With the ever-changing needs of children and young people with SEND being further impacted by the global pandemic, Sonia Blandford and Marius Frank at Achievement for All highlight some of the intersections of vulnerability and disadvantage, and how partnership-working can help tackle key challenges.
Marius will be sharing further advice and guidance at our upcoming EHCP Training Day, for educators, local authorities, and health and social care providers.
‘Strange, challenging, unprecedented’ are words that have been used to describe the period since COVID-19 has impacted on all of our lives. Difficult enough to understand if you live in a secure family home with no prior needs or experience of disadvantage.
T is 18, shares a bedroom with her Mum, a single parent who survives by working and benefits. Her older sister has had mental health and drug problems, living at home is a trial. T was to have taken A levels. Her mocks, disrupted by family trauma resulted in a C, E and U, against predicted grades of A*, C and C. There is no additional income through occasional shifts in the pub opposite T’s home, there is little or no motivation to continue with her ambition to go to university to study medicine. T is vulnerable and disadvantaged but does not fall within Educational, Health, Care Plan (EHCP) or Free School Meals support or subsidies.
K is 15, with high-end physical, cognitive disabilities, and significant emotional needs. During term time K is resident at a specialist school for children identified with autism, two weeks ago whilst travelling to the school her parents were called, the school was to close due to insufficient staff. K is disabled and vulnerable, she falls within EHCP, her support system is located 90 miles from home.
L is 10, a Child Looked After, fostered by a single parent, living in an overcrowded home. The ‘family’ are reliant on benefits and regular support from social services. L’s key worker has been self-isolating for 10 days with no contact with L.
T, K and L share a bond, which makes them vulnerable and disadvantaged – they do not have normal points of reference shared by the majority of the population. Their world is a different world, needing structure and support.
For the majority of children and young people their home provides the benchmark for their lives. COVID 19 has changed the meaning of ‘home’, increasing in significance the provision of shelter, food, safety, personal growth, health, a sense of love and belonging that all combine in developing a core strength within us all. Imagine being T, K or L watching the news, reading social media, seeking support, any structure to their lives has disappeared overnight, all points of reference that help them to understand and communicate have been removed.
This is where schools, third sector organisations (not for profit) and voluntary have stepped in to ensure that all vulnerable and disadvantaged children are given the care needed through our commitment to a shared humanity. Teachers providing daily one to one support, checking that meal vouchers have arrived, there is somewhere to sleep, clothes to wear; in short, there are no physical needs and risks that will cause personal injury or danger generated by themselves or others.
Learning has been a central message from government, the internet is full of guidance on how parents and carers can access school and social timetables. T, K and L have a long way to go before this is their priority. Their carers and support networks are faced with the challenge (that word again) of providing new reference points before any form of learning can take place. Physical and emotional security, love and belonging are the priority for T, K and L.
And what about the thousands upon thousands of new Ts, Ks and Ls of all ages, in every part of the country, who will now need highly specialised and urgent support to overcome the social, emotion and mental health issues caused by lockdown? Some of these children and young people would have been on a road towards more positive life outcomes, overcoming ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences), through the care and support of their school communities and without the need of a special plan or EHCP… but have now been re-traumatised to the extent that specialist help is not a luxury, but an absolute and immediate necessity?
Achievement for All works in partnership with education settings all over the country, and we are detecting signs of a major seismic event: a tsunami of referrals to SENCOs, SEND Teams and CAMHS provision that will overtop the flood defences.
Achievement for All’s priority is to provide a new form of support and infrastructure that helps to guide professionals at a time when their individual strengths, creativity and ability to step into the world of children and young people like T, K and L are most needed.
Are you a school leader or teacher wondering how you can help children and young people like T, K and L?
Read AfA's 11 questions to consider now.
Learn more at our forthcoming Online Training Course:
Developing and Delivering Effective Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs)
