VIEWS & OPINION
SLCN + poor mental health = a perfect storm Comment by SAL McKEOWN, journalist and editor
A recent survey estimates that 1.7 million children - almost one in five school-age children struggle to talk and understand words. When you consider how much time schools waste on handwriting – a skill most children will not use once they leave school - it seems incredible that policy makers are blind to this crisis. Children need access to trained therapists and not just TA support in a busy classroom.
In last month’s Education Today, Dave Smith of BESA urged primary schools in England to join Speech and Language
Link’s research project for Y1 pupils (see
https://speechandlanguage.info/ study). This is a great initiative, but we need support across all sectors. Research shows that 60% of young male offenders have a communication deficit as opposed to 3-10% of the general population.
Secondary and social interactions
Louisa Reeves, Director of Policy and Evidence, at Speech and Language UK (formerly I CAN) says: ‘The more complex demands of the secondary school environment and adolescence often mean that young people who have previously coped now start to fail. For some young people masking their difficulties becomes impossible and they struggle with making and maintaining friends as well as accessing the curriculum, this can impact on their well-being and mental health.’ However, CAMHS waiting lists get longer, so more children need help while Mental Health First Aid courses are being rolled out so slowly that some children in Y7 will have left school before the staff are trained.
Ellen has had an EHCP since Y1 yet wasn’t diagnosed with Developmental Language Disorder until Y10. Her mother, Roisin points
out: ‘For 15 years we have continually battled the system to get Ellen’s needs met - monitoring, chasing, recording, meeting and following up provision and support. When we were seen, mental health professionals had little understanding of DLD and its impacts, and so we have used clinic time trying to explain to clinicians what adjustments Ellen needs to access interventions.’
Classroom staff did not have the time to implement the strategies and exercises suggested by the Speech and Language Therapy team and Ellen started to feel invisible. The alternatives were limited: if she was out of class working solely with a TA she did not interact with classmates and was more isolated.
Strategies that help • Use multiple choice questions to test knowledge not speech and language
• Do not pressurise the child to speak • Use personalised whiteboards so everyone can take part without speaking
• Break content into chunks • Provide regular brain breaks • Give time to process information • Repeat key information • Do not put vulnerable students in the spotlight
Ellen is now at a specialist college with speech and language therapy three times a week with a qualified therapist plus music therapy. ‘Ellen is walking taller, eating better and sleeping better,’ says Roisin. ‘It’s like the sticky tape of selective mutism is starting to peel off. We are getting our daughter back.’
Support for parents and professionals is available at
www.speechandlanguage.org.uk
How to create a safeguarding culture in your school Comment by MUBINA ASARIA, Online Safeguarding Consultant, LGfL
Safeguarding is often referred to as the golden thread that runs through everything we do in schools. The Ofsted School Inspection Handbook requires all schools to have a ‘culture of safeguarding’; where safeguarding is ineffective, the school is likely to be judged inadequate for leadership and management. So what do schools need to think about to create a culture of safeguarding that is both effective and sustainable?
Ultimately this requires a whole school and multifaceted approach as advocated in Keeping Children Safe in
Education, that proactively involves the whole school community to ensure a safe environment where ALL children can learn and achieve their best outcomes.
• Policy and practice – in order for safeguarding to underpin all aspects of process and policy, it is vital that all systems, processes and policies operate with the best interests of the child at their heart. These need to be transparent, clear, and easy to understand for staff, pupils, students, parents, and carers. Schools should also consider whether there is a policy- practice divide – after all, the best policy is meaningless if it is only a piece of paper and not reflected in reality.
• Staff – whilst everyone who comes into contact with children has a role to play in safeguarding, no single practitioner can have a full picture of needs and circumstances. So it’s essential staff act promptly, share concerns and are mindful that certain children may face additional barriers to telling someone if they are worried because of their vulnerability,
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disability, sex, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. Schools should therefore ensure concerns are logged and recorded, and that all staff receive appropriate training (including online safety) with regular updates, so they are confident with procedures, sharing and responding to concerns, and familiar with the indicators of abuse and neglect, without slipping into an ‘it won’t happen here’ mindset.
• Contextual - whilst most children are abused by someone they know, it doesn’t just mean at home. Schools should therefore adopt a contextual safeguarding approach, considering the wider external factors across peer groups, neighbourhoods and online that could potentially pose a threat to their wellbeing and familiarise themselves with the local risk.
• Curriculum - critical thinking skills are vital to building resilience and the curriculum provides several opportunities to equip children with the knowledge and skills to understand risk and stay safe (including online) in an age-appropriate way. Schools should also provide opportunities for assessment and reflection, as recommended in the statutory RSHE guidance.
• Reporting – a key component to an effective safeguarding culture is knowing that all children understand what abuse or neglect is and are confident to speak out, knowing they can safely express their views and that their concerns will be treated seriously. Schools should ensure appropriate systems are in place, promoted widely, accessible and easily understood.
These are some areas for consideration but by no means an exhaustive list. What is important is that schools adopt a holistic approach together with ongoing monitoring and evaluation – otherwise if a school is really good at one area but not another, this could undermine an overall culture of safeguarding.
March 2023
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