Support for All

Relationships and Participation with Pupils and Parents October 7, 2008

Posted by Joan MacRae in : Additional Support, Early Intervention, Home Teaching, NHS ASL, SFL, Uncategorized, inclusion , add a comment

I listened to Charles Leadbeater at the Scottish Learning Festival and was excited by his notions of :”Learning with rather than teaching to pupils ;the learner as participant not an empty vessel; and community being crucial to the learning process”

I reflected on my work with a P.1 pupil who had cognitive difficulties. Her barriers to learning were compounded by social and emotional deprivation and her family had difficulty in providing an environment to offset some of the disadvantages she was born with.

Unfortunately working and learning with parents is time consuming and costly. Leadbeater says that we may have exhausted other avenues for further development in education except in “Personalisation and collaboration.” A redistribution of resourcing and flexibility of provision might reach pupils currently missed.

TESS (3/10/08), reporting on several speakers at the Learning Festival says the emphasis needs to be on “Relationships”.

Martin Rouse called on schools to focus on “relationships,respect and recognition” while Professor Teese said that Scotland should be strengthening relationships within its schools.

Access to exams for all March 19, 2008

Posted by Joan MacRae in : Access, Additional Support, NHS ASL, inclusion , 2comments

For pupils absent due to illness in the weeks during exam preparation,
appeals and additional support procedures can be put in place in collaboration with Support for Learning Departments.

In 2007, for the first time, according to Chief Nurse, Janice McKenzie, at the Sick KIds in Edinburgh, in-patients were able to sit Standard Grades in English and Maths.

A pupil from Fife had her papers locked in the ward safe under great secrecy and security; while Chris Rainger, Support for Learning at Knox arranged to have the East Lothian pupil’s papers sent directly to my home address.

The designated exam area was in a room beside the phlebotomists’ tearoom, at the back of the haematology labs off Rillbank Terrace.

The ward play specialist wheeled the pupils through the Victorian building out of the back door and along the street. I invigilated, provided IT support and tried to keep the girls comfortable with cups of tea and hot water bottles as the temperature dropped.

Anxious to follow the SQA guidelines accurately, I packed up and posted off the papers at the end of each day.

Both pupils finished the papers exhausted but happy to have experienced this high point in their education.

Hannah’s mum said that, like any 15 year old, Hannah wanted to be able to share the experience with her peers.
She was able to discuss papers with friends on her return home and Hannah
went on to complete 6 more exams on day trips from hospital to school where special arrangements had been made . Her results were excellent.

With a ‘can do’ attitude and collaboration, inclusion can limit the disadvantages for pupils with medical conditions.

Additional Support For Learning Health website December 6, 2007

Posted by Liz Herd in : NHS ASL, Resources , 1 comment so far

I was at a Support For Learning teachers meeting yesterday for teachers in the Haddington and Tranent clusters (5/12) where Lesley Sargent, Speech Therapist gave a demonstration of the Health ASL website. Everyone there was very impressed with the amount of high quality, useful information it has on it. Many thanks to the team who put it together and to Lesley for an excellent demo.
The site has information about specific conditions, contact details for the various services and lots of tips for teachers. Well worth looking at if you haven’t already done so. You will find it at www.asl.scot.nhs.uk .
Also, something to look out for, on this site in the very near future, Jill Gorzkowska, the NHS ASL Therapy link person will be providing updates on joint working projects in East Lothian.