Parent Carers’ Experiences Of Lockdown

The Government has shown during the coronavirus pandemic that it can introduce radical changes in a matter of days. This survey by the Disabled Children’s Partnership of over 4,000 parents of disabled children shows the battle that many parents of disabled children face on a daily basis. Despite the best efforts of many professionals, families are being left to cope alone.

Over 4,000 families of disabled children were contacted to ask how they had been impacted by the lockdown. Overwhelmingly, they felt locked out and abandoned by Government and by society, and are fearful for their own physical and mental health.

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      string(4486) "what to do. For the first time in any of my schools my teachers listened to me.An Associate Teacher, who was my Key worker, got to know my family. They understood what had happened in my life. I went on an anger management programme which made me think about kindness and positivity.A big part of my life has been the Mentors in Violence Prevention Programme, (based on the Glasgow project where older students mentor younger students to stop them being a bystander) I now really enjoy being a mentor, helping younger pupils just as I was helped.My parents and I got involved in the Achievement for All programme which helped me, and my Mum and Dad work together with the school on my needs. All of the support has stopped me from being excluded, I am grateful for that.I am proud that I am now in the top set for English and History, and in the second set for all other subjects (I am working on these). I have turned myself around with the support of my teachers and my parents.Ashmal’s teacher comments:What keeps Ashmal and his peers in school begins with attendance and behaviour meetings a weekly forum on behaviour changes, focused on the reason for the behaviour. In the first instance teachers explore what is happening, what support can be given, this involves ringing the parent or carer checking on issues at home. Teachers also talk and listen to Ashmal, focused on positivity and help to support engagement in lessons.Ashmal was also supported by the school’s strong working partnerships with external agencies, which include social care, CAMHS will share the strategies rather than the student joining a long waiting list, primary mental health and Coventry MIND. We also work with the Boomerang programme to guide teachers on how to manage mental health, build resilience and self-esteem in all students.COMPASS work around protective behaviours, risky behaviour, substance abuse has provided much needed support. Educational psychologists have also provided and provide support for children with additional support needs, ASD support, and training on emotion coaching for all staff.Other services within the school involve the Citizens Advice Bureau who provide whole family advice and guidance. The police school liaison officer has worked with EAL students on how to ring police through to restorative justice. There is also small group work after school focused on child exploitation.It is not just pastoral needs that are addressed, we constantly review the provision, providing appropriate access to learning, allowing all students to learn rather than experience cognitive overload. The principles underpinning the curriculum are Safe, Acceptance, Intervention and Learning – if students are struggling, they move into Foundation classes, supported by an associate teacher who understands the relationship between social and feelings and academic learning.At Lyng Hall we are a community committed to all students. Lyng Hall is the school that never closes the safety and security provided during term time and holidays, closed only on public holidays.Just like Ashmal I see the difference they we are making to the life chances of all students. I am proud of Ashmal, and I am proud to be a Lyng Hall teacher.With thanks to Ashmal, Paul Green – Executive Headteacher, Patricia Grainger- Executive Director of Children and Families (interviewed by Sonia Blandford)ReferencesDepartment for Education Exclusion Data 30th July 2020Education data lab, 2019National Federation of Education Research 16th June 2020Professor Sonia Blandford is one of the country’s foremost experts on social mobility and author of two influential publications: ‘Born to Fail? Social Mobility, A Working Class View’, ‘Social Mobility, Chance or Choice?’Founder and CEO of the award-winning education charity, Achievement for All (https://afaeducation.org), Sonia is also visiting professor of education at UCL Institute of Education, University of Warwick, and Plymouth Marjon University.Currently Chair of ‘Learn’ for The Prince’s Trust 2030 Task Force and Head of Social Mobility: RISE Think Tank (co-chaired by Lord Willetts and Simon Blagden). Sonia is editor of the Teaching Times Inclusion journal, and author of 300 articles and books written for teachers, leaders, parents and carers, and children and young people.Sonia is married with two amazing, adopted daughters, and a wonderful granddaughter.Follow Sonia on Twitter at @SoniaAFA3AS"
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Blogs

