Many children begin secondary education with known and unknown challenges, making it a struggle for them to fully access the curriculum in all or some of their subjects. There are some highly dedicated staff (often classroom assistants) who go above and beyond to offer supportive interventions. Sadly, however, the availability and quality of this support can be patchy, pot luck, inappropriate, or even refused. It is often at the judgement of a single department head who may prioritise some additional needs over others, with diagnosable challenges taking priority over trauma related or SEBN. There are very successful and evidenced based interventions available that can make a huge difference in the life chances of these children, but their availability needs to be mandated in every school and managed by trained professionals. In many cases this may not be teacher but psychology led. Too many youngsters are still being very badly let down by the insistence that the only people who can work professionally in these areas are teachers. As most ASN teachers and PTs are not actually qualified in this area the service offered too often falls short. The elephant in the room is that many just don’t realise they are making these errors and resort to blaming the children or seeking their removal from the establishment. High quality support is possible and will make the biggest difference in supporting the closing of the attainment gap if done correctly.
This content is created by the open source Your Priorities citizen engagement platform designed by the non profit Citizens Foundation