Inclusion Now 47 by ALLFIE

Summer 2017 Issue 47

Â£2

A voice for the Inclusion Movement in the UK

GENERAL ELECTION SPECIAL

Contents

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Editorial UN Article 24 ALLFIE goes to Geneva

Advocacy in special schools Paul Doyle talks about his experiences and research

Inclusion in Bangladesh Report from Richard Rieser

Lessons from Canada Transforming educational systems

Election special Compare the parties’ policies

The Geography story A parent’s experience

International funding The Costing Equity report

Notices

Legal Question Article 24

Editorial ho would have thought when we were starting W to put together the Summer 2017 edition of Inclusion Now that we would be calling it a General Election Special?

A snap election has been called for the 8th June so we have scanned party manifestos for any promises about inclusion – you will not be surprised that references to inclusion and/or Disabled pupils and students are scant, but there are some – see pages 11, 12 and 13. It feels like there is a growing divide between the inclusion back pedalling here by the UK government and progress in other countries. I am struck by Richard Rieser’s articles about inclusive education in Bangladesh (pp6/7) where the barriers are huge, and plans for a global funding initiative on inclusive education (pp16/17). On pages 8/9 there is an inspirational piece on how New Brunswick in Canada decided on achieving 100% inclusive education, and took very practical steps which delivered real and sustainable change. As a survivor of a residential special school myself I am appalled but not surprised by Paul Doyle’s account of his time in a similar setting (pp4/5). He is absolutely right that all young people incarcerated in such settings need a voice, but what they need most is to no longer be separated from their communities - written off by a society that chooses to continually fail young people because we don’t easily fit in. Whatever the election result, I will wake up on the morning of the 9th June prepared to continue the struggle for real and lasting inclusive education – I hope you will join me! In solidarity

Tara Flood

Inclusion Now occasionally includes adverts for products, services, courses or events offered by other organisations. This does not imply that we endorse or support the products, services, courses, events or organisations concerned. Readers are advised to check details for themselves and make their own judgements. Inclusion Now provides an opportunity for the exchange of information. All the views expressed are not necessarily the views of ALLFIE, Inclusive Solutions or World of Inclusion. We reserve the right to edit articles. Contact ALLFIE for advertising rates and policy. Inclusion Now is also available in audio or text format via email - see subscription form on page 19. You can also search past issues and view past issues as page-turning pdfs online at www.allfie.org.uk

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United Nations

ALLFIE gives Article 24 evidence to UN n March we gave evidence to the UN in Geneva with the Reclaiming Our Futures Alliance, presenting our Shadow Report which documents how UK government policies since 2010 have moved backwards against nearly every article of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, including Article 24: Right to Inclusive Education.

The CRPD Committee asked a number of questions about education and disabled children and young people in response to ALLFIE’s presentation. Our presentation set out the many breaches of Article 24 since ratification in 2009, including announcements of new funding for special and segregated provision, the disproportionate numbers of disabled children and young people with SEN being excluded from school, funding cuts to local SEN support services and the impact of these on disabled children, young people and their families, and of course the government plan to significantly increase levels of selection in schools.

Tara Flood. Photo: Natasha Hirst

• When and how they will withdraw their reservation to Article 24 • Progress in the UK on inclusive education • What is being done to inform parents of disabled children’s right to inclusive education, and its benefits • What is being done to make sure cuts to Disabled Students’ Allowance do not affect disabled young people’s access to education, particularly those from low income households.

The CRPD Committee have used this evidence to help it produce a “list of issues” on which it needs further information from the UK government. That • What is being done to train teachers in inclusion. list has now been published and will provide the scrutiny framework when the UK government ALLFIE has reviewed the list of issues and we’re attends the CRPD Committee in August. pleased that our concerns about the backward The issues the UK government has been asked to movement on Article 24 rights have been included in the document. comment on include: The full List of Issues is online: http://bit.ly/2oEWHjq

The ALLFIE/ROFA delegation. Photo: Natasha Hirst

Tara Flood

Disabled person’s voice The importance of advocacy for people locked up in special schools cannot remember being asked by anyone in authority whether I had an opinion about going to a residential special school. I was perfectly happy at day special school in Manchester, I was doing really well, I had lots of friends and of course I was living with my family.

the wider society as they would not have much experience of life in the community at all. Before I went to boarding school I used to go out with my eldest brother and watch him play football with his friends but that stopped and it never rekindled again when I came home for good. Whoever decides children and young people with disabilities should go into residential special schools and colleges takes away their family life and friendships and it may be hard to get this back again.