Rescuing A Generation At Risk From Covid and Exclusions

11 Aug 2020

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      string(5565) "Domestic violence leads to childhoold traumaThe Healing Together Facilitator Programme will help to create a legion of trauma aware practitioners who will have the skills and understanding to help children who are impacted by domestic abuse and violence. This is an ambitious world-wide training programme toupskill staff who work with children in primary or secondary schools, in othercommunity settings, in refuges, hostels or who provide pastoral or counsellingsupport. Dealing with childhood trauma and domestic violenceWe are the course creators and come with different perspectives from different backgrounds and that adds strength to our collaboration. Dr Asha Patel set up her multi award winning social enterprise in 2016 with the aim of creating mentally healthy environment in schools: ‘I come from a forensic mental health background, working with high-profile sex offenders among others. I realised I was working at the wrong end of the spectrum. It was too late for them. I came to understand that I could make more impact if I supported them when they were young.’Innovating Minds worked alongside ‘We:ARE’ in Birmingham which supports women who have been subjected to domestic violence. As the mothers started to rebuild their lives, they were concerned about the damage done to their children, so Innovating Minds developed a programme in Kings Norton in Birmingham. Children aged 10-14 attended, one evening a week for six weeks after school After the very first session there was a waiting list for 40 children so right from the beginning it was impossible to keep up with demand.Jane Evans is an expert on Childhood Trauma and Anxiety. She’s also the author of a number of books which help adults explore discuss difficult issues with children, including one on domestic abuse called How Are You Feeling Today Baby Bear? She has worked in refuges, with children’s services, the courts and trained to be a foster carer. All her work draws on her experiences but is also informed by research. She is a trainer and coach and much in demand as a public speaker.Jane was working with preschool children 26 years ago whenshe first learned about abusive relationships and realised that she had been inone for three years. ‘Trauma does not stop when they come out of an abusive relationship,so adults need to learn to walk in the child’s shoes. Often once the abusivepartner has left ,the single parent really struggles with the child’sbehaviour.’Levels of domestic violence in lockdownThe HealingTogether Facilitator Programme is especially timely now. The pandemic has not been kind tochildren who live in violent households. The United Nations has called domesticabuse the ‘shadow pandemic’ as it estimates incidents globally have increasedby at least 20 per cent. According to Commander Sue Williams of The Metropolitan Police there was a spike in arrests after 9 March, when people with coronavirus symptoms were asked to self-isolate. She says charges and cautions were up by 24% compared to the same period in 2019, with officers arresting an average of 100 people a day for domestic violence. Police believe the incidents of domestic violence are under-reported as some mothers know that if their partner is arrested, they will be left with no money coming into the home. Meanwhile, researchers at the Counting Dead Women Project told UK MPs that 14 women and two children were killed in the first three weeks of lockdown – the largest number of killings in a three-week period for 11 years and more than double the average rate.[1]The NSPCC has confirmed a shocking increase in calls to their service: ‘Contacts to our helpline about the impact of domestic abuse on children have increased by 32% since the start of the lockdown, to an average of one an hour.’Agenciesknow that these figures are just the tip of the iceberg and that many more willcome to light when women and children can get out of the house and tell theirstories to others. This has happened in other countries that lifted lockdownearlier.The biggest victims of domestic abuse are often the youngest people in familiesThe statistics areshocking but the reality is that each of these numbers represents one or morechildren trapped over thirteen weeks with no chance of escape.They have lived with daily uncertainties, threats and abuse. They willneed support from safe adults to give them insights into ways to feel calmerand safer in their own bodies.The danger is that they go back to school, struggle with their feelings and emotions and find that they cannot cope. Adults in children’s daily lives, at school and in the community, need to understand that certain behaviours can be manifested by children who are traumatised – they must NOT be simply seen as ‘really naughty’ or ‘unmanageable.’The children are responding to trauma and overwhelmed. Their bodies areon alert and they experience sensory overload where they react to sounds,smells, sounds, textures of food. Words, looks, silences and what seem to beminor incidents can set off feelings of danger.They are swamped by their feelings but there is a disconnect betweentheir mind and body so they are not always aware of what is going on.  One girl told us: ‘I love my mum, I don’t know why I do this to her’. When children are working through the course materials you will see real light bulb moment where they suddenly identify their reactions: ‘That’s what my body does too!’; ‘So that is what my brain is telling"
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Mental Health

