Campaigners have criticised proposals for a new Code of Practice for Special Educational Needs. The draft Code proposes that money given to schools to cover statements need not be earmarked for individual children. John Wright, chief executive of the Independent Panel for Special Educational Advice, said: ‘This is a fundamental attack on the legal entitlement to special educational provision. It is a disgraceful betrayal. It is a green light for schools to spend money which they have received for provision for statemented children on something else. It would bring Government guidance in line with the worst of existing practice.’ A Department for Education spokesperson said it was not trying to weaken childen’s rights, and statements would have to set out a child’s provision in full.
Disability Now, October 2000.

A mother of nine children and her autistic son have a won a landmark High Court judgement in Dublin compelling the State to provide free primary education for him as long as he might benefit from it. The decision that the State’s responsibility to provide free primary education for the severely handicapped does not stop at the age of 18 has massive implications for hundred of disabled people and could lead to multi-million pounds costs for the State. Mr Justice Barr urged the State to review the problems in its administrative and decision-making structures which led to the failure to meet its constitutional obligations and gave rise to such cases. He described the difficulties encountered by Mr Jamie Sinnott and his mother Kathryn in securing appropriate education for him as ‘symptomatic of a wide-spread malaise’.
The Irish Times (Dublin), October 5, 2000.

Autistic children in Windsor and Maidenhead are set to receive a better education following the opening of a new support service. The newly-refurbished home of the Specialist Autism Mainstream Service (SAMS) was opened at Holyport Manor School on the Ascot Road last week. SAMS aims to support parents of autistic children as well as staff in mainstream schools working with them. A specialist teacher will visit the child’s school and meet with staff and parents to decide on the level of support required before an individual education plan is drawn up. There are currently 32 primary school children with statements of special educational needs across the borough being supported by SAMS but the Council hopes to extend the service to secondary schools with the help of the National Autistic Society.
Maidenhead Advertiser, October 13, 2000.

Nine out of ten people in the West Midlands believe disabled people should have access to mainstream education, according to a new poll. The Disability Rights Commission’s survey also shows 53 per cent believe disabled people are not getting a fair deal in society. The Disability Rights Commission was set up in April by an Act of Parliament to combat discrimination. Commission Chairman, Bert Massie, said: ‘Disabled people are twice as likely to leave school with no qualifications as non-disabled’.
Wolverhampton Express and Star, October 16, 2000.

Educationalists are providing better facilities for deaf children. In future, youngsters will be able to go to the mainstream Stanley Road Primary School, Chadderton, Oldham, and have specialist staff to support them. Before, children had to attend special schools or get specialist teaching outside the borough. All classroom have been specifically adapted at Stanley Road so that the youngsters, most of whom have cochlea implants and some level of hearing, can maximise their hearing. And as they progress through the school, their listening skills, speech and signing develop so they can take part in increasing numbers of mainstream lessons. The new facility will be officially opened by Lord Morris of Manchester on Friday. For many years Lord Morris was MP for Wythenshawe. He was the first Minister for the Disabled.
Oldham Chronicle, October 18, 2000.

Gloucestershire County Councillors say a timetable devised for discussions on the future of the county’s special schools does not imply that they will all be closed by 2007. Members of the Council’s special educational needs sub-committee said their schedule does not conflict with the public consultation over the schools. At stake is the survival of Alderman Knight in Tewkesbury, Cheltenham’s Belmont School, and Dean Hall in Coleford. The 100-pupil unit for pupils with moderate learning difficulties at Gloucester’s Milestones unit is also threatened with the axe or a change of status to a support centre for the mainstream. The county council has agreed Bownham Park School in Stroud should be closed in 2003.
Gloucestershire Echo October 19, 2000.

A top grammar school faces legal action after banning a diabetic pupil from taking part in foreign journeys. Clitheroe Royal Grammar School in Lancashire is being taken to court by the Disability Rights Commission in the first case of its kind after excluding 15-year-old Tom White from trips abroad. Tom, who developed diabetes when he was nine, was told he could not go on a watersports holiday in France, despite having a place and paying a deposit. The decision cam after the young sportsman had his first severe hypoglycemic attack – caused by a drop in blood sugar levels – while on a skiing trip last February. His father, Malcolm, said: ‘Tom is devastated by the ban. It is totally unfair to stop him from going on trips with his friends and other pupils because he has diabetes. We have tried every channel to get the school to change their minds but they have chosen to ignore the medical, educational and legal experts.’ The school said it was standing by staff who did not want to assume the extra responsibilities of looking after Tom.
Yorkshire Post (Leeds) October 19, 2000.

Scarborough’s two schools for special needs children will be put under the spotlight during a county-wide review of education for disabled children. Woodlands School in Woodlands Drive caters for up to 90 children, aged between two and 16, including 30 who stay at a residential hostel on site. Springhead School in Barry’s Lane caters for up to 46 children aged from two to 19. Both schools have vacancies. Part of the review exercise will be to decide whether the provision of special needs education is adequately or correctly distributed around the borough.
Scarborough Evening News, October 20, 2000.

Young people with Down’s Syndrome are set to lose a specialist teacher – threatening their chances of staying in mainstream schools. A lack of cash means Oxford-based Sandy Alton – Britain’s first Down’s Syndrome teacher-adviser – will be out of a job within months. She works with 60 primary and secondary teachers and pupils across Oxfordshire, helping staff better understand the syndrome and the educational needs involved. Without her help teachers might not copy and pupils may be forced into special schools. Her post is partly paid by the local education authority and the rest with fundraising from the Oxfordshire Down’s Syndrome Association. But the £15,000 council cash is about to run out after two years and Sandy is facing the axe.
Oxford Mail, October 20, 2000.

The debate about inclusion for children with special needs has well-drawn battle-lines. On one side are those who argue that children with special needs are best educated in an environment where those needs can be met by specialist teachers with targeted resources. On the other side are those who argue that, with very few exceptions, children should be educated alongside their peers with specialist support in the mainstream classroom. In Coventry three schools have tried to break down the artificial barriers of that debate and achieve the best of both worlds in a project that mixes mainstream and special children. ‘I almost see us as one school with three different levels of resource,’ says Cathy Clarke, head of Three Spires special school. ‘We have a true partnership. Historically special schools have been on the edge. When the child can’t cope and their needs are very different, there are parts of those needs which can be met by other types of resource and that’s the push we have made here.’ The other schools involved are Tiverton special school and Moseley primary school.
Times Educational Supplement, October 27, 2000.