care, and avoid the spiralling costs of child protection. A co-ordinated strategy from across Government is urgently needed that looks at children’s lives in the round, and brings together work in social care, education, health and SEND. But first we need proper investment in early help and early intervention at this year’s Spending Review. The Review’s analysis is comprehensive, strong and thoughtful – we hope the recommendations will be equally so and acted on swiftly." You can read the full report here.
LATEST NEWS ONLINE
Not much in the news I'm afraid this week, but here are a few articles that I found of interest: Parents of children with special needs tell Ofsted of Covid despair Care services too focused on investigating families in crisis, says review The ‘catch-up plan’ for schools needs to start with the Department for Education
Again, aside from clicking on the relevant links for more information, I would also remind you of the very useful resources and information provided on the following websites:
- IPSEA - Council for Disabled Children - Contact - Scope - Special Needs Jungle I would also highlight again the fact that you can now get a digital copy of the magazine: Autism Eye which is very helpful to any parents or professionals involved with children/young people with Autism. Keep safe until next week. With best wishes Douglas
P.S. I understand that there are many educational items, news articles, or other useful resources on the web, so I would be very grateful if you could let me know of any that you find that you think that others may find useful, so that I can direct people to them.
How useful do you find my SEN Updates?
Created with Quiz Maker
Douglas Silas,
Specialist SEN Solicitor 14th June 2021
Give people the chance to learn from a mistake…
We often say, where children are concerned, that if they make a mistake, we should usually not make a big deal out of it, but rather realise that this was an accident and let them learn from it (or us use it as a way to teach them how they can learn from it). We also know not to do something for them, otherwise they will never learn. Yet how many times do we do this in our personal lives with adults? Too often we are too quick to judge and condemn someone when they just make a mistake. We say to ourselves or others, things like: "They should have known better" or "They are always like that". We sometimes even imagine that they have done it deliberately and not even think that it could have just been a mistake. How often do we really try to put ourselves in their shoes and see things from their perspective? They may have said or done something which they genuinely thought would work and now, not only do they have to face the consequences and disappointment arising out of their actions, but they now also have you judging them for not being good enough! Not only is that twice the amount of hurt or shame, it also means that you will have potentially taken away from them a valuable learning opportunity, as people usually become instinctively defensive when they feel like they are being criticised and, not only then try to justify their actions to you or themselves, but also become more entrenched in believing what they did or said was reasonable and find even harder to then admit that it was a mistake, to you or themselves. And it probably was also a mistake that you would have wanted to learn from, if you had been in their place. So, next time something like this happens to someone around you (adult or child), try not to be too quick to judge them and give them the chance to correct their mistake. It is what you would want somebody to do for you if the roles were reversed.
In this week's SEN Update, you will find sections entitled:
I know how busy everyone always is, so please feel free just to read the sections that are of interest to you or read everything; the choice is always yours.
Don’t forget, to ensure that you never miss one, you can get my SEN Updates personally by completing your email details above,
or by following me on one of the social media platforms I use (i.e. Twitter/Facebook). You can also share this SEN Update with others (please only do so if it may be relevant to them) by using one of the icons, usually to the right or at the bottom of this page.
THINGS USUALLY COME IN THREES (MORE GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE)
Things usually come in threes, don't they? Well, it's time for more Government guidance/information and this time it is three things at once! I received an email this week from the SEND Division at the Department of Education (DfE), entitled: 'Summer Schools, Transition to employment toolkit & new NSPCC/DfE helpline', which said: "Dear colleagues, There are three things that we would like to draw your attention to this [week]: Summer schools: updated funding allocations and guidance As part of the wider recovery package to support children and young people with their mental health and wellbeing and to support recovery from the impact of missed face-to-face learning, £200m of funding is available for secondary schools to deliver summer schools this year. Over 80% of eligible mainstream schools have now signed up to the programme. To maximise the funding available for special schools and alternative provision settings, we have now calculated their funding allocations on the basis of 50% of their year 11 cohort being offered a two-week summer school, in recognition that these settings generally have few year 7 pupils. For any special schools or alternative provision settings whose year 7 cohort is larger than their year 11 cohort, those schools’ initial funding allocations will stand. Today, we published a form at https://form.education.gov.uk/service/summer-schools-programme, asking schools to confirm their arrangements for their summer school by 30 June. Schools that did not complete the initial sign-up form can still join the programme by completing the June confirmation form. Subject to overall take-up, schools may be able to claim funding to cover additional places and can request this in the June confirmation form. Those schools will be notified quickly of any additional funding, but should plan to deliver their summer school within their published maximum