However my special school was changing. Originally, it was for physically disabled children, but now it would be receiving children with learning impairments as well. When I was about eleven I heard staff talking about me going to another The more time I spent at boarding school the more school. The next thing I knew I was going to a I felt the teachers cared less and boarding school in Kent, 200 miles less about my education. I was away from my family. This was an starting to do what I had already “Children who go to a enormous event, and I had no way done at the school in Manchester special residential school of understanding its implications and it was extremely frustrating. I at four or five years old at the time. I now know how crucial tried to tell the teachers how I felt may never know what it is it is for young disabled children but they did not take any notice of like to be part of society. “ to have their voice heard in all me - I became invisible to them. decisions that affect their lives. There must be thousands of disabled people with My going to residential special school was for the similar experiences to me. I was really lucky that convenience of professionals not for my education. whilst I was at boarding school my mother and There was nobody to speak up for or with me father never left it three weeks without seeing me, and my parents. No one explained the profound they came down to visit me at school in between implications for me as a disabled child being sent holidays. A lot of the children and young people at away from the family I loved (I have two older sisters, my school did not see their families for six or seven one older brother and two younger brothers). weeks at a time. I was fortunate to have the ongoing I absolutely hated this school. It was horrible. When support of my family before during and after my a few years ago I asked my siblings about my going boarding special school trauma. I actually felt like away, my brother, who was ten at the time, said the a prisoner at the school. It was bad enough during school did not look a happy place. My sisters said it the week when classes were on but the evenings and weekends were dire. I had no real friends. was like I was ‘put on to one side’ for a while. Some children attend residential special school During “free time” I would go around in my electric from a really young age. I was thirteen when I first wheelchair alone, with no one to talk to. went down to Kent. Whilst I was there it was like we were cut off from the rest of society. Children who go to a special residential school at four or five years old may never know what it is like to be part of society. Once they have left school, providing that they do not get put into a residential special education needs college, they could be fearful of

Looking back I desperately needed someone to discuss honestly what boarding school was. I am sure I would never have gone - although I am not sure if I would have had a choice, since the decision had already been taken by the “authority”. Sometimes I think I should have told people what

[Title goesDisabled here] person’s voice I thought of boarding school at the time, but I was never encouraged to express my views. I now realise I did not have the capacity to speak up for myself - this is a consequence of segregated schooling, it undermines confidence and a sense of self. We know many disabled children have been in residential special schools for their entire schooling lives. They may not know what goes on outside the walls which contain and control them. I use these words because people who work in them assume they have to ‘protect’ disabled children from the outside world. This protection is oppressive. Disabled children, stuck in residential special schools, have no idea about non-disabled children and they in turn have no appreciation of the talents and personalities of disabled people.

enough patience with the children who had the severest impairments; I include myself in this group. The young man with no means of communication I realised could indicate ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ with his eyes up and down. I could not believe how simple yet effective this was and yet the school failed to recognise that he could communicate in this way. It must have been terribly frustrating for him. Having multiple impairments myself, including a speech impairment, I could understand how infuriating it is to have people not know what I am saying. It is vital for disabled children to be listened to, using whatever communication method works for the individual, calling upon advocacy where required to ensure the child’s voice is integral to all decisions made about her/him.

Children in special schooling require good independent advocacy so that their voice is heard. I cannot remember any teacher talking about boarding school. Some guidance on this transition may have stopped me from going to residential special education needs school and my positive educational prospects might have begun earlier.

There should be no special schools, there should be a whole new education system where disabled and non-disabled people are educated together. In the meantime every special school should have appropriate numbers of advocates for children to have their voice valued and heard: this should not be optional but essential.

The sense of being ‘locked up’ was a painful experience to me. It was a frightening ordeal being away from home and on my own. I had no confidence to talk to people and tell them how I felt. I wanted to tell teachers that I wanted more academic work, and I knew I was capable. If only I had had an advocate to speak out with me.

Life beyond special schools is unknown to the children, who are segregated from the rest of society. This is wrong. Children have a right to participate, contribute and live a full life in society.

Speaking up for oneself or having someone speak up with you is a really important concept. My PhD thesis is about advocacy for young disabled people. The fieldwork for my research was set in a special school where I held advocacy sessions. One particular young person was seventeen and about to leave school and I discovered he had no method of communication. How can an individual go through his schooling years and have his voice denied? The teachers at the school were keen for me to talk to their students but they were not prepared to listen to them. From my observations at my own residential special school, the teachers did not give me anything to do. I noticed some young people were learning, but it was obvious to me that the teachers did not have

A fuller version of this article is available on our blog: www.allfie.org.uk/blog

Dr Paul Doyle

International inclusion Inclusive Education in Bangladesh with disabilities supported to enrol and stay in 262 schools in Nilphamari District. More than 300 teachers have been trained on aspects of inclusive education; 100 parents’ groups have been formed; 100 inclusive children’s clubs have been formed; more than 90 schools have been made accessible; 10 inclusive resource centres have been set up in mainstream schools. https://youtu. be/hG2IqSyk2JU?t=23 B. Mirpur Protibondhi Centre

ttending and speaking at the recent Fourth A International Conference on Inclusive Education in Dhaka, Bangladesh, I was struck

by the energy and commitment to developing inclusive education. Bangladesh has in recent years been operating one of the largest primary education systems in the world for a low income country. Net enrolment is at 98.7% with gender parity (1.02) and a rapid growth in pre-primary schools. However, behind the statistics of 20 million children attending 85,000 state primary schools, there are many groups who have been excluded, and 20% do not complete elementary education.

