Teachers call for special needs help

By Katherine Sellgren
BBC News Online education staff

A rise in the number of children being diagnosed with special educational needs and a shortage of trained professionals are putting pressure on schools, teachers say.

Concerns about the length of time children were having to wait, before their particular needs were met, were raised at the National Union of Teachers annual special educational needs (SEN) conference in London.

All the educational psychologist could offer was half a day for every half-term Anne Jones

Anne Jones, a teacher who has set up a learning support unit in a school in Warwickshire to help children at risk of exclusion, said there was a chronic shortage of psychologists.

"For a very challenging school, all the educational psychologist could offer was half a day for every half-term, which is three days a year to a school with a high level of need," said Mrs Jones.

"I also wanted to make links with the medical profession and there were 500 children on a waiting list for six to nine months for a first assessment appointment with the child psychiatrist.

"It's almost impossible to provide joined-up support and where you perceive there's a child with a need for prompt action, it's impossible for that action to be prompt."

In the meantime, teachers and teaching assistants were struggling to cope without the right training, families were desperate for support and the education of other children was being disrupted, she said.

Class sizes

Alyson Dermody-Palmer, who works in a pupil referral unit for primary-age children in Camden, raised concerns about large class sizes when trying to accommodate children with special needs.

What we find difficult is the notion that inclusion equals mainstream Mary Pearson

"One of the things that's significant for a lot of our children is the size of the group - they find the other children a threat, even though they're not," she said.

Ms Dermody-Palmer believes mainstream education is not always the right option for some pupils.

"There needs to be more specific provision for children who can't fit into mainstream schools."

This view was backed up by Mary Pearson who works in a special unit for children in care in Birmingham.

"What we find difficult is the notion that inclusion equals mainstream," she said.

"The behaviour that children in care can display include verbal abuse, rocking, sexually explicit behaviour and these are particular problems that schools feel they can't cope with.

John Bangs stressed the need for special schools

"Sending them into mainstream schools can be tantamount to child abuse - setting them up for another failure.

"These children need full-time places in a small nurturing resource to build up their self-confidence so they can cope with school and help fill in the gaps they've missed," said Mrs Pearson.

Special schools

John Bangs, assistant general secretary of the NUT, stressed that special schools still had a role to play, despite the focus on inclusion in mainstream schools.

Special school teachers had often felt their schools were being accused of segregation, said Mr Bangs.

"We ought to assert positively that special schools still have a place. We shouldn't have a debate about closing special schools," he told the conference.

Delegates were addressed by the government minister for extended and inclusive schools, Catherine Ashton, who stressed that inclusion did not mean mainstream education in every case.

"Inclusion is not about mainstream by itself, but about making sure children have a positive experience. For most, though, mainstream is the best option," said Baroness Ashton.

What is challenging behaviour?

Delegates at the conference were also addressed by Dr John Visser, senior lecturer in special education at Birmingham University, who sought to challenge the "misconceptions" surrounding children with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties.

"We have a number of children - challenging, disaffected, disruptive, call them what you like - but we should be identifying their needs and in many cases we're not," said Dr Visser.

"Now these children have a very good and clear understanding of what needs to change in mainstream in order for them to be able to cope."

He warned of the dangers of over-stating the issue of so-called challenging behaviour.

"I don't believe we have the explosion of challenging behaviour that we are led to believe," he told delegates.

And he urged them to make time to listen to the children themselves.

"The five minutes you spend listening to children will have pay-off in terms of classroom management."