Divergent Learning Diaries

Why am I here?

Well, basically to use my personal experience as a SEND parent  and professional experience as a mainstream secondary headteacher to connect to others who hold views on the state of SEND education  and to advocate for urgent funding and curriculum change. I am first and foremostly here as a parent of ASC/ADHD (PDA) girls and as a passionate champion for neurodivergent children and their families navigating the relentless obstacles of each and every day. Also, as a school leader i’m pushing for an urgent rethink in response to a broken system where thousands of children have the door shut on their education.  Our blinkered, rigid systems have let them down and need to change.  Mostly I am writing out of a desperate compulsion to do something.  My life has changed over the last few years’ learning to live with my own daughters with complex needs.  I will write about the experience of my 13 year old twins, Patti and Joni (not their real names for now- but they’ll work well.  They preciously guard their privacy and their lives are hard enough without them feeling exposed or compromised). 

Patti does not attend her secondary school more than a couple of hours a week and is in recovery from burnout while Joni does attend and loves learning but finds it challenging and has a part time timetable.

My name is not the name I am known by professionally either to ensure that my views are not seen as those of the school and community I lead.  

I’m here to write about ( in no particular order) Education, mental health, autistic burnout, living with PDA children, parenting, learning, the amazing network of advocates who are doing the work that we professionals have been slow to get to, meltdowns, alternative provisions, EOTAS and generally seeking practical ways to challenge the educational structures that are under-serving about 20% of the population of school aged children (at the time of writing the new government are launching a curriculum view which will potentially come up with some radical re-thinking.  Let’s hope so!)

I’m here to respond, react, research and agitate, if necessary to bring about conversations around how we can change the educational status quo to ensure that all children can learn and grow in the way that works best for them.

The Times recently reported that 15,000 children are currently missing school and a sigitificant percentage of those will have either a diagnosed or undiagnosed SEND.  One sample presented by the office of national statistics in 2021 stated that 32% of Autistic children have been marked persistently absent in the previous year.  In another sample of children who had school attendance difficulties 92.1% were neurodivergent, with 83.4% being autistic ( Connor and Mullaly)  There could be as many as 12,000 (if not more) neurodivergent children in the UK unable to access their education.  Why this is not a perpetually voiced major political headline is beyond me.  There’s  an amazing, incredibly knowledgeable community of parents and psychologist who are doing amazing work and changing lives through social media platforms and through their own writing,  research and community events supporting parents like me.  More of them in a later post.

I am an Educator and I do not intend to bash fellow professionals (although the description of some of my experiences are intended to help professionals understand how some of their approaches can cause real harm). Most working within the system readily acknowledge that things need to change.  Local authorities are on the verge of bankruptcy trying to meet the demands of EHCPs.  There is an unpleasant standoff between local authorities, school leaders  and parents who are fighting for the services, support and provision so their children can thrive.  Parents are often (disgracefully) shamed into submission by teachers and officers who just don’t get it.  Local SEND officers (who i’m sure originally hoped that they were entering a job where they could make a difference) are often practised in techniques and strategies designed either to deny children access to funds they desperately need. They then set up an obstacle course of a process with hoops that ultimately (very slowly!)  lead parents to tribunal challenges (that families ultimately will win) because the money just isn’t there.  The system itself is unwieldy and overly bureaucratic.  Local officers rely on the fact that many parents will become either overwhelmed, exhausted or broke before they get to the end of the process.  The whole thing is depressing and cruel.  It’s a system that perpetuates failure and is seemingly leading to thousands of children out of school and lost.

One of my daughters is one of these children.

Watching my child broken and burnt out has been terrifying.  Realising that those who should be supporting her actually have done very little to help her has been both distressing and sobering.  

I have seen the Education system that I had been operating in for what it is, and have recognised my own past missteps in the process.  There’s a lot of work to do for us to truly deliver an inclusive experience that will touch, motivate and inspire all of our children but we definitely can do better than this. 

We have to.  There’s around 12,000 children counting on us.

Thanks for reading. Lots more to come.

Louise