It has been left to NGOs to plug the gap:A. Nilphamari, Leonard Cheshire Disability Since January 2012, Leonard Cheshire Disability’s (LCD) South Asia Regional Office and Gana Unnayan Kendra (GUK) have been working in partnership in Nilphamari to implement “Promoting Rights through Community Action: Improved Access to Inclusive Education for Children with Disabilities”. The project was funded by the European Union and drew to a close in December 2014. It has had a significant impact, with more than 2,100 children

Run by the Bangladesh Protibondhi Foundation, this was founded in 1984 and since 1999 has been practising a policy of reverse inclusion, accommodating nonimpaired children from the local areas alongside those with impairments, funded by government and Save the Children. There are twelve branches all across Bangladesh. They also run a community based rehabilitation programme in surrounding areas. The school we visited in the Mirpur district of Dhaka has 556 students, 136 of whom are part of the reverse-inclusion programme. There are 22 teachers and 36 teaching assistants. The school has a psychologist and speech and occupational therapists. Children have three pre-levels and can then join their grade class up to Grade 5, at the same levels as those in government schools. Parallel classes are run for those with more severe disabilities. They have developed a peer support model that seems to work very well; classes that we visited exhibited pairing of disabled and nondisabled children. There is concentration on vocational education with which students with intellectual impairments are encouraged to join in: designing and printing fabrics, making wooden puzzles, sewing and making toys are the main focuses. These are then sold in the school shop, which is run by students, to raise income. https://youtu.be/amDqsqVQ-MI

[Title goes here] International inclusion C. BRAC Building Resources Across Communities (formerly Bangladesh) is a development organisation based in Bangladesh, currently the largest in the world, largely funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DfID). Over the last forty years it has developed education facilities for those who would find it hard to access government education. Their main focus has been to get girls into education and provide schools in remote areas. They now cater for 2.5 million children with better results and less drop out than government schools. The organisation trains teachers themselves, running two year short courses (government schools only employ graduates). BRAC training is focused more on facilitating children’s learning than on formal government pedagogy methods. In 2015, BRAC provided education to 179,000 children with mild to moderate impairments, with a programme of adjustments available. They also run workshops for children with disabilities to prepare them for mainstream education.

D. Plan International: Developing A Model of Inclusive Education in Bangladesh An Australian Aid funded project that has worked with the government Directorate of Primary Education to develop a sustainable and replicable model of inclusive education in fifty state primary schools in six districts. The model addresses “Hand, Head and Heart” to develop the capacity of communities and the primary schools that serve them; working in the :community to develop 1-5 years pre-primary classes with community outreach; developing community resource people to provide training for teachers, heads and school management committees; making the environment and learning accessible.

Involving pupils in peer support and actively seeking their views has demonstrated a rapid improvement in quality education for all. https:// youtu.be/1Hy4CALv1SE?t=15. Plan International have been expanding this programme to cover more schools and reported to us that the model We visited a school in a Dhaka slum at “Shahparzan was not working as well in Dhaka. This is probably 29” which consists of two classes at year 4 & 5 levels. because the stable community structures found There are 17 other classroom schools situated in in rural Bangladesh do not exist in the teeming a dense area of self-made houses and workshops streets and slums of Dhaka with its population of built mostly of corrugated iron and breeze blocks. twenty million. We suggested that the task here The school is built of these same materials. There might be aided by making the government primary is no state primary in the neighbourhood. The class school the centre of its own community. This could we visited had around thirty students with an equal be achieved by using the resources of the school gender balance and seven children with visual to provide adult education, social and medical impairments, some of whom had had corrective support. surgery through BRAC. Pedagogy is traditional, with the teacher reading from a textbook and children Disabled children are just one group not in following. It was clear on speaking to the children education. Rapid urbanisation has led to 1.1 that they had understanding of the studies. The million street children in Dhaka. https://youtu.be/ level of English was very high. Children were on tQeMEgeuszA?t=255 task, interested, motivated and achieving the Despite the difficulties, there are many teachers, tasks set. They take exams after four years to gain community leaders and local education officers access to government secondary schools. Girls ready to make the transformation if money can be and children with impairments do particularly well. found from donors such as DfID and GPE to bring https://youtu.be/QVkARqEkuos the model of inclusive education to scale. At the conference there was a great deal of verbal commitment by the government in Primary Richard Rieser Education Development Plan III to the development World of Inclusion of the capacity for inclusion.

