Every Child has Special Needs
by Pam F
by Pam F
Competition between schools divides the schools and divides the nation. Labour’s future policy should ensure that all schools are working together to improve the life prospects for all children, and are not obsessed by the status of the school. Learning is life-long and helps to bond communities. Labour’s policy should speak loudly and clearly. “Everyone matters!”
The principles of Labour’s policy of Every Child Matters, was sound, as was Labour’s Sure Start policy. However, successful inclusion of vulnerable young people was hindered by a national obsession with SATS, school league tables, and the publication of students’ performance in external exams throughout the media.
Inter-school competition has resulted in schools’ focus being directed predominantly at academic achievement; that is where they have been measured, and where many leading educationalists perceive their emphasis should lie. More recently, secondary schools are queuing up to become Academy Schools, increasing the inter-school competition and its negative effects on the vulnerable in our society.
There are many winners of such a policy which encourages competition, exam boards who try to tempt schools with easier exams, software developers who bombard teachers with more and more expensive resources, and yet it is the vulnerable who remain losers, young and old. These are the very people who need Labour’s future education policy to focus on the needs of individuals, and to build self-esteem and motivation, rather than leave them anxious, disaffected, illiterate, excluded and depressed.
Everyone starts out in life wanting to learn. Everyone is entitled to an education that suits their needs and enriches their lives.
Individuals who miss out on a fair chance at education and may be excluded from life’s opportunities include:
- Those who have long term illnesses such as CFS/ME (chronic fatigue syndrome)
- Those exhibiting EBSR (emotionally based school refusal)
- Young mothers, and pregnant young people
- Children living in poverty
- Children with special educational needs
- Children with dyslexia struggling with the wider curriculum
- Children who are bullied for being different, whether it is race, sexual orientation, obesity, creed or gender
- Adults with language or learning difficulties
- Physically disabled, deaf and blind
- Children with mental health difficulties
I would like to see Labour develop an education system which focuses on the needs of everyone, young and old. It should be of high quality, and flexible to suit a variety of individuals’ needs. Life and learning is not about a race to pass more and more exams. It is about discovery of new skills and talents, sharing knowledge and working together. It’s about being a part of society and about everyone having something to give.
All children should feel welcome in school. If an ill child can only attend for an hour a week, that is still worthwhile to see their friends and teachers. Anxious children often need smaller schools to be provided where they can learn and socialise in a happy environment. Children struggling with basic skills may need 1:1 support, but still need to feel successful and to enjoy being part of a happy school environment.
We need to ensure everyone can access education. Young mothers need access to childcare to allow them to attend their mainstream school or college. Students and their families should be able to access resources free on-line, and not have to buy into expensive software and Internet schemes. Our libraries should be expanded and modernised and be a central part of our education system with participation in reading groups and play from the very young. Access to educational resources should not be about haves and have-nots.
Education should be inspiring and motivating, and schools should be places where children want to go. Learning should be a positive experience for all.
That will come about by co-operation and flexibility, not by competition and market forces.
Useful documents
1. The Labour government’s “Every Child Matters”, September 2003.
2. The reality of parental choice. The Guardian, March 2011
3. Centrepiece, 2006, 2007
The educational impact of parental choice and school competition
by Stephen Gibbons, Stephen Machin and Olmo Silva
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