supporting inclusion, challenging exclusion
Segregation of disabled children criticised by authors of The Newham Story
A step-by-step account by two of the leading figures in a London education authority's de-segregation programme to bring disabled children into mainstream schools has been revised for 2002.
The authors of Human Rights and School Change - the Newham story, Linda Jordan and Chris Goodey, chart the steps which brought about the closure of most of the separate special schools and units in Newham, East London, over a 12-year-period, 1984-96. At the same time Newham's ordinary schools have undergone major changes to improve provision for all pupils.
Linda Jordan was chair of the Education Committee of Newham Council from 1988 to 1994 and Chris Goodey has been chair of Newham Parents' Support Network since 1984. As well as sharing their experience and first-hand knowledge about inclusion in Newham, the authors give their comments and concerns about national developments. They highlight the slow progress towards inclusion in other parts of the country, which they say is forcing parents and pupils into segregated schools against their wishes.
'It seems to make no sense that their own LEA wishes to forcibly segregate their child, yet if they lived in Newham their child could go to a mainstream school.'
Page last updated: Friday 15 June 2018