Inclusive practice Transforming Educational Systems Lessons from New Brunswick here is global recognition of the importance T of inclusive education, not only in ensuring that every young person enjoys their right

to quality education but also as a means of building more inclusive 21st century societies. Yet despite more than 30 years of promising educational innovation, it remains the case that rather few jurisdictions have implemented a comprehensive system of inclusive education. One of those which has is the Canadian province of New Brunswick. Here we tell the New Brunswick story and offer a framework for transforming public education systems so as to provide inclusive education for all.

with the outcomes of segregated schooling for their children. Parents were becoming vocal and increasingly their voices were being heard. Second, there were legislative and policy factors setting new directions. Specifically, Canada included a Charter of Rights and Freedoms in its constitution in 1982, prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability. Third, a cohort of teachers and school leaders developed a commitment to providing instruction to all students, based on the simple proposition, “All students can learn”. Building on success, one teacher at a time, then one school at a time, New Brunswick’s educators found there was a path forward that provided both quality instruction and inclusion for all students.

Gordon Porter, as a teacher, school principal, district Of course, this transformation took leader and state policy adviser has “Every investment time. In the district where I worked, been an integral part of this story. made to make a it took us 2-3 years to fully define In discussion with David Towell, he school inclusive is an our approach (from 1982), then a identifies important features of a investment in making it further 3-4 years to institutionalize 30 year journey towards creating a better school for all the it. We were not alone since several educational environments where students.” other school districts welcomed the all children learn with their peers in change to inclusion and invested in community schools. In New Brunswick, there were three major factors the training and capacity building needed to give at work as the movement toward inclusion began in teachers, principals and support teachers what the late 1970s. First, many families were unhappy they needed to succeed.

At the provincial level, the Ministry of Education provided a policy framework as well as funding to support the change. There were province wide seminars and training events over the course of several years. We accepted that if we waited until everyone in the system was ready for inclusion to begin, we would fail to progress. The focus was on moving forward and solving problems as they emerged. One of the strategies we found most effective at the school level was to identify the most challenging situations faced by teachers and provide as much support as needed to make the situation better. We also invested heavily in developing a cadre of “support teachers” who could provide direct assistance to teachers as they worked to make inclusion a reality in their classrooms.

[Title goes here] Inclusive practice All these things happened in the context of planning at the school, district and provincial level. The Ministry of Education fostered partnerships with districts, and districts developed cooperative initiatives with each other. Parent/family advocacy organizations, universities and professional groups were also part of the partnership efforts. Moreover the provincial leadership throughout this thirty years has been committed to regular reviews, always seeking to identify ways in which we could do better. Success is always a work in progress.

transformation (see box). Critical here are an enriched conception of quality education as preparation for life, coupled with a commitment to making inclusion work for everyone. Also essential is leadership which promotes the active participation of all the stakeholders in education and sustained investment in learning from experience as change proceeds.

Gordon Porter and David Towell

In New Brunswick, the evidence is that every investment made to make a school inclusive is an investment in making the school a better school for all the students. In New Brunswick, systemic change has not relied on small scale successes in independent-minded schools; still less on ‘grafting on’ inclusion to traditional educational practices without tackling the inherent contradictions this generates. Rather they have recognised that inclusive education requires transformational change in public education so that inclusion becomes an intrinsic dimension of policy, culture and practice at all levels from the classroom to the government.

A fuller version of this article, identifying the actions required at the levels of the school, the local education authority and the education ministry is available at http://inclusiveeducation. ca/2017/04/21/advancing-inclusive-education/ UNESCO has produced a complementary set of materials, Reaching Out to All Learners: http://www. Reflecting on this and other examples of radical ibe.unesco.org/sites/default/files/resources/ibechange, we have identified ten keys to this crp-inclusiveeducation-2016_eng.pdf

The Transformational Change Matrix System levels Ten Keys School/classroom District 1. Educating for life √ √ 2. Promoting inclusion √ √ 3. Encouraging transformation leadership √ √ 4. Developing partnership √ √ 5. Investing in equity √ √ 6. Tackling barriers to participation √ √ 7. Strengthening inclusive pedagogy √ √ 8. Prioritising professional development √ √ 9. Learning from experience √ √ 10. Plotting the journey to inclusion √ √

State √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √

Election special

General election 2017 hen the Prime Minister, Theresa May, announced a snap general election recently to take place on the 8th June, it seemed that the only issue political parties were going to focus on was Brexit. Thankfully as the election date draws closer other issues are bubbling to the surface including education - in particular selective education and school funding cuts.

presumption of mainstream education for disabled pupils and students.

At the time of going to press we are still waiting for each of the political parties to officially publish their manifestos, but we know already the current administration is determined to force through selective education by increasing the number of grammar schools. It is likely therefore that all parties will use their manifestos to set out their position on this issue.

groundswell of support for disabled people’s right to inclusive education that the next government cannot ignore!

