Giving a Voice to Pupils with Special Needs and Listening to What They Say

Raising the Profile Giving A Voice To Pupils With Special Needs And Listening To What They Say These materials were collated by Jane Carter ASRS Manager © Warwickshire County Council 2003 Contents Section 1. Introduction and Rationale 5 Section 2. Finding out what young people really think 9 Section 3. Learning to Participate 14 Section 4. Areas of Participation 19 4.1 Individual Education Planning and Target Setting 19 4.2 Formal Review Meetings 24 4.3 Arranging Support 27 4.4 Inclusive Teaching 29 4.5 Behaviour Management 33 4.6 School Councils and the pupils’ voice 39 Section 5. Useful Sources of Information 44 Section 6. OHTs 48 Section 7. Appendices 52 2 Acknowledgements Thanks especially go to Debbie Turner of the Parent Partnership Service who talked to pupils and staff from the schools listed below. Their comments and practice are used throughout this document: Sparrowdale School Michael Drayton Junior School Leyland School Polesworth High School Nicholas Chamberlaine School Lawrence Sheriff School Brooke School Paddox Primary School Ash Green School Exhall Grange School Stratford-upon-Avon High School Tysoe Primary School River House School Round Oak School Kingsway Primary School Sydenham Primary School Sue Robus, Parent Partnership Service Cheryl Gibbons, Transition Adviser Naresh Gahir, LABSS Pat Tate, LABSS Dave Browne, DISCS Phil Robbins, SEN Inspector Jane Carter, ASRS Manager 3 The Participation of Pupils with Special Needs in the Learning Process "I’d like to help with my assessment, to write my IEP with my teachers. Actually I’d like to make a video, this is my life, this is how I learn, this is my home, this is what I do at weekends. But nobody really asks me anything – I’m somebody’s problem not just me"1 "It’s like being in a zoo sometimes, people always looking at me. I think I know what would be best for me but nobody ever asks me" (a 13 year old with ADHD2 ). 1 Department of Health (2001) Valuing People 2 Russell, P. (2003) Challenges and Opportunities in Listening to Children: Developing Policies and Practices for Positive Pupil Participation, presentation to W. Midlands Educational Psychology CPD Conference 4 Section 1 Introduction and Rationale The 2001 Special Educational Needs (SEN) Code of Practice, (DfES 2001), contains a new chapter, Chapter 3 ‘Pupil Participation’, which was not part of the old Code of Practice which it replaced. The chapter begins with a statement from ‘The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child’: “Children, who are capable of forming views, have a right to receive and make known information, to express an opinion, and to have that opinion taken into account in any matters affecting them. The views of the child should be given weight according to the age, maturity and capability of the child.” (Articles 12 and 13, The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.) This ‘Raising the Profile’ document, embodying guidance from Warwickshire LEA, fully endorses and supports this statement. We wish to continue to develop a climate of partnership in our schools where the child or young person is the key participant in the process of education. The "Evaluation Schedule" within the new Ofsted Framework, "Inspecting Schools" (effective from September 2003) now requires inspectors to evaluate the extent to which schools seek: "to involve pupils in its work and development, assessing the extent to which the school: seeks, values and acts on pupils’ views" (section 6, p. 38). Inspectors will also be looking for specific evidence of inclusive practice and underpinning values and ethos. Essentially inclusion is about increasing the capability of all pupils to participate. A crucial feature of that capability is for pupils to feel that they have an effective voice in decisions about their educational provision. It is hoped that this publication will help schools to evaluate and improve their current practice in relation to how well pupils with special needs participate. Education should not be regarded by pupils as something which is done to them. Rather, it should be an experience which they shape, develop and engage in, nurturing their knowledge and understanding of their world and the skills which they use in their lives. Pupils with special educational needs have a unique knowledge of their strengths and difficulties. In the climate of education in this country at the beginning of the 21st century, this philosophy may seem no more than common sense. However, teachers and schools may take very different views on which pupils are capable of having useful views about their own learning. There is rarely a consensus on what constitutes an appropriate ‘age, maturity and capability’ to enable a pupil to be a real decision-making partner in the learning process. 