This is really depressing :( I think also worth noting that one of the things EHCPs can do is give legal exemptions from specific rules. And government seems set to get rid of them
I am grandmother to a 3 year old with speech and language problems (she was born in November 2021)
& I have two comments.
Where it states: “The issue is set to grow as the number of children diagnosed with speech and language difficulties is growing each year. Experts say this is down to the impact of COVID in early childhood for the current primary school cohort - which restricted the amount of time toddlers and young children had to socialise with peers - as well as the effect of growing poverty on child development.”
What if the growing number is actually down to being infected by Covid? (I believe it does have an impact on the brain), and not because of the restricted amount of time toddlers spent with peers? I was born in the 1950s when very few children went to nursery. Most time before the age of 5 was spent with the mother.
And my second comment is
where “Lauren says she and her former colleagues would often refuse to take sick days even if they were extremely unwell”
I’ll link that to my earlier comment. If the teacher is extremely unwell because of a COVID infection, how’s that supposed to bring the number of children being diagnosed with speech and language difficulties down?
We know that the loss of smell associated with SARS-CoV-2 indicated that the virus had crossed the blood-brain barrier, and that a study of recovering adults showed that those who lost their sense of smell showed behavioral, functional, and structural brain changes, so it wouldn’t be surprising if Covid was a factor in problems with the underdevelopment of speech and language in children.
I agree with the problem but not the prescription. We have to stop believing that a centrally designed silver bullet will solve problems.
I'm the Chair of a school in one of the most deprived boroughs in the country with a high proportion of SEN, PP and ESL students. We have excellent attendance and behaviour without the need for draconian disciplinary methods. We have an excellent Head Teacher, SLT and pastoral care. Being attentive to the needs of our students and creating a climate of mutual respect is a function of good school leadership, not central guidance.
New rules and guidance from DfE will not change the values and behaviours of poor school leaders.
The authoritarian turn in schools needs to be stopped. It indicates a deeper malaise in our approach to young people. We really hate young people, at a societal level. Disciplined for the wrong coloured stationary? That’s akin to coercive control. The love-in with disciplinarian super-Heads is another symptom. Teachers have been micro managed and their curriculum prescribed to a point where schools reproduce automated learning. It’s good to find ways like this to ameliorate the trend, but the remedy must be more radical. Funding this is also critical - that’s not mentioned in the article. Expecting already wildly overloaded teachers to take on more training/consciousness raising/additional responsibilities is not feasible. Even I’m screaming internally at the ‘schools should do more…’ message, and I’m not a teacher.
This is really depressing :( I think also worth noting that one of the things EHCPs can do is give legal exemptions from specific rules. And government seems set to get rid of them
I am grandmother to a 3 year old with speech and language problems (she was born in November 2021)
& I have two comments.
Where it states: “The issue is set to grow as the number of children diagnosed with speech and language difficulties is growing each year. Experts say this is down to the impact of COVID in early childhood for the current primary school cohort - which restricted the amount of time toddlers and young children had to socialise with peers - as well as the effect of growing poverty on child development.”
What if the growing number is actually down to being infected by Covid? (I believe it does have an impact on the brain), and not because of the restricted amount of time toddlers spent with peers? I was born in the 1950s when very few children went to nursery. Most time before the age of 5 was spent with the mother.
And my second comment is
where “Lauren says she and her former colleagues would often refuse to take sick days even if they were extremely unwell”
I’ll link that to my earlier comment. If the teacher is extremely unwell because of a COVID infection, how’s that supposed to bring the number of children being diagnosed with speech and language difficulties down?
We know that the loss of smell associated with SARS-CoV-2 indicated that the virus had crossed the blood-brain barrier, and that a study of recovering adults showed that those who lost their sense of smell showed behavioral, functional, and structural brain changes, so it wouldn’t be surprising if Covid was a factor in problems with the underdevelopment of speech and language in children.
Exactly this
I agree with the problem but not the prescription. We have to stop believing that a centrally designed silver bullet will solve problems.
I'm the Chair of a school in one of the most deprived boroughs in the country with a high proportion of SEN, PP and ESL students. We have excellent attendance and behaviour without the need for draconian disciplinary methods. We have an excellent Head Teacher, SLT and pastoral care. Being attentive to the needs of our students and creating a climate of mutual respect is a function of good school leadership, not central guidance.
New rules and guidance from DfE will not change the values and behaviours of poor school leaders.
The authoritarian turn in schools needs to be stopped. It indicates a deeper malaise in our approach to young people. We really hate young people, at a societal level. Disciplined for the wrong coloured stationary? That’s akin to coercive control. The love-in with disciplinarian super-Heads is another symptom. Teachers have been micro managed and their curriculum prescribed to a point where schools reproduce automated learning. It’s good to find ways like this to ameliorate the trend, but the remedy must be more radical. Funding this is also critical - that’s not mentioned in the article. Expecting already wildly overloaded teachers to take on more training/consciousness raising/additional responsibilities is not feasible. Even I’m screaming internally at the ‘schools should do more…’ message, and I’m not a teacher.