Court upholds blind girl’s right to attend special school of choice October 2, 2008
Posted by Hilery Williams in : Access, Visual Impairment , add a commenthttp://news.scotsman.com/education/Exclusive-Court-upholds-blind-girl39s.4549358.jp
The Scotsman reports on how a couple successfully sued Argyll and Bute Council to secure their child a place at Edinburgh’s Royal Blind School.
For months, the local authority fought the McCullochs, insisting their visually impaired daughter was able to cope at a mainstream school. The parents strongly disagreed and were forced to take legal action. What ensued were two years of emotional and financial turmoil that almost destroyed the family.
The 15-year-old, who chose not to be named, has a cerebral visual impairment that restricts her peripheral vision and means she struggles to see colours and 3D. She suffers from a rare brain injury, which was not diagnosed until she was 11. She started at Hermitage Academy in Helensburgh in 2005, but her parents became increasingly concerned she was not getting an educational package tailored to her needs. Worried for her safety after two serious accidents at the school in which she fell down a flight of stairs, they realised she needed specialist help.
In August, the family won the case, held in private at Dumbarton Sheriff Court. Their daughter now has a residential place at the Royal Blind School and enjoys specialist speech and language therapy, returning home at weekends. The case brings into sharp focus the issue of how best to educate children with special needs. While parents naturally want the best for their children, specialist facilities do not come cheap, and education authorities can find themselves facing a bill in excess of £100,000 for each child educated outwith mainstream schools.
Gene link to poor reading skills October 1, 2008
Posted by Hilery Williams in : Dyslexia , add a commenthttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7643760.stm
A common genetic variant may be partly to blame for poor reading ability, research suggests.
The variant, carried by more than one in seven people, has already been associated with dyslexia.
Tests by the University of Oxford found people carrying the key sequence tended to perform worse than average in tests of their reading ability. But the study, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, found no impact on general intelligence. Professor Margaret Snowling, vice president of the British Dyslexia Association, said other genes and environmental factors probably also played a key role in determining reading ability. And she stressed that some people were able to compensate and go on to successful careers even though they carried the gene variation.
Asking four-year-olds to write ‘does more harm than good’ September 19, 2008
Posted by Hilery Williams in : Curriculum, Early Intervention, Literacy , add a commenthttp://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article4783073.ece
Applies to England only. The Times reports that according to a literacy expert teaching four-year-olds to write is about as useful as teaching a dog to walk on its hind legs, as figures showed that one in seven preschool children struggle to write their own name.
The annual assessments of children’s progress during their first year in school found that more than one fifth had problems stringing a coherent written sentence together when they entered their reception year. Nearly a quarter failed to reach the expected levels of emotional development for their age. The findings follow concerns that some of the Government’s early years goals are unrealistic and risk setting back their development.
Sue Palmer, an independent literacy consultant and author of the book Toxic Childhood, said that many under-5s were simply too young to achieve the literacy goals set out for them.
Let pupils abandon spelling rules, says academic September 9, 2008
Posted by Hilery Williams in : Curriculum, Literacy , add a commenthttp://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article4698949.ece
The Times reports that a leading academic will claim this week that children are being held back at school because they are forced to memorise irregular spellings and learn how to use the apostrophe. John Wells, Emeritus Professor of Phonetics at University College London and president of the Spelling Society, will use the society’s centenary dinner this week to call for a “freeing up” of English spelling.
He says, ‘“The teaching of literacy in schools is a major worry. It seems highly likely that one of the reasons Britain and other English-speaking countries have problems with literacy is because of our spelling and the burden it places on children…’
Sounds good to me!
More on Modern Foreign Language Learning September 2, 2008
Posted by Hilery Williams in : Access, Curriculum, inclusion , add a comment‘Anybody can learn’
Let’s adopt the teaching methods of legendary language guru Michel Thomas, a new book pleads. Anthea Lipsett finds out why http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/sep/02/languages.schools
There’s a belief that languages either come naturally to a person, or they don’t. But to the late Michel Thomas, the “world’s greatest language master”, there was no such thing as a bad student, only a bad teacher.
It’s a view that grates with prevailing educational opinion. These days, children’s inability to learn is often blamed on a variety of learning disabilities. If teachers are brought into the equation, it is usually by ministers either claiming the workforce is the best trained it has ever been, or declaring that inadequate teachers must be fired.
Thomas believed his method, applied faithfully, would work with anyone. Students saw him as a magician. Now, in his new book The Language Revolution, the educational psychologist Jonathan Solity reveals how Thomas set about teaching foreign languages and the psychological principles behind his methods. He thinks they could revolutionise teaching, and help schools meet targets.
Modern Languages and Dyslexia September 2, 2008
Posted by Hilery Williams in : Access, Curriculum, Dyslexia, inclusion , add a commentI had an interesting meeting at a high school last week with the parents of a boy who has just started S1. They felt that his dyslexic difficulties meant he should be withdrawn from French and he should receive extra tuition in English language skills.
I re-read a couple of excellent papers by Margaret Crombie, (Cognition and Learning Difficulties and Foreign Language Learning and Dyslexia), before dipping into LT Scotland’s superb resource, Maximising Potential. I also referred to Moira Thomson’s work for Dyslexia Scotland, Supporting Dyslexic Pupils in the Secondary School.
