I have been a teacher for almost 20 years and latterly I worked in a grant-aided school headed up by a charity; I am now working for Down’s Syndrome Scotland. My career has been an interesting insight into how education can function with the support of a charity, not only financially but also in terms of outreach work.
Despite the discrepancy in spending on young people with complex needs - felt so keenly by those schools with limited resources - each of these settings is there because they need to be, because they are quite simply the right place for these children.
Spotlights have recently been put on some of these schools, for example, Tes wrote about Harmeny School in Midlothian and East Park School in Glasgow has published its first book 150 Years of Compassion. Meanwhile, the Royal Blind School in Edinburgh has exhibited expertise in vision impairment, while Stanmore House School in South Lanarkshire excels in play, to name but a few.
Expertise that can help classroom teachers
Charities can also spread their wings and work in a community. However, it is sometimes difficult to let people in who are not education professionals, even if they bring knowledge and expertise that a classroom teacher might not possess.
Outreach work can mean specialist teachers going into schools or community support officers working jointly with social workers and health professionals to support the development of the young person. I often do joint visits with social workers or health professionals to provide holistic advice and support.
The family support team at Down’s Syndrome Scotland can signpost professionals and families to information on developmental milestones such as reading and writing, toileting, puberty and so on. These are all areas of the health and wellbeing curriculum that require very specific insight into the behaviours and development of a child with Down’s Syndrome.
The support team can also do bespoke consultation visits, attend child planning meetings and advise on specific targets for the child’s plan. Likewise, charities dedicated to the understanding of autism, vision and hearing impairment can also help with access to learning (please see links below).
The inclusion agenda is currently fraught with multiple barriers, but it has one guiding principle: everyone has a right to a fair and equitable education and to be supported to achieve their potential. However, teachers (and I include myself in this) are ill-equipped to know everything about every condition.
Leaning on the wisdom of others
I have taught children with autism, vision and hearing impairment, deafblindness, cerebral palsy, Bardet-Biedl syndrome, Batten disease - the list goes on. I never received specific training on any of these conditions, but I leant on the wisdom and experience of others to navigate my way through meeting the needs of these learners.
There is much benefit to working alongside and with external stakeholders to support the education and development of our young learners. Neuroscientist Hannah Critchlow in her recent book Joined-Up Thinking: The Science of Collective Intelligence and its Power to Change Our Lives states that “the range and complexity of problems that we face, from the climate emergency to global water and food shortages and the threat of the next pandemic, mean that we need all brains on deck”.
In order for our young people to be problem solvers and challenge ways of working, then, we too must be harnessing the collective strength of joined-up thinking.
Charities can provide opportunities for this. They can fill the gap that widens when there are constraints on council budgets, leading to general frustration and stress, which can reduce our capacity to collaborate.
However, it must be a two-way process: charities cannot survive on their own. They have to be utilised and they need to raise their own funds to support the salaries of their staff if they are to thrive and provide their expert support to schools and others.
Seeking outside support is ‘no weakness’
It is no weakness to seek the advice and knowledge of others. And, with increasing complexity in the school and home environment, a joined-up world is going to be more effective than silos.
My daughter has Down’s Syndrome and her school is currently seeking the involvement of speech and language and Down’s Syndrome Scotland to support her development in reading and writing.
The literacy agenda cannot be fulfilled if there is one person in the school who has the capacity to read and write but isn’t reading and writing. Sometimes, a pupil needs a different approach or methodology, of which teaching professionals might not be aware.
As teachers of all things to all people, we are not expected to know everything - particularly when knowledge is condition-specific.
Working with individuals with a range of additional support needs can be challenging; flexibility and collaboration are key to getting this right. Research has shown that meaningful collaboration can bring about improved educational outcomes and joint working, but this requires honesty, creativity and tenacity.
It takes someone with great self-awareness to recognise the gaps in their own knowledge and to seek out expertise somewhere else. There is certainly knowledge out there (see some useful links below) - and charities can be a good place to start.
Lauren Lockhart is a family support service officer for Down’s Syndrome Scotland who previously worked as a teacher
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