So given the general election date is very close ALLFIE has decided to focus on these two issues specifically. We have approached the four main parties and asked them about selective education and the impact on disabled pupils and students, and about the impact that school funding cuts As usual ALLFIE has created general election will have on the inclusion of disabled pupils and resources for our members and supporters to use students with SEN in mainstream education. when lobbying their prospective parliamentary We have set out their responses over the next couple candidates. The resources are available on the of pages and you will see that it’s a bit of a mixed ALLFIE website – www.allfie.org.uk/pages/work/ bag, so there is a huge amount for the inclusive GE2017.html education movement to do if we’re going to build a

These are the two election asks we asked all of the parties to commit to:

• Full implementation of disabled pupils’ and students’ human rights to mainstream education under UNCRPD Article 24 and the This really is our opportunity to secure support from Children and Families Act 2014. prospective parliamentary candidates of all parties for the very different type of education system we • Full funding of a universal inclusive education system that will include the support disabled want - an education system that is focused on pupils and students need to flourish in inclusivity, equality and welcome for all including mainstream education. disabled pupils and students with or without SEN. Given the increasing disquiet amongst teaching and education unions, campaigning organisations and parents about severe cuts to school budgets, political parties are very likely to set out their position on funding for education. ALLFIE knows this is a huge issue for parents and disabled pupils and students. Indeed the Local Government Association has said that the continued cuts to SEND budgets will lead to local authorities failing in their statutory duties, particularly around the

Tara Flood 10

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Election special

The political parties' positions Scottish National Party (SNP) SNP Westminster spokesperson for Social Justice and Welfare and Former candidate for Banff and Buchan Eilidh Whiteford said: “The SNP is a strong supporter of the presumption of mainstream education. We support the Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc Act 2000 that places a duty on education authorities to provide education in a mainstream school unless specific exceptions apply. “A cornerstone of our inclusive approach to education is the presumption of mainstreaming for pupils with additional support needs. “We know that significant numbers of children, young people and their families have benefited from that inclusive approach. However, it is necessary that we ensure that the approach to mainstreaming is undertaken in an effective fashion, which is why John Swinney Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education has commissioned a review of the guidance on mainstreaming. “That is to ensure that the existing guidance reflects the legislative and policy context and succeeds in delivering on individuals’ expectations. The extended consultation on that guidance will begin on 19 May and will run until the end of August. That will enable individuals to respond to the issues over a long period of time. “The SNP wants all children and young people to receive the full support that they need to reach their full potential and will continue working hard to help enable this.”

Labour Party manifesto includes the following: The“WeLabour will deliver a strategy for children with special educational needs and

disabilities (SEND) based on inclusivity, and embed SEND more substantially into training for teachers and non-teaching staff, so that staff, children and their parents are properly supported.” The manifesto also lists the following: “The world’s most successful education systems use more continuous assessment, which avoids ‘teaching for the test’. “Set targets to increase apprenticeships for people with disabilities, care leavers and veterans, and ensure broad representation of women, BAME,LBGT and people with disabilities in all kinds of apprenticeships. “Labour believes education should be free, and will end tuition fees for those students in higher education.”

Election special Liberal Democrats he Liberal Democrats responded: • Full implementation of disabled pupils’ and students human rights to mainstream education (including apprenticeships) under UNCRPD Article 24 and the Children and Families Act The Liberal Democrats are fully committed to this. Successive waves of institutional, curriculum and qualifications reform have been rolled out without regard to the interests of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The Government is then forced to ‘bolt on’ additional guidance when it realises its statutory duties are not being met. Consequently, students with SEND and their parents are forced to navigate an incredibly complex legal framework.

For example, changes to Disabled Students’ Allowance mean that universities must now meet some of the lower-intensity needs of disabled students. However, the Government has not issued guidance on how universities should meet this duty. When Liberal Democrat peer Lord Addington asked Ministers what they would do about this, they replied that “we would let the courts decide” when a university failed to meet its duties. It is simply unacceptable that a 19 year old has to go to court in order to secure for themselves an inclusive university education. This sort of problem is being replicated across the education system. For this reason, we believe that any new education policy must be preceded by a full impact assessment that considers the effect of the reform on children with SEND. In particular, the policy must be demonstrated to comply with the Equality Act 2010. • Full funding of a universal inclusive education system that will include the support disabled pupils and students need to flourish in mainstream education. Schools face £3 billion of cuts by 2020. This is the most financial pressure schools have been in since the mid-1990s. Around £1.7 billion of these cuts will come to staff budgets, and teachers are telling MPs that counsellors, pastoral services and other support staff will be first to go. Local councils can help schools support vulnerable pupils, but the funding for their support services has been cut by 75%. It is simply unfair that the pupils who need the most support will face the brunt of these cuts. Yet at the same time, Ministers are introducing two new National Funding Formulas: one for schools and one for high-needs pupils and students at specialist SEND institutions. Approximately 9,000 schools lose out under the formula and so will be hit twice with cuts. The new formula cannot be ‘fair’ on pupils if schools lose money as a result of the changes. The Liberal Democrats will be setting out clear plans to ensure schools receive the funding they need to in our manifesto.

