SecEd The ONLY weekly voice for secondary education


Inside this issue Impact of ADHD


With 400,000 UK children said to have ADHD, we look at the causes and impact of the condition, and new evidence showing polarisation in sufferers Pages 8 and 9


Teachers are ‘confused’


by autism, expert says Commission is set-up to investigate SEN provision for autistic students – teachers are urged to contribute


ICT inclusion


SEN expert Sal McKeown looks at some ideas for using ICT in the inclusive classroom Page 10


by Daniel White


Teachers can be “confused” by the behaviour of autistic students because of a lack of training about the condition, a government advisor has told SecEd. SEN guidance should become


a vital part of teacher training and awareness also needs to be raised among professionals working in schools to help them better under- stand autistic students’ behaviour, it was said this week. It comes after the launch of an


Talk to FRANK


The FRANK advisory service offers support and guidance to young people when it comes to drugs. But it can also help schools Page 7


SecEdonline


For regular news updates and our full editorial archive, visit www.sec-ed.co.uk. You can also sign up to receive SecEddigital, a virtual edition of SecEd, by emailing editor@ sec-ed.co.uk and we can be found on Twitter at www. twitter.com/SecEd_Education


SEN Commission by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Autism (APPGA). The Commission is seeking the views of education pro- fessionals and parents to discover how provision can be improved for students with the condition. Professor Tony Charman,


chair of the advisory group to the APPGA, told SecEd that teachers need to be made more aware of the condition and of how it is best over- come so that they can better react to situations in the classroom. He told us: “It is vital that teach-


ers are educated on how autism can be affected because it is currently leaving some teachers confused as to why children are behaving in cer- tain ways – they can’t understand why they are doing certain things. “Teachers want to know more


so they can help the students, but they currently don’t understand the emotions and their behaviour.” According to the National


Autistic Society (NAS), 88,000 students currently suffer from the condition in mainstream schools


in England. Furthermore, an NAS survey in 2011 found that four out of 10 student sufferers felt that their teachers did not understand autism while 30 per cent of parents felt that their children’s educational place- ment was not adequate. However, more than half of teachers said they do not feel they have had enough training in the disability. Lorraine Petersen, chief execu-


tive of the special needs associa- tion nasen, agrees that there is still a need for more comprehensive training. She said this would lead to les-


sons being more creative and bet- ter structured to suit the needs of


autism sufferers and criticised cur- rent training methods for not being flexible enough. She explained: “Awareness


of certain conditions, including autism, needs to be raised so that teachers will know how best to teach certain students and differ- entiate strategies in the classroom relating to the individual students. “Teachers are currently taught


how to teach to the national cur- riculum, towards a curriculum based on literacy and numeracy skills – an academic curriculum. To best serve some students, teachers need to have a bit more flexibility and creativity to meet the needs of


individual students. It isn’t rocket science what is needed, but teachers aren’t taught these skills.” Further research from the NAS


has shown that 48 per cent of chil- dren with autism have had to wait over a year to get appropriate edu- cational support. Prof Charman added that


because of the lack of specific train- ing for mainstream teachers, provi- sion for autistic children is “highly variable”. The Commission comes after


the government published an SEN Green Paper last year setting out proposals aimed at improving early identification of SEN, introducing


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Education, Health and Care plans to identify the needs of SEN children from birth to 25, and giving parents more control of the funding for their children. The Department for Education is expected to announce new legislation soon. Prof Charman urged teachers


and educational professionals to take part in a survey being run as part of the the Commission. He added: “I believe our


Commission will play a vital part in informing the forthcoming leg- islation. Parents and teachers are the real experts. We know that too many families have to battle to access the right support for their children and that too many teachers do not get the training and support they need.” Academics and civil servants


will also provide oral evidence dur- ing APPGA hearings with the final outcomes due to be published and presented to the minister for chil- dren and families, Sarah Teather. Robert Buckland MP, chair of


the APPGA, said: “The best way to create a system which ensures that children with SEN, including children with autism, have access to the specialist support they need is by learning from the experience of families and teaching profes- sionals.” Ms Teather said: “I look for-


ward to hearing further views in the Commission’s report which will help us as we develop the reforms.” The Commission’s survey is


open until February 10. To take part, visit www.surveymonkey.com/s/ JFBVNFM and for more on the APPGA, go to www.appga.org.uk


Issue 306 • January 26 2012 Price £1.00 www.sec-ed.com


UK news n SecEd: On Your Side n Independent thinking n NQT diary n Once a teacher... n Managing ICT n At the chalkface


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