While all are agreed that foreign language learning presents young people with difficulties unique challenges, it is also the case that they have a right to be exposed to a different language and culture.
The conclusion we came to at the meeting was that the student should be able to access a variety of learning experiences, with a multi-sensory, cumulative focus, with an emphasis on talking and listening. He should have to write in French only rarely. When I have worked with teachers in MFL departments I have often been struck by their ability to make learning fun, to motivate young people with games and technology, to appeal to all different learning styles. They seem to know that variety is the spice of learning!
Government announces funding for support of parents with additional needs children August 29, 2008
Posted by Hilery Williams in : Additional Support, inclusion , add a commenthttp://www.holyrood.com/content/view/2878/10051/
The Minister for Children and Early Years Adam Ingram has announced the Scottish Government funding for advocacy services for parents of children with additional support needs (ASN). The two main voluntary services that support and represent parents in Scotland challenging their child’s ASN educational provision are to receive £110,000 to assist them with this work over this financial year, following one of the groups, the Independent Special Education Advice (ISEA) Scotland, main grant funder, the Big Lottery Fund, not renewing its grant this year. Ingram said: “The Scottish Government wants all our children to receive an education that maximises learning and encourages development. This is particularly relevant when a child has additional support needs to be considered.
ICT and Communication August 24, 2008
Posted by Morna McDonald in : Uncategorized , 4commentsLast term I was privileged to visit a special school in Glasgow, Croftcroighn. The work which was being done on literacy and communication was innovative and inspiring and I left with my head absolutely buzzing and so much to think about. A couple of weeks later Croftcroighn’s HMIe report was published - wow!
Since then I’ve worked with Elizabeth Cowan our ICT curriculum Officer and a speech therapist to develop and implement some of the innovative practice I observed.
We’ve created a Communication Book (using BoardMaker V6) for one wee lass who has no spoken language but has lots to say, we’ve invested in some new software to trial, bought some funky stationery and Talking Photo albums (A5 and A3 size), a new digital camera and I still have a wish list! Creating the Communication Book has certainly stretched (and greatly enhanced) my Boardmaker skills! Now I keep thinking of more and more applications for the software.
The software is Communicate:In Print 2 by Widget. Every word which is typed has a symbol which appears above the word - even ‘the’ and ‘a’ have symbols. This supports the child who finds it difficult to recognise abstract symbols (writing) and the added visual symbols can open up a whole new world. The symbols an be switched off or only used for specific words and images can be uploaded. You may choose to upload images of ORT characters for example or photos so if you type a name you get an actual picture of that place or person. At Croftcroighn some of the children were now reading and these youngsters had severe and complex difficulties - it was wonderful! Additional specific symbols can be purchased - Shakespeare for example. So far I’ve written a social story and had a go at a couple of other things so I’m looking forward to experimenting a bit more.
We’ve been using Talking Photo albums for quite a while in schools but the A3 ‘Big Book’ size was new to me. It’s now in a P5 classroom and the class will use it to record their ES topic - the Seashore - artwork, photos, text - whatever the children choose to record. This will give a voice to a pupil who has no spoken language enabling her to share in the work of her class and to express her views.
I’d be interested to know how teachers in East Lothian are using technology to give kids a voice.
Unblock thinking to learn more August 22, 2008
Posted by Hilery Williams in : Additional Support, inclusion , 1 comment so farhttp://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6001223
Traditional remedial classes could soon be replaced by an ‘instrumental enrichment’ programme. Elizabeth Buie reports. A thinking skills programme in the Borders has improved the attainment of youngsters with learning problems and won praise from teachers and senior management. An evaluation of the Scottish Borders Council’s “instrumental enrichment” programme by a team from Strathclyde University’s Quality in Education Centre suggests it could be more successful in the long term than traditional remedial classes. However, to be truly effective, the programme, based on the work of the Israeli educationist Reuven Feuerstein, had to be prolonged and comprehensive. The backing of senior school management and resources from the local authority were also seen as essential. There were indications that pupils who had taken part in the Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment (FIE) programme became more active classroom participants, more inclined to listen to others, more likely to defend their opinions based on logical evidence, better able to articulate how they solved problems, more likely to read spontaneously and follow written instructions, and better able to handle several sources of information simultaneously. One reason for this progress could be that the teachers involved were found to have significantly changed their attitudes towards learning and learners.
Rich conversations about learning recorded by infants August 19, 2008
Posted by Hilery Williams in : Access, Additional Support, Literacy, inclusion , add a commentMy-E http://www.futurelab.org.uk/projects/my_…
My-E (My Education) is a prototype online visual environment that can support very young students to explore and express their own personal learning experiences, interests and aims.
The software application allows young children (aged 5 and 6) to construct stories about their learning experiences and preferences through multi-layered representations (such as shapes, icons and sounds), which teachers, adults and parents/carers help them to develop. The aim of this is to encourage children, parents/carers and teachers/adults to be more involved in rich conversations about learning that can help foster greater links between homes and schools and support a more personalised educational approach.
Wouldn’t it be good if it were suitable for older learners with literacy / communication difficulties?
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