UK Independence Party (UKIP) spokesperson for UKIP responded:

A“The policy of closing special schools will be reversed. Every child is unique and the needs of each child should come first. Those who learn better in a tailored, nonmainstream environment should have the opportunity to do so.”

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Election special Conservative Party

Conservative Party spokesperson said:

A“We are determined that every child, no matter the obstacles they face,

should have the same opportunity for success as any other. This ambition is backed by a £5.3 billion investment in 2016-17 for children and young people with high needs. We have also announced a £215 million fund for councils across the country to improve and create more special provision, which will help build new classrooms and improve facilities for pupils with special educational needs, so that no child is left behind. “The choice at the election is clear: it is a choice between Theresa May providing the strong and stable leadership we need for Brexit and beyond to keep on improving schools, or a coalition of chaos and instability led by Jeremy Corbyn, putting our economy and funding for schools at risk.”

Green Party ags Lewis, Disability Spokesperson for the Green Party responded:

M“The Green Party fully support disabled pupils’ and students’ human rights to a mainstream education. This was in our 2015 manifesto (our 2017 one has yet to be released). The Green Party is committed to the social model of disability, and a basic tenet is to have full inclusivity in education. People who are disabled have a right to participate fully in society. “Specifically, we will: • Support the principles of, and enforce the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

• Recognise the rights of children who are disabled, and their families, in education, in the transition to adult life, in childcare, in healthcare and in the benefits system. • Recognise fully the housing needs of people who are disabled, including support with planning and obtaining housing. • Increase carers allowance. • Recognise rights of disabled children to a mainstream education, through investment and integration of academies and free schools.”

Keep an eye on our website to find out if your local candidate has signed up to our election asks: www.allfie.org.uk

Election special

We were out & about at a TUC disability event & took a few snaps of people who told us they’d be voting for inclusive education!

For disability news and discussion around the election you can follow the #CripTheVoteUK hashtag on Twitter:

www.twitter.com/hashtag/CripTheVoteUK

The Geography Story y daughter Katie, who has Down Syndrome, started at Durrington High School in September 2015: her high school journey began, and a love for Geography through a little personalisation from a very good teacher.

Katie’s first piece of homework for Geography was to learn the keywords and definitions for energy and climate change. Katie only had the weekend to learn it due to her timetable so I decided to email her teacher, Mr Crockett to ask if I could modify the

homework slightly to speed up the learning process and depending on how we got on could Katie be tested verbally if necessary on Monday. I was very pleased when I received an email back saying... “I am really interested to see how you have done this as I can then get a better and quicker handle on Katie’s understanding, and as you know Katie best I am sure that your alterations will be more than suitable.”

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Parent voice

This was my eureka moment, something that words just can’t describe, someone had recognised that my knowledge of how I work with Katie was valuable .For Mr Crockett it was to gain a quicker understanding of Katie and how best to personalise and differentiate the work to get the best out of Katie and for her to flourish with the rest of the class. And that moment of receiving that email will stay with me forever. Mr Crockett bless him just thought it was an everyday occurrence and just an example of good practice, but for me it was huge!!!

she has a teacher that looks beyond her label and just sees Katie. He understands her strengths and utilises them by producing visual resources for her so that she can achieve just like the rest of the students in her class. He believes in her and pushes her forward and in doing so Katie now believes she can achieve. Geography is now by far her favourite subject and is already talking about taking it as her GCSE choice. I think Mr Crockett has made Katie feel exactly as Miller and Katz (2002) describe in their definition of inclusion.

So I set to work to differentiate the homework. I found an image for each word, I modified the definition by simplifying the words where possible, I sent a copy to Mr Crockett. I then cut them up and made them into a word/ picture matching game to gain an understanding of the different words and their definitions and then we progressed to Katie being able to tell me what each word and definition meant. It was good fun, Katie really engaged with it and most importantly she could remember the keywords and definitions. Katie went to school on Monday and got 10/10 for her test. She was so pleased with herself. Mr Crockett emailed to tell me the good news regarding her test results. He also said he was going to set up a meeting with the Teaching Assistants in the Geography department to create similar resources to help support Katie.

“A sense of belonging: feeling respected, valued for who you are; feeling a level of supportive energy and commitment from others so that you can do your best.” And it doesn’t stop there as we then had the geography project... a landscape in a box! Katie decided she would make Angel Falls, the world’s tallest waterfall! Katie struggles with her fine motor skills and the thought of constructing a model or making something is always a daunting task....and then she had an idea. She asked Mr Crockett if she could make it out of cake. Katie absolutely loves to bake, it is her ultimate passion. It would appear that Mr Crockett likes cake too as he got very excited and agreed as long as it still contained all the relevant research and information.

