Few people enter the teaching profession, or work within the education system, who do not have the very best intentions for those whom they work with. However, could it be that sometimes these good intentions are stifling the social interactions of some learners with additional needs by impairing their ability to develop positive relationships with their peers?

Special educational needs applies to a myriad of learning and/or physical differences, so it would be foolish for me to say that all students with identified needs struggle with their social interactions, yet it may be more common than we realise.

The greatest barrier hindering children with additional needs talking to peers has to be significant amounts of one-to-one adult time, which has the potential to be more common in a primary setting than a secondary one.

Effective intervention

Following the Lamb Report (2009) and the subsequent work of Rob Webster and his team at the UCL’s “Maximising the Impact of TAs” project, most schools should by now realise that we need to move away from the “velcro” teaching assistant (TA) approach. However, it is still possible for the most vulnerable young people to spend a considerable amount of time in adult company. This is carried out under the misguided notion that this is in the best interests of the young person, in terms of keeping them safe. However, it could be preventing them from interacting with children their own age.

I have also experienced the “under the microscope effect”, whereby a youngster with additional needs is constantly under a watchful eye, and every misdemeanour or mistake is immediately reported back. Young people need to have the freedom to make mistakes, even with their social interactions, as this is how they learn.

It is also possible that some young people with additional needs spend time away from the main class in small intervention groups. These can be positive in terms of focusing on key skills, but they can narrow the field of potential social interactions.

Alternative options

Similarly, some teachers may decide to group all the young people with additional needs together. This may be for ease of access when supporting children in the classroom; however, some young people may find themselves constantly sitting with the same person/people in every class, which again holds them back in terms of developing crucial social skills.

So what can we do differently?

1. Schools should definitely be moving away from the velcro approach to TA support, and should be giving young people an opportunity to work independently (once, of course, they have been given the strategies to do this - there is nothing to be gained from just leaving them to it and watching them flounder).

2. Special consideration should be taken when arranging the seating plan. For example, could they be placed next to a supportive student? Or near to someone whom they could collaborate with, who is not part of their usual friendship circle?

3. It could also help if schools take a more restorative approach when interactions do go wrong for young people who experience difficulties with social communication. This could potentially be achieved by taking a more flexible approach to the school’s behaviour policy, by ensuring that the young person gets the support and strategies that they need in order to be able to respond appropriately in the future, rather than just a punitive approach.

4. Wave-three interventions (those that take place away from the main learning) should be targeted and time-specific. Short, sharp bursts are usually more effective than it just being the norm that certain children partake in literacy and numeracy in another room, ad infinitum.

5. It is also worth encouraging all young people with additional needs to attend school trips. This can sometimes be a tricky area, as some school trips may be too stress-inducing for some young people. However, young people with SEND should be encouraged to attend trips and extracurricular activities as much as possible. It is through exposure to different settings and different people that they can really start to develop their social interaction skills.

Gemma Corby is Sendco at Hobart High School, Norfolk. Her column for Tes runs every second Tuesday during term time