5 The fundamental principle of this document is that all pupils of school age, regardless of age or ability will learn more effectively if their views, expressed by whatever means appropriate, are taken into consideration in planning and delivering their learning programme. While adversity may, in some circumstances, stimulate the will to succeed, pupils with special educational needs, in particular, need to be happy and comfortable with their learning environment and curriculum in order to enjoy success. There is a danger that the ‘medical model’ of diagnosis, followed by tried-and-tested prescription will lead schools to reason that, if a pupil has been labeled ‘autistic’ or ‘dyslexic’, for example, then they must need a particular preordained approach to provision. This may not be appropriate to that individual pupil’s disposition or aptitude. Only by involving the pupil in an appropriate way in decisions about the provision, can we ascertain whether the provision is likely to be effective. The young person’s perception of their life in school, their learning environment and their interactions with others will be unique to them and may well be very different to those of the adult observer. As teachers, we must guard against making assumptions about what children or young people think. We must give them the principal voice in describing their learning world as they see it and let that voice inform provision. Disengagement from the education process is the main characteristic of the experience of pupils who fail to make adequate progress or achieve success in learning. The rationale behind promoting pupil participation is that involvement in decision making leads to motivation, confidence and engagement in the process of learning. This, in turn, increases the prospect of success and achievement. A simple diagram can be used to encapsulate this rationale: Pupil participation An increased Motivation inclination to through choice participate and involvement Giving the pupil The satisfaction the opportunity Increased self- of achievement confidence to be involved Greater Engagement likelihood of in the learning success process A feeling of A sense of ownership of purpose what is happening 6 The cycle is self-perpetuating and is underpinned by the opportunity for pupils to grow in self- knowledge which, in itself, will make their participation in their own education more productive. This cycle of motivation is essential for all learners, not least for those with particular needs. As in most other aspects of education, good practice for pupils with special needs is good practice generally, and vice versa. The sharing of learning objectives is now a widely recognised feature of high quality teaching. The cycle above, in referring to a ‘sense of purpose’, tries to show how this essential element fits into the process. Like all of us, children and young people need to experience task satisfaction, engendered by success and prompting a further drive to participation. "Children and young people with special educational needs have a unique knowledge of their own needs and circumstances and their own views about what sort of help they would like to help them make the most of their education." (DfES : SEN Code of Practice, para. 3:2) We should, like the Code of Practice, acknowledge that involving all pupils with special needs meaningfully in the processes around their own education is not easy. The more significant their individual need, the more difficult this essential task becomes for teachers. The more their provision is shaped by their particular needs, the greater the sensitivity needed in discussing their needs with them. This document offers guidance on promoting pupil participation in several areas: ɀ Individual education planning, including: ᔢ identifying and describing the pupil’s individual needs and potential barriers to learning ᔢ recognising strengths and capabilities which can be built on ᔢ setting appropriate targets and objectives for learning ᔢ planning suitable activities and tasks for the pupil ᔢ deciding on the most helpful additional support for the pupil and, where appropriate, who best to provide it ɀ Review meetings, including: ᔢ assessing, recognising and celebrating achievement ᔢ planning for the future, whether this is in the context of learning in school or concerned with the transition to other schools or to the young person’s life after school ɀ Arranging support ɀ Inclusive teaching, including: ᔢ pupils’ understanding of the ‘bigger picture’ which shows individual learning achievements as part of the wider learning objectives and aims of the class 7 ᔢ maximising the pupil’s enjoyment of learning and their comfortableness in the learning environment ɀ Behaviour management, including: ᔢ the use of mentoring ᔢ understanding the social circumstances of the pupil in the school environment ɀ School Councils Whether a pupil’s special needs are in the areas of: ɀ cognition and learning ɀ communication and interaction ɀ behavioural, emotional and social development ɀ or sensory and/or physical needs the content of this document is intended to address their increased participation in their learning.

Load more