The SEND crisis

Hello everyone, hope you've all been keeping well. Thank god January is finally over, as I feel like it just drags on forever & ever. Even more crazier as to how we're in February already?!

Anyway, work has been rapidly picking up for me again, where I have been working in exactly 6 different schools alone for this month - Crazy isn't it?

One of the schools I have been working in (The Cambridge Primary School), where I have been working in for 4 days over the past 3 weeks, is actually a mainstream primary school in Hampshire. However, they are taking on SEN kids, as there are not enough SEN schools in the Hampshire area. And as the above title states, I will be talking about why the SEND is in crisis, as well as the many cons of SEN kids being in mainstream school settings.

For those of you who work in education, you will all know by now that the SEND is in a significant heap of trouble, as there are still far too many young people with SEN who are currently placed in the wrong school settings, or worse, currently out of a school setting due to nowhere nearby that will meet their needs.

This is because councils across the UK are running short on money to be able to provide more specialist education for SEN pupils. Moreover, specialist school settings cannot be built due to the financial difficulties that the councils face. As a poor result, so many young people are missing out on a normal education. 

As mentioned before, I work in education, and I have seen for myself the devastating impact that an unstable education can have on a young person. Let alone a young person with SEN. Going back to where I have been briefly working at The Cambridge Primary School, I have seen multiple kids there with varying SEN, who shouldn't even be placed in a mainstream school like this. But because of there not being enough SEN schools in Hampshire, or even in that part of Hampshire of where the said Primary School is located, they have no choice but to endure it.

It's utterly shameful, and something clearly must be done. The question is when?

If some kids who happen to have SEN can cope in a mainstream school, then good for them. Unfortunately, there are a majority of SEN kids who simply cannot function, let alone cope in a mainstream school due to a number of reasons. Bullying is the topmost one, as there are "normal" kids out there who do not understand SEN, or do have an understanding of SEN, but choose to mock kids with SEN anyway.

Another valid reason is some mainstream schools & school staff won't be able to accommodate SEN kids into their schools due to not having the relevant training or lesson resources to cater for SEN kids. 

All of the reasons explained will lead to SEN kids feeling unsafe & insecure, as well as potentially being set up to fail in later life. God knows, where they may end up going if this crisis continues.

The Department of Education, you have got an awful lot of mess to clean up. 

What is conformity and how does it make us behave?

Conformity. Something very interesting I've learned recently.

In case if none of you here don't know what the term means, it basically means you're doing the same as everybody else, even regardless if it's something wrong... But with that said, it's always good to simply stand out as your own individual! 

I'm just about to further explain on that...

Example 1:

A good example of conformity, would be when you are officially a member of any uniformed public service and you must therefore, dress and behave the same as everybody else.

But why? It's because it shows respect towards your colleagues, the public and yourself, by physically demonstrating you want to be part of a hard working team.

This kind of behaviour, will eventually transform yourself into a confidently disciplined person, who feels proud to be a part of a team, by thinking that you want to be setting a prime example to those looking up to you. E.g. The public. 

Example 2:

A not so good example of conformity, would be when you go to see your favourite football team play.

Whilst you are either sitting down or standing up, trying to enjoy the game like most people, you then hear a small group of people (at first) shouting rude chants. Some can actually turn racist... Eventually you start to hear more and more people get involved with the rude chanting, even though, it seemed like they never wanted to intend on getting involved in the first place.

You sit there thinking to yourself if it's the right thing to do, by joining in with these people, but then again, you hate the idea of being disrespectful to the right-choiced people around you, let alone turning into a racist. This is where your 'Individual Liberty' and 'Human Rights' come into play.

Final conclusion: You must be able to identify the good and bad examples of conformity, as they both have different consequences.

Thank you for reading through and as always, I much appreciate your thoughts on the feedback. Have a great evening all, whatever you're doing.😉