SCN0600

Written evidence from Amanda Webb-Johnson

 

 

  1. I am submitting evidence mostly as a parent of a dyslexic child. My evidence is informed by my former roles as a parent governor of a primary school, primary teacher and SENCo. I am submitting evidence because the situation with regards to the assessment and support for dyslexic students is still very patchy across local authorities and nine years’ on from the Rose review, this is a disgrace. My evidence is related to:

 

 

Assessment and support for children with special educational needs and disabilities

 

  1. From my experience, primary teacher training does not prepare teachers for the diversity of learning, emotional and social needs that they will meet in the classroom. Many primary teachers I have met have had no training in dyslexia. INSET training may enable them to create a dyslexia-friendly classroom but this does not necessarily give them the specialist training to teach dyslexic students. With the demise of specialist dyslexia units, dyslexic students I know are not able to access the specialist support and teaching they need and are reliant on expensive private tuition or scarcely available charitable dyslexia support.

 

  1. There has been a great deal of emphasis on Education Health and Care Plans.  The vast majority of children with SEND, including a great number of dyslexic students, do not quality for these and their needs can not be met in the classroom with insufficiently trained teachers.

 

  1. The Government’s synthetic phonics policy has created a one size fits all approach which from my experience has been a disaster for some children. Using one of the Government’s recommended phonic based reading schemes, my child was not taught to read high frequency words which significantly held back her reading and writing skills. The educational psychologist who assessed and diagnosed her at aged 8 reported that he had seen a significant rise in the prevalence of dyslexia since the introduction of the phonics policy.

 

  1. There seems to be an ambivalence about whether dyslexia is a special educational need. Local Authorities and schools can be reluctant to identify and assess for dyslexia, sometimes because of funding and staff resource implications, sometimes for ideological reasons and fear of labelling children. The result is similar – children do not get access to the support they need.

 

  1. The government’s targets for 65% of pupils to reach the standards of the Year 6 SATs creates a situation where this is the prime focus in class for teachers and schools and some children are learning an inappropriate curriculum. The breadth of curriculum coverage with its impact on pace of delivery means that some children do not have enough time for repetition and consolidation and are at times moved on too quickly without a solid foundation.

 

  1. It takes parents/carers a great deal of effort to access information about the application process for Education Health and Care Plans. Parents may have to be articulate and very assertive to get the support their child needs. Their success can be dependent on whether they are able or not to access a good advisor on this process. Advice is patchy and dependent on the quality of the individual advisor.

 

  1. From my experience, the different organisations involved seem to have a different understanding and interpretation of the SEND code of practice.  Having secured an Education Health and Care Plan for my child, the next step is getting it implemented. There appears to be little accountability in the system for parents/carers and again there is an ongoing challenge in holding the school to account for implementing the plan.

 

  1. I have great respect for teachers, teaching assistants and school leaders. What has been demanded of them in terms of expectation and workload is unsustainable and has had a particular impact on the vulnerable learners in the class especially children with special educational needs and disabilities who do not qualify for Education Health and Care Plans. This has to be addressed by the Government.

 

 

Recommendations:

 

  1. Primary teacher training has to prepare teachers much more robustly to meet the needs of SEND learners in their class.

 

  1. There must be access to specialist teaching and support in the classroom for dyslexic students.

 

  1. The EHCP process needs to be more simple, transparent and accessible.

 

  1. There needs to be a clearer accountability mechanism for parents and carers.

 

  1. The Year 6 SATs as a measuring tool need a radical rethink.

 

  1. Schools need to ensure that students are taught high frequency words and other approaches as appropriate and not rely solely on synthetic phonics.

 

  1. Thank you for holding this important inquiry and for taking on board my comments.

 

June 2018