And here it is...Angel Falls! By modifying the project So have the modifications and visual resources to making a cake Katie was motivated, excited, helped Katie? I asked Mr Crockett how Katie was eager to learn about Angel Falls and very proud of doing in class and this was his reply. the end result. I think Mr Crockett liked it too! “Regarding how Katie is doing in class, in “Not only was the scale of the cake staggering, but summary she is currently exceeding expectations. so was the thought and detail that had actually Considering her baseline threshold she is constantly gone into making it. Despite not being the easiest achieving beyond this and therefore making good “material” to work with, it was one of the (if not the progress. It is clear that she enjoys Geography and best) presented models and I thought the use of the while she may at times need a greater degree of icing was amazing. From a teachers point of view scaffolding I really do believe that she enjoys the the research on the landscape was of a similar, if high expectations that I have of her in Geography.” not as delicious, standard showing that Katie had This has never been said about Katie before really enjoyed the project.” therefore in my opinion Katie is thriving because Rachel

Froggatt

International inclusion Costing Equity Creating a global disability-responsive education financing environment 017 could mark the beginning of serious 2 efforts to fund inclusive education for disabled children and young people in low and

middle income countries (LMIC). The Inclusive Education Committee of the International Disability and Development Committee (IDDC, a consortium of NGOs in disability and development), has published the Costing Equity report, important research into what it will take to deliver Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4: “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”.

The report’s recommendations were launched at the UN last October with huge interest, but on 22nd March the full report was launched at the Open Society Foundation (one of the funders), attended by CEOs from twelve NGOs and representatives of other organisations. Nafisa Baboo, a visually impaired South African who is the Inclusive Education Lead for Light for the World, played a key role in promoting this work. The context: • Half of the world’s 65 million children not in elementary school are disabled. • Many more disabled children and students drop out and do not move on to secondary and tertiary education. • The cost of exclusion from education is significant. In Bangladesh the lack of schooling and employment for disabled people is costing the country US$1.2 billion annually or 1.74% of Gross Domestic Product. • Global funding for education is declining. To deliver SDG4 more equitable and inclusive approaches to budgeting are required. • Progressive universalism is required, investing more in reaching those on the margins and less on elite education. • NGOs, disabled people’s organisations (DPOs)

and parents’ organisations have long been the main supporters of disabled people’s education. • Governments are not providing adequate or the right funding. Only 31 out of 76 LMIC have specific budgets and these are nearly all focussed on special education. • Governments are failing to collect taxes and are not spending enough on education. • A survey of nine leading bilateral and multilateral education donors was carried out and an emerging commitment to disability inclusive education was found (USAID, DFID-UK, World Bank, Global Partnership on Education, European Union, JICA(Japan), Germany, Australia, Norway, France and Canada ranked by volume of aid to education). • “Leave No One Behind” is the slogan of the SDGs. The General Comment on Article 24 provides guidance on how to develop inclusion: now we need a big increase in funding to implement it. • There are still big gaps in data, especially disaggregated by type of impairment, gender or economic circumstance, but several projects are addressing this. Costing Equity makes 64 recommendations to address this situation. Some of the most important include: governments to develop their tax base, improve existing resource use, increase percentage of spend on education and develop twin track budgeting to match a twin track approach. Track 1: invest in changing policies, practices and attitudes at all levels of the education system to remove barriers and create enabling situations for all children via disability inclusive teaching. Track 2: offer learning and participation opportunities for individuals via differentiated teaching methods and reasonable accommodations, sign language and materials in accessible formats. The decline in external funding needs to be reversed, and funding needs to be disability responsive and harmonised in

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national plans. The Global Partnership for Education “We will also strengthen our work on disability … invests £2 billion a year and is committing to focus Disability is shamefully the most under-prioritised, more on disability inclusion. under-resourced area in development. But with the Capacity building is crucial especially around help of your organisations, we can change this.” understanding the UNCRPD General Comment No. 4 on Inclusive Education Article 24. This needs to be for DPOs/NGO staff, ministry of education staff, teachers and education administrators, parents and donor organisations. This must be based on the paradigm shift at the heart of the UNCRPD from disabled people as objects to subjects - from the medical to the social model.

She went on to announce a small charities challenge fund for charities with a turnover of less than £250,000 and recognised the valuable work carried out by smaller NGOs such as Exeter Ethiopia Link who help thousands of disabled children go to school by providing wheelchairs, training teachers and providing support for teachers. www. exeterethiopialink.org/education.html

The report points to many innovative approaches: involving the private sector, public campaigns, cash transfer programmes for attendance in education, reasonable accommodation funds, provision of assistive devices and more involvement of DPOs in budget planning.