Seeing Children's Experiences Of Domestic Violence Through A Trauma Informed Lens Helps Their Journey To Recovery

1 Jul 2020

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      string(5628) "Abitur.At the ‘Clara Zetkin’ secondary school in Freiberg, a small market town near Dresden, classrooms were prepared to accommodate students carefully allowing for 2m distancing between each of them. This required the rooms to be set up for small groups of maximum 9 students per classroom plus the teacher (see photo below). This was so that they could have, at staggered times, 14 days of teacher supported revision for their exams.ExamsThe 16 Federal German States are insisting that 350 000 final year Abitur (secondary school pre-university exam) students return to school to revise for and then sit the exams. In Hamburg, 153 000 people have signed a petition calling in vain for the mayor, Peter Tschentcher, to cancel the exams.At the Samuel-Pudendorf Gymnasium (selective secondary school) in Flöha, the headteacher, Sylvia Noack, explained to the local press that even the smaller Abitur classes had to be halved because the classrooms could only safely fit 7-8 students if safe distancing between students was to be maintained. Classrooms have to be professionally cleaned and disinfected every day.Vulnerable teachersIn Germany, there are many teachers over the age of 60. Since the over-sixties fall into the category of shielded workers, alongside colleagues living with medical conditions that put them at risk of serious complications from the Coronavirus, staff shortages are adding to the logistical difficulties of restarting schools. As more and more pupils return to school, these logistical issues explain why ambitions are modest. The aim is to offer until September only part-time schooling with contact teaching in core subjects only.The reopening of German schools for older students was justified in part, like in Luxembourg, by some wishful thinking that teenagers would respect the clear rules about social distancing. In Hessen, 23500 Abitur students have returned to school in the last weeks. Frequent reports have circulated that, while Abitur exam candidates are carefully guided into exam rooms which ensure a physical distance of at least 1.5m from each other, they car -share on the way to school and way home, embrace before the exam to wish each other ‘good luck’ and then celebrate the end of their exams by hugging one another again. Revising for and taking exams in different optional subjects necessitates students forever joining new groups. Working in static class or small group bubbles is impossible.Janitorial staff in some German schools complain that school authorities have delivered bulk liquid soap and hand sanitiser without providing the necessary dispensers. No dispensersThe same goes for giant rolls of single use paper towels. We know what happens to those in school toilets! While students are advised. like everyone else. to sneeze into their elbows and wipe their nose with a hand tissue that is then thrown away, German teachers reveal that many classrooms do not have sinks equipped with hot water and adequate soap.As part of its global lockdown exit strategy, announced on 24th April 2020, Belgium sets out its trial plan for a return to school in startling detail. Schools are preparing to implement this plan from 15th May 2020 (the last day of total school lockdown).Nursery/Kindergarten: lessons remain suspended.Primary and/or secondary schools: resumption of school courses for up to 3 years of study per level of education (with a number of days per week to be determined). Classes are divided into small groups and classes at school or are divided into small groups and receive a mixed education (remote and present). By derogation from the proposed phase, the resumption can begin, in the form of a test, as early as May 15.Priority is given to the graduating years, students with specific educational support needs (which can be invited individually by the school) and careers guidance.Schools remain open for children whose parents work in the health care or other essential sectors and have no other childcare opportunities while they work .Travel as part of education is considered essential travel.General principlesThe general principle is to minimize the risk of transmission in the school context by applying physical distance, hand hygiene and mouth masks.Children or staff with clinical signs should remain at home, as well as children and staff from at-risk groups (these will be defined in due course). These children will need to receive distance education.Face masks and equipmentAt least students over the age of 12 and staff members must wear an oral mask or other nose/mouth protection (handmade or comfort masks, provided they are replaced in accordance with the guidelines) throughout the day. The use of FFP2 masks is not recommended.Maintenance personnel and health workers must also wear gloves.Hand hygieneAll students and staff must wash their hands (water and soap or hydro-alcoholic gel):when entering the school,entering the classroom (after recess),after going to the toilet,after coughing or sneezing,after using a vending machine andleaving school.Belgium’s big problemBelgium, where distance learning is relatively underdeveloped, there is a massive concern that home learning, including e-learning, massively disadvantages vulnerable and socio-economically deprived children. This has been a major driver for a part-time and partial return to school as quickly as possible, even though the country has cancelled all public examinations, and even though it has the highest per capita death rate in the world.The Belgian decision to reopen its state schools contrasts with the"
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Leadership