allocation in the meantime. The guidance on summer schools reflects the change to SEND/alternative provision funding. It also confirms the conditions of funding, has an expanded section on academic, enrichment and mental health resources and provides a link to the DfE summer schools webinar which includes input from headteachers and other experts. If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected]. Transition to employment toolkit launched by Ambitious about Autism and the Autism Education Trust Ambitious about Autism and The Autism Education Trust have today launched a new employment toolkit to support autistic young people into the job market. The Transition to employment toolkit is free to download and aims to prevent autistic young people falling out of education, employment or training when they leave school. The toolkit is not just for young autistic people to use, but also for careers professionals and employers, to help them better understand the needs and skills of young autistic people and support them into further education or work. Sections of the toolkit can be easily downloaded and edited and are designed to be used flexibly. Launch of new NSPCC/DfE helpline for children and young people subjected to unwanted sexual behaviour in an education setting A new UK wide dedicated helpline has been set up by the NSPCC and the Department for Education to support those who may have been subjected to unwanted sexual behaviour or abuse whilst in an education setting. The helpline is equipped to cover personal incidents or concerns for others, and for both recent and historical events. DfE has set-up two social media resource packs on Dropbox containing assets to promote the helpline, one to target children and young people, and another for adults. We ask that education settings, along with wider sector organisations, use these resources on their own channels, and also cascade to their community networks. All amplification would be extremely valued, and ultimately help reach someone who vitally needs this support. Many thanks, Special Educational Needs and Disability Division"
THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON TRIBUNAL HEARINGS (REPORT)
I know that this will not interest/affect everybody, but if it does interest/affect you, I wanted to bring it to your attention, as it is very interesting. The Legal Education Foundation has just produced a report this week entitled: “Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on tribunals: The experience of tribunal judges“ which was commissioned by the Senior President of Tribunals to understand the impact of COVID-19, identify opportunities for improvement and guide future developments. (If you don't know, The Legal Education Foundation is an independent grantmaking foundation that focuses on the role of legal education in helping people understand and use the law as a tool for change, as they know there are many people who cannot obtain justice in relation to everyday problems). The report examines the impact of remote hearings under COVID -19 and sets out 35 recommendations to guide their use as the tribunals move toward recovery and their website says: "The grant-giving charity The Legal Education Foundation has today published research that sheds light on the experience of tribunal judges as they adapted to the use of remote hearings in the early months of the pandemic. The report: “Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on tribunals: The experience of tribunal judges“ was commissioned by the Senior President of Tribunals to understand the impact of COVID-19, identify opportunities for improvement and guide future developments. ... The survey on which the report is based captured the experiences of over 1500 tribunal judicial office holders who were asked to reflect on the remote hearings they had taken part in between March and July 2020. The 35 recommendations presented in the report set out immediate practical and longer- term steps to improve the experience of judicial office holders and to ensure that remote hearings are deployed in a manner that secures safe, effective and efficient access to justice. ... The research gathered the views of judicial office holders on a range of topics including: i.) their satisfaction with the support and guidance they were offered; ii.) their views on the technology that was used, iii.) their perceptions of the impact of remote hearings on the practical and emotional barriers to participation experienced by appellants; iv.) the effect of proceeding remotely on their ability to identify and make adjustments for vulnerable appellants; v.) the influence of remote hearings on the structure of hearings and vi.) any changes to their decision-making process that had occurred in response to proceeding with hearings remotely. The survey also explores the impact of remote hearings on the well-being and morale of judicial office holders. ... The report’s recommendations include:
You can read the full report here.
LATEST NEWS ONLINE
Again, here are other news articles that I found this week: Is sleep a ‘magic pill’ for teen wellness in a mental health crisis? Girls asked for nudes by up to 11 boys a night, Ofsted finds Unions call for return of masks to secondary classrooms in England After a year at home, children with disabilities deserve priority vaccination ‘Tutors change daily’: headteachers call for schools to control England Covid catchup money
Again, aside from clicking on the relevant links for more information, I would also remind you of the very useful resources and information provided on the following websites:
- IPSEA - Council for Disabled Children - Contact - Scope - Special Needs Jungle I would also highlight again the fact that you can now get a digital copy of the magazine: Autism Eye which is very helpful to any parents or professionals involved with children/young people with Autism. Keep safe until next week. With best wishes Douglas
P.S. I understand that there are many educational items, news articles, or other useful resources on the web, so I would be very grateful if you could let me know of any that you find that you think that others may find useful, so that I can direct people to them.
How useful do you find my SEN Updates?
