Tim Linehan

Open Letter to Bridget Phillipson & warning parents against casual attitude’ to school' Can you spare a minute to help this campaign?

This is no way to bring schools and families together and least of all to help children. Please sign up chng.it/6HvtYWsGrh

Are schools slow in offering flexi-school options for SEND children? @fftedudatalab.bsky.social As always @fftedudatalab.bsky.social data raises some interesting questions

Elective home education, Autumn term 2024/25 <p>This publication provides data reported by local authorities on children of <a href="https://www.gov.uk/schools-admissions/school-starting-age">compulsory school age</a> in elective home education ...

Home education is up 20% from 92k to 111k in the last 12 months according to govt data published today. More children leaving education. More exclusions. More severely absent children. We need to rethink education. explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statist...

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"We know that shame is a powerful driver for violence" Prof Gwen Adshead - on the Reith Lectures, Four Questions about Violence. Something for our education system to ponder. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

“High quality first teaching and additional interventions are defined through our annual dialogue across the school contributing to our provision management approach.” A great example of how school SEND reports are harder to read than Stephen Hawking. Can anyone better that? please post!

School SEND reports harder to read than Stephen Hawking book 'We ought to be able to explain SEND to parents more clearly than someone explains cosmology'

Well this would be quite funny if the consequences were less serious to the lives of children and their families schoolsweek.co.uk/school-send-...

Send crisis in England and Wales leaving children more vulnerable, says report Experts point to increased risk of criminal and sexual exploitation and call for urgent action from government

Earlier this week we heard in a govt report how SEND delays put children at risk of severe violence. Today we learn SEND children are at risk of trafficking & modern slavery. And delays in SEND help play a critical part putting their lives at risk. tinyurl.com/2rcsdbef

Thank you. I'll try to take a look!

7. It seems to me to be pretty effective way of silencing the voices of families of children with SEND. ends.

6. So the legal cases that are, allegedly, bankrupting local authorities because parents are fighting for their children’s legal rights to an education, only make a tiny fraction of those who could have complaints about SEND education but aren't able to.

5. And, it gets worse. It’s not just academies. Only children with EHCPs can have their cases investigated so other children with SEND can’t.

4. The academy system contributes to "an extremely complex landscape where different people have access to different levels of redress depending on which school their child attends, or have no access to redress at all…this is neither logical nor is it fair.”

3. The system means that “young people, and their families, don’t get the help they need and lose vital weeks, months and years of education and development as a result. They don’t get that time back,” The LGO Amerdeep Somal says.

2. I had no idea (my children went to a maintained school) that academies may offer little or no redress for complaints. And, it’s obvious really, but academies aren’t subject to these LGO procedures. This is neither logical nor fair, says the Ombudsman.

Children’s development ‘put back by years’ due to failure of special educational needs system Local government ombudsman report into SEND in England offers damning assessment

If you want to know how broken the SEND system is, read on: complaints about dominate the local govt ombudsman intray. 90% are upheld yet don’t include complaints from academies (80% of secondaries, 50% of primaries). tinyurl.com/yc73ejtp 🧵1/7

I've been saying this for years: teachers are unprepared to meet SEND needs. Only 1 in 10 primary teachers say they are well prepared to meet the SEMH needs of pupils. Support teachers. Train them. Help pupils. @teachertapp.bsky.social @tesmagazine.bsky.social tinyurl.com/39wjyfz9

I so agree!

4. No wonder teachers are frazzled. No wonder leaders are burnt out. No wonder parents are angry. No wonder children are leaving. It’s the system. It’s unfit for purpose. ends

3. The report puts worsening behaviour down to unmet need. That’s one factor, for sure. But it’s also down to a failing system; one that pits school staff against families, one that’s undersupported, and one that’s simply out of touch with the needs of today.

2. As I’ve said before, I’ve only ever seen one piece of research arguing children’s behaviour is improving (in Scotland, years ago), yet crime is falling. You’d expect a correlation. But laying this scepticism aside, the relationships between teachers and families appears to be worsening.

Alarming rise in challenging parent and pupil behaviour amid unsustainable levels of stress and burnout Education Support, a leading UK charity which advocates for the mental health of teachers and education staff, has released its eighth Teacher Wellbeing Index.

The evidence of toxicity in our ed system mounts. This report by the excellent @edsupportuk.bsky.social talks about stress throughout the teaching profession, as well as worsening behaviour from parents and children. tinyurl.com/yhxac22t 🧵1/4

Primary school pupil suspensions in England double in a decade Mum Jo says Jacob is very caring but sensory issues led to him being excluded for disruptive behaviour.

In case anyone still doubts it, we're moving closer and closer towards a two-tier education system and it appears to be starting younger. Great for those who fit in, but for increasing numbers, if you don't, you're out. tinyurl.com/2pm2vb39

SEND delays 'making children vulnerable' to violence Inspectorates, including Ofsted, warn delays in assessing SEND needs puts 'children at greater risk of harm'

disturbing, when you consider that only around half of EHCPs are completed within the 20 weeks legally required time. tinyurl.com/4638shdm

FANTASTIC webinar with our
@educationgovuk
+ @NHSEngland
funders, #autistic developers &scientist practitioners. Our programme is expanding across England.
Watch professor Peter Fonagy
on why #NATPmentalhealth training is needed for residential special schools + colleges shorturl.at/sUW37

You too!

You too! Hope all's good with you

More than one in three children in poverty as UK deprivation hits record high Exclusive: Study finds almost quarter of UK population living in poverty, reaching the highest level this century

Just a shameful reminder that as child poverty hits record levels that schools can only be truly inclusive if we get the economics of equality right. All this while private enterprise skims its millions of social care by profiteering from the worst off. tinyurl.com/bdfvxv5k

Clampdown on home educating children with protection plans Councils will also have to include schools in 'multi-agency safeguarding teams'

No good clamping down on home education when @CfYoungLives estimates 75% of families home educate because children don’t get the support they need, often for SEND or mental health. tinyurl.com/bdcur7h9 (not saying HE can't be a +ve choice - just that many don't choose it)

Why does this happen? more baked-in inequality.

I'd be interested in joining. I'm a campaigner and work with a number of organisations (Square Peg, Hackney Council through its PCF, Spectrum Gaming) to support a more inclusive education system.