Europe Finds Ending School Lockdown Challenging And Divisive

5 May 2020

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      string(4818) "Leadership BriefingLeadership Briefing – www.teachingtimes.comReports Summaries – a weeklyservice of essential summaries,in-depth reports and criticalanalysis that’s new and relevantto education, linked to originalsource documents.IMPACT EVALUATION OF THE SENDPATHFINDER PROGRAMMEKeywordsSpecialEducationalNeeds,Disabilities,SEND, keyworker,staff, family,outcomes,support,children, needsSummaryThis DfE report is the second of two volumes containing the evaluation findings from the first18 months of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Pathfinder Programme.Overall the results show that the new approach can work. The report contains data gatheredthrough a survey of parent-carers, qualitative case studies with families that participated inthe pathfinder, a staff work and satisfaction survey and the cost/expenditure and family-relatedelements of the SQW monitoring tool.Main Findings: ■ While positive, the overall level of change appears modest at this relatively early stage. ■ While the overall feedback on the process was positive, as yet the survey found no consistentevidence to illustrate an improvement in outcomes had occurred. ■ The positive impacts appeared to be linked to a range of factors:1. Involvement of a ‘key worker’ or ‘group of individuals’ that had delivered the new process andtherefore provided the families with support2. The competency, consistency and knowledge of the key worker(s)3. Key workers allowing sufficient time for discussions, being accessible and recognising the value ofparents’ insights into their child or young person’s needs4. Parents’ capacity to take part in the process, especially in cases where key workers were felt tohave been less effective5. A sense that all key professionals had engaged (for example the process seemed to have workedbetter when they had attended the planning meeting rather than sending written inputs)6. The extent to which activities and decision making had been transparent and could therefore beeasily understood by families7. The degree to which families felt the resultant EHC Plan reflected their needs. ■ There remain issues around the information available to families, emphasising the importance ofgetting the local offer right ■ While parents feel much more involved, this has not transferred to the same extent to youngpeople. This may need to be addressed as part of the workforce development associated with keyworking ■ While joint working is getting better, the flows of information between services could be better, tosave families having to explain their needs on multiple occasions. ■ Pathfinder families were significantly more likely than comparison families to strongly agree thatthey understood the assessment and support planning processes (38 per cent pathfinder families;27 per cent comparison).Week Commencing 14th October 2013https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/246214/DFE-RR281.pdfhttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/246214/DFE-RR281.pdfhttp://www.nfer.ac.uk/nfer/publications/PMSZ01/PMSZ01.pdfLeadership BriefingLeadership Briefing – www.teachingtimes.comReports Summaries – a weeklyservice of essential summaries,in-depth reports and criticalanalysis that’s new and relevantto education, linked to originalsource documents. ■ Families’ understanding of the process and the extent to which it had been child/family centredappears strongly influenced by the skills and knowledge of the ‘key worker’ or ‘group of individuals’that had provided them with support, emphasising the importance of resourcing this processsufficiently, with well trained staff. ■ Overall, pathfinder families reported being more satisfied with the assessment process, 35 percent of pathfinder families were ‘very satisfied’ with the assessment and planning process versus27 per cent of the comparison families. ■ Pathfinder families were more satisfied with the services that they received, with the differenceappearing to reflect improvements in education services. ■ Pathfinder families reported noticing a difference in the process. Half (54 per cent) felt that thequality of the support services they were now receiving was better than it was before. Only a third(36 per cent) of comparison group families felt the same. They also reported that the processesthey had been through were more straightforward (40 per cent versus 14 per cent); that serviceswere working more closely together (39 per cent versus 23 per cent)..WEB LINKImpact Evaluation of the SEND Pathfinder Programmehttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/246214/DFE-RR281.pdfhttp://www.savethechildren.org.uk/sites/default/files/images/Too_Young_to_Fail_0.pdf"
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Leadership

Impact Evaluation of the SEND Pathfinder Programme

9 Oct 2013