With thirteen years to go to 2030 when the SDGs are to be implemented, a major change is necessary. Building the campaign for disability responsive inclusive education and securing the changes and resources to make this happen is now one of the great struggles of our age. Make sure you do what you can to ensure the right outcome locally, nationally and internationally.

The spirit of the report was picked up by Priti Patel MP, Secretary of State for Overseas Development at the Bond Conference for development The Costing Equity report is at http://bit.ly/2rtbHVN. organisations, on 20th March 2017.

Richard Rieser

World of Inclusion

www.inclusive-solutions. com

ALLFIE AGM Notice ALLFIE’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place on Wednesday, 6th September 2017 from 2pm – 5pm at 336 Brixton Road, London SW9 7AA. The agenda, plan for the day and annual report will be sent to members in August 2017. We hope you will be able to join us. Look forward to seeing you.

Nottingham Community Circles

Legal Question hilst I know that the underlying principle of the Children and Families Act is the presumption W of mainstream education, I understand that a local authority can rely on several caveats in determining where my child should go to school, including a special school even if it’s not what we want as a family. How can I use Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in arguing for a good inclusive education placement when the LA has the legal power to segregate my child from mainstream education?

rticle 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities provides disabled learners (those with mental and physical disabilities) with the right to receive a mainstream education, with appropriate support. In theory, this means that all disabled learners within the UK should be able to access mainstream education and not be forced to attend special school placements. However, this is not the case: the UK government has not fully signed up to Article 24, and has instead placed a restriction on Article 24, known as an Interpretive Declaration, which states that an inclusive education system in the UK includes both mainstream and special schools. Does this limitation impact EHCPs? The reality of this limitation is that a local authority (LA) can decide to name a special school in a child or young person’s Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), against a parent’s wishes, without being in breach of Article 24. Until the UK government signs up fully to Article 24 a “good, inclusive education” can include placement at a special school as part of an EHCP. The government has also placed a Reservation on Article 24, which states that disabled learners can be educated away from their local community if more appropriate educational provision is available elsewhere. For example a child or young person living in Manchester could be educated in Derby, if it is deemed the most suitable placement for them by the LA.

Appealing Against An EHCP It is worth noting that these restrictions do not prevent parents from referring to Article 24 when putting arguments forward for a placement at their preferred mainstream school; it just means that the LA is not forced to comply with Article 24 in naming a placement. If an LA does name a special school in a child or young person’s EHCP and a parent wishes to challenge this decision, it is best practice for parents to lodge an appeal with the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal following the issue of the final EHCP. As part of the appeal, parents should gather evidence from independent experts where possible, in particular an independent educational psychologist, to support their claims that an inclusive mainstream education is more appropriate for their child or young person than a special school placement. Such evidence would need to show that the parental preference school is as capable of meeting their child or young person’s needs as the Local Authority preference special school, if not more so, particularly in accordance with the age, ability, aptitude, or special needs of their child or young person. Parents will also need to show that a child or young person’s attendance at a mainstream school would not be incompatible with the provision of efficient education of others or the efficient use of resources. It is the tribunal panel’s job to determine which school is considered most appropriate to meet the child or young person’s needs based upon the evidence before it from both the parent and the LA.

Rachael Smurthwaite Rachael is a solicitor with Simpson Millar, and specialises in education law. www.simpsonmillar.co.uk

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This magazine is published by: The Alliance for Inclusive Education (ALLFIE)

A national campaigning organisation led by disabled people. ALLFIE works to change laws, practices and procedures which discriminate against disabled young people and prevent inclusion. ALLFIE works together with allies to build a social climate in which everyone has a valued place. 336 Brixton Road, London SW9 7AA Tel: 020 7737 6030 Email: info@allfie.org.uk Website: www.allfie.org.uk

In collaboration with: Inclusive Solutions

A team of psychologists and associates who specialise in cutting edge practical strategies and ideas for developing effective inclusion in local mainstream schools and communities. We work with anyone who wants to bring about the real systems changes that are necessary to move towards a truly inclusive society. Tel: 0115 9556045 or 01473 437590 Email: inclusive.solutions@me.com Website: inclusive-solutions.com

World of Inclusion

A consultancy that provides advice, resources and training in the UK and around the world to develop equality for disabled people especially in education. Richard Rieser is an expert disabled international equality trainer, consultant, film maker and writer and teacher. Basement, 78 Mildmay Grove South, London N1 4PJ Tel: 020 7359 2855 or 07715 420727 Email: richardrieser@worldofinclusion.com Website: worldofinclusion.com

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Disabled people, parents and allies, working together to educate, facilitate and empower everyone who wants to be part of the growing inclusion movement. Together we want to bring down the barriers so all young people can learn, make friends and have a voice in ordinary school and throughout life. For each and every young person, this is an essential human right.

ALL MEANS ALL