Created with Quiz Maker
Douglas Silas,
Specialist SEN Solicitor 7th June 2021
Be prepared to change your mind…
Sometimes you think that you understand something, but then somebody comes along and presents a different view of the same thing. Human temptation is normally to think that you are right, so that the other person must therefore be wrong. But you must resist this temptation and be prepared to look at things again from a different perspective. You will then usually find, as counter-intuitive as it seems, that both you and the other person may be right. This happened to me this week. In my update last week (below) entitled: 'Don't let is sound like criticism', I presented an argument that we should always be careful not to say something to someone else that sounds like criticism. However, although I thought that I had given it a lot of thought to it before I wrote it, I soon received an email from a reader pointing out to me that criticism can also be constructive and that, in fact, my accompanying cartoon made him think that it is the recipient of criticism who is more at fault than the critic. Of course, this is also correct (although I mainly chose the cartoon because I thought it was funny!) Like the famous quote says: 'When the facts change, I change my mind, what do you do?'
In this week's SEN Update, you will find sections entitled:
I know how busy everyone always is, so please feel free just to read the sections that are of interest to you or read everything; the choice is always yours.
Don’t forget, to ensure that you never miss one, you can get my SEN Updates personally by completing your email details above,
or by following me on one of the social media platforms I use (i.e. Twitter/Facebook). You can also share this SEN Update with others (please only do so if it may be relevant to them) by using one of the icons, usually to the right or at the bottom of this page.
'CATCH-UP' FUNDING/VACCINATIONS FOR CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE
You'd have thought that with a shorter week because of the Bank Holiday and it also being half-term last week, that there wouldn't be too much for me to report for you this week? Wrong! There has been so much in the news in the past few days that I have again dedicated the first section of this SEN Update to a number of new articles about the issues of 'catch-up' funding/school recovery plans and also the issue of providing a Covid-19 vaccine now to children and young people. Rather than me telling you what has been happening, I will just provide the relevant links here below (I think the headline titles also speak for themselves): 'Catch-up' funding/school recovery plans: What students really want from school catch-up Teaching unions criticise plan to extend school day in England Pupils in England to be offered 100m hours of tuition in Covid catch-up plan Covid catch-up plan for England pupils ‘pitiful compared with other countries School catch-up tsar resigns over lack of funding Are school catch-up plans scuppered by resignation? Providing a Covid-19 vaccine to children and young people: India Covid variant spreading in England’s schools, data shows UK approves Pfizer jab for 12 to 15-year-olds The pros and cons of giving Covid vaccines to UK children School leaders say pupils should be vaccinated as matter of priority
LONELY IN LOCKDOWN REPORT BY SIBS
I usually use these weekly updates to highlight for you the main things that I have found In the news in the past week, which may affect children and young people with SEN. However, once in a while, I see something else which is related that I also want to highlight for you, which I save to bring to you later. Well, today is one of those weeks, as today I want to highlight the organisation: 'Sibs', which provides a voice and support for siblings of children and young people with SEN, Sibs recently issued a report entitled: 'Lonely Lockdown. Life for siblings of disabled children in the UK', whose title I think also speaks for itself. It highlights the impact the latest lockdown has had on the health and wellbeing of siblings of disabled children. The relevant page on Sib's website says: 'Children and young people growing up with a disabled brother or sister often get less attention from parents and have more worries and responsibilities than their peers. Lockdown and the Covid-19 pandemic has created further isolation and challenges for this group of children and young people. Our last survey in May 2020 told us that life had been tough for siblings, and ten months on, we wanted to understand how this latest lockdown had impacted on siblings' health and wellbeing. Many siblings have also become young carers for the first time. "Lonely Lockdown" is a collaboration with UCL family researcher Dr Georgia Pavlopoulou. Sincere thanks to all parents who took the time to share their views with us. Key statistics revealed:
To read the full Lonely Lockdown report go here: Interesting.
LATEST NEWS ONLINE
And here are the other news articles that I found of interest this week: A sacrificed generation’: psychological scars of Covid on young may have lasting impact Covid: Pupils fell behind again in second lockdown Labour flags concern over outsourcing of England catch-up tuition Tory group demands rethink on recovery plan for English schools Covid has eroded progress by disadvantaged pupils in England, finds study
Again, aside from clicking on the relevant links for more information, I would also remind you of the very useful resources and information provided on the following websites:
- IPSEA - Council for Disabled Children - Contact - Scope - Special Needs Jungle I would also highlight again the fact that you can now get a digital copy of the magazine: Autism Eye which is very helpful to any parents or professionals involved with children/young people with Autism. Keep safe until next week. With best wishes Douglas
P.S. I understand that there are many educational items, news articles, or other useful resources on the web, so I would be very grateful if you could let me know of any that you find that you think that others may find useful, so that I can direct people to them.
