Be prepared to change your mind…

Douglas Silas,
Specialist SEN Solicitor
7th June 2021

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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:
​​

• 'CATCH-UP' FUNDING/VACCINATIONS FOR CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE
• LONELY IN LOCKDOWN REPORT BY SIBS
• LATEST NEWS ONLINE

 
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.

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'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​

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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:

• 81% of parents said their sibling child’s mental health had worsened
• 43% of siblings were providing more care in lockdown
• 40% of young siblings were feeling isolated and missing support from family and friends
• 54% of parents said that respite or a break would have helped siblings cope'

To read the full Lonely Lockdown report go here:

Interesting.

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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

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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.

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