Memorandum submitted by TreeHouse
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
— TreeHouse welcomes the Committee's
inquiry into the National Curriculum which is a core entitlement
for all children. Making this entitlement relevant and effective
is vitally important for children with autism for whom education
is recognised as the most effective intervention.
— The National Curriculum is an essential
entitlement to learn and develop for all children. This entitlement
was a welcome development to the education system. It helped to
push forward thinking about the education of children with Special
Educational Needs (SEN) well beyond an historic approach of merely
keeping these children safe in schools, and instead began the
way forward for standards of education, progress and promotion
of public understanding for children with SEN and all children.
— The current system does not effectively
recognise the progress and achievements of pupils with SEN. This
risks disengagement from the education system of these pupils
and their parents. Additionally there is no accurate account of
the achievement and progress within schools and with pupils. In
order for the National Curriculum to be fit for purpose there
needs to be a greater acknowledgment of learning and progress
below Level 1.
— Flexibility within the entitlement
is essential for children with SEN, especially as they move into
secondary education where the disparity between chronological
and developmental age increases. The National Curriculum needs
to be flexible enough to adapt to this situation, so that it remains
relevant for all learners and assessment can be accredited appropriately.
The personalised learning agenda is particularly valuable for
this purpose.
INTRODUCTION
1. TreeHouse is the national charity for
autism education. 1% of school-age children are on the autistic
spectrum. Autism is unique because there is no other condition
of such complexity, affecting so many children in the UK, about
which so little is known and for which society's response is currently
so inadequate.
2. TreeHouse runs a special school for children
with autism and campaigns for improved autism education services
nationally. It was established in 1997 by the parents of newly
diagnosed children with autism in response to the huge unmet national
need for specialist autism education. TreeHouse runs a pioneering
and innovative pro-inclusion special school which currently educates
59 children with autism who have statements of SEN and are funded
by their local authorities.
THE PRINCIPLE
OF A
NATIONAL CURRICULUM
3. The National Curriculum is a benefit
for all children as it establishes an entitlement to learning
and to develop knowledge and skills. This entitlement is as important
for children with SEN as it is for other children, if not more
so. Children with SEN deserve the right to learn and develop,
as well as to gain skills, understanding and attitudes in order
for them to live fulfilled lives.
4. One of the greatest barriers to progress
for children with autism is low expectations. Too many children,
particularly those who are "passive" and do not disrupt
the education of other children, were merely kept safe in schools
rather than educated to their full potential. An entitlement to
an education is a human right[19]
and is fundamentally important to children with SEN and their
families, as well as to an inclusive society.
5. The National Curriculum is also important
in the establishment of standards in learning and attainment,
and its promotion of continuity and coherence and public understanding.
The National Curriculum's promotion of standards across the board
should be a means of bringing children with SEN into a mainstreamed
education system. This is vitally important for our children's
development and inclusion.
IMPROVING THE
FITNESS-FOR-PURPOSE
OF THE
NATIONAL CURRICULUM
6. Unlike for some other SEN there remain
many questions about how to best educate children with autism.
Yet the absence of appropriate education can mean that some children
with autism never acquire even the most basic skills—speech,
functional communication or self care and independence skills.
However, gaining basics skills along with other more traditional
educational achievements cannot be overestimated for many young
people with SEN and their families.
7. The Curriculum as it currently works
is not flexible enough to genuinely acknowledge the hundreds and
thousands of children and young people who are working below Level
1 of the National Curriculum. A key problem is the way in which
assessment works, which often is not suitable as an assessment
of progress for Learners with Learning Difficulties and/or Disabilities
(LLDD). For instance, many children with autism have a "spikey"
profile of achievements, meaning that they may do well or even
excel in some areas yet experience difficulties with other topics.
This can make assessment difficult in current practice.
8. The risk in the current system is that
many achievements and progress are missed. This is not only a
misrepresentation of what is happening in schools and with pupils
but also acts to disengage parents and pupils from the system.
To improve the fitness-for-purpose of the National Curriculum
for LLDDs, assessment and the measurement of achievement needs
to be reviewed and refined so that progress at all levels and
across the National Curriculum is charted in a meaningful way.
THE MANAGEMENT
OF THE
NATIONAL CURRICULUM
9. TreeHouse has shown that children in
our school can make real progress when their needs are accurately
assessed and appropriate interventions are put in place. We have
also shown that where this is done those whose behaviour that
might otherwise be very challenging can learn and develop. Personalised
approaches to learning work well for our children and other children
with SEN.
10. Flexibility in the system is essential
in order to respond effectively to individual needs. In particular
the secondary curriculum needs flexibility to cope with the range
of levels at which learners are at. Children with SEN do not develop
learning in accordance with their age. This inevitably becomes
more apparent the older a child gets. So although a child may
be aged 15, developmentally they may be at age 2 or 3. The secondary
curriculum needs to be adaptable to these needs, so that it continues
to be relevant and achievements are accredited.
March 2008
19 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article
28. Back
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