How useful do you find my SEN Updates?
Created with Quiz Maker
Douglas Silas,
Specialist SEN Solicitor 1st June 2021
Don't let it sound like criticism...
It's very easy to criticise, isn't it? Sometimes, even if we really mean well when we say something, the other person who we are speaking to, may feel as though they or another person you have referred to, are still being criticised, directly or indirectly. I have actually noticed that a lot of criticism is delivered in an unconscious way much of the time. The person speaking does not think that they are being critical, but the person that they are speaking to, hears it that way, rightly or wrongly. In fact, I could spend a lot of time here discussing the intricacies of interpretation (I am a solicitor, aren't I!), but the simple truth is that, no matter that you may say something with no intention of meaning it to sound critical, another person may not take it that way and believe that you are criticising them or another. They may even take it worse than if they thought that you had criticised them directly, as they may then think even worse of you, because they may feel that you have tried to criticise in an indirect (at best) or underhand (at worst) way. As such, in my humble opinion, you should always first think before saying anything and, if you do choose to say something, you should then choose your words very carefully, knowing that they may be misinterpreted or misconstrued. And remember the wise saying: "If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn..."
In this week's SEN Update, you will find sections entitled:
I know how busy everyone always is, so please feel free just to read the sections that are of interest to you or read everything; the choice is always yours.
Don’t forget, to ensure that you never miss one, you can get my SEN Updates personally by completing your email details above,
or by following me on one of the social media platforms I use (i.e. Twitter/Facebook). You can also share this SEN Update with others (please only do so if it may be relevant to them) by using one of the icons, usually to the right or at the bottom of this page.
YOU'RE SOMETIMES TOO YOUNG
For some years now there has been ongoing debate about whether summer-born children should be allowed to delay the year of their admission to primary/infants school. This week, the Department for Education released a report entitled: 'Delayed school admissions for summer born pupils (2020)', which comprised of surveys of local authorities and of parents and carers of summer-born children requesting delayed admission to reception. The report's summary states: "This report provides findings from 2 surveys designed to understand:
This research provides an update to research published in 2018 and 2019, providing trends in the number of requests received since 2016. Guidance on school admissions for summer born pupils is available." You can read the full report here.
PARENT'S SURVEY
Although I drew attention last week to a news article about it, this week I want to highlight another report, the parent's survey conducted by the 'Disabled Children’s Partnership', entitled: 'No End In Sight'. The summary on their website says: "On 14 May, we published the findings of the third survey of our “Parent Panel” on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on their families. Our report reveals that, despite the easing of lockdown restrictions, a high proportion of disabled children and their families are still experiencing severe levels of social isolation. Although there has been some improvement for families in terms of accessing support via school or the health service, the difference between current and pre-pandemic levels of support is vast. More than half of families are unable to access therapies vital for their disability. Sixty percent are experiencing delays and challenges with accessing the health service appointments they need. These figures in isolation are concerning, but to an even greater extent alarming when considered in context. A large proportion of families with disabled children have multiple diagnosis culminating in multiple appointments with a variety of services. Lack of support and its impact on parents’ mental wellbeing has been well documented in our two previous survey reports. This survey confirms that anxiety, stress and mental wellbeing levels experienced by our panel are significantly worse than the general population. Consecutive surveys demonstrate that this is an ongoing problem for families rather than a short-term response to the events of the pandemic. The lack of access to multiple services across education and health has been detrimental to the mental health of parents as carers, with their disabled children and wider family persistently isolated. Disabled children and their families are at risk of developing additional long-term health problems, ultimately culminating in adverse outcomes for their future goals and aspirations." You can read the full report here.
LATEST NEWS ONLINE
And here are the other news articles that I found of interest this week: Abuse helpline takes hundreds of calls, says NSPCC Teachers 'struggle to deal with classroom sexual abuse' DfE had no plan for dealing with a pandemic, says critical report by MPs Ministers urged to release data on Covid variants in English schools Longer school hours won’t plug Covid learning gaps, says Cambridge academic
Again, aside from clicking on the relevant links for more information, I would also remind you of the very useful resources and information provided on the following websites:
- IPSEA - Council for Disabled Children - Contact - Scope - Special Needs Jungle I would also highlight again the fact that you can now get a digital copy of the magazine: Autism Eye which is very helpful to any parents or professionals involved with children/young people with Autism. Keep safe until next week. With best wishes Douglas
P.S I understand that there are many educational items, news articles, or other useful resources on the web, so I would be very grateful if you could let me know of any that you find that you think that others may find useful, so that I can direct people to them.
How useful do you find my SEN Updates?
Created with Quiz Maker
|
Archive
March 2022
|