Inclusive schools

Freeman, M. (2000). The future of children s rights. Children and Society, 14(4), 277-293 French, S. (1993). Disability, iintairment or something in between. In J. Swain, S. French, C. Barnes, C. Thomas (Eds.), Disabling barriers, enabling environments. London Sage Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L. (1994). Inclusive schools movement and the radicalization of special education reform Exceptional Children, 60(4), 294-309... 

Lunt, I., Norwich, B. (1999). Can effective schools be inclusive schools London Institute of Education, University of London... 

Nixon, J., Sikes, P. (2003). Introduction Reconceptualizing the debate. In P. Sikes, J. Nixon., W. Carr (Eds.), The moral foundations of educational research. Maidenhead Open University Press Office for Standards in Education. (2004). Special educational needs and disability Towards inclusive schools. London Ofsted. Retrieved December 16, 2004, from http //image.guardian.co.uk/sys-fiIes/Educatioii/docmnentsC004/10/12/Ofsted.pdf Oliver, M. (1992). Intellectual masturbation A rejoindo- to Soda- and Booth. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 7(1)20-28... 

Mainstream education will not always be right for every child all of the time. Equally just because mainstream education may not be right at a particular stage, it does not prevent the child from being included successfully at a later stage Inclusive Schooling -Children with Special Educational Needs - DfES, 2002). 

In 2004 OFSTED produced a report. Special Educational Needs and Disability - Towards Inclusive Schools, which looked at the extent to which the vision of inclusion is becoming a reality in schools. One of its main findings was that The admission and retention of pupils with social and behavioural difficulties continue to test the inclusion policies of schools. ... 

Creating a policy is only part of the creation of a frilly inclusive school - the other elements are ... 

As a result of the move towards a more inclusive school and widening SEN to encompass a wide range of pupils with barriers to learning, the staffing stmctures and models by which inclusion services are delivered have changed. 

It is often difficult to measure your progress in moving to an inclusive school. An OFSTED survey of provision for different types of SEN identified the following key characteristics of effective, inclusive schools Special educational needs in the mainstream - OFSTED, 2003) ... 

These key characteristics can provide a useful checklist for schools (see the CD, Chapter 3 Example 6) in measuring how far they have progressed towards developing an inclusive school. There are a number of useful checklists and inclusion standards that schools can use to help establish and review inclusive practices for example. Inclusion Standard - High Standards for All - Manchester Education Department, www.manchester.gov.uk/education, and Index for Inclusion, www.inclusion.org.uk and www.csie.org.uk. It is also important to remember that working in isolation is not an option - all schools need the involvement and support of the local authority, special schools and services, statutory, voluntary and other agencies if their school is to become tmly inclusive. 

Special educational needs and disability - towards inclusive schools, www.ofsted. gov.uk/publications... 

Checklist for schools - key features of an inclusive school (Example 6)... 

Whether inclusive schools. .. do worse by many or all of their students because the presence of students with SEN distorts school processes in some way Alternatively do such schools actually do better because they become more skilful at responding to individual differences ... 

The authors research findings suggest that there is no straightforward relationship either way. However, once again the concepts used are not unproblematic. The terms inclusive schools , SEN , doing worse and doing better are, of course, open to a range of interpretations. 

The relationship between inclusion and achievement conceptualising inclusive schools as high achieving schools... 

A fundamental question arising from the apparent tension between equity and excellence is how can a school become equitable for diverse groups of learners (that is, inclusive because they accommodate difference) as well as be excellent for all (that is, demonstrate achievement gains for all children and young people) Our earlier research on inclusive practice in secondary schools (Florian and Rouse, 2001) has led to a conceptualisation of inclusive schools as those that meet the dual criteria of enrolling a diverse student population and of constantly... 

Because schools with large numbers of children described as having special educational needs are not necessarily inclusive schools, it is important to supplement any quantitative analysis with qualitative measines in order to explore the stories behind the numbers, as we do in the next section of this book. This is also necessary because the designation of special educational need in England is based in part on the organisational response put in place to meet students identified needs and thus can confound any quantification of special educational needs that is used in the national database. 

The school s prospectus describes Kingsley as a fully inclusive school . This was reiterated by the headteacher We would admit anyone. .. although currently not [physically] accessible to aU. .. we would have found a way . However, he had reservations about including those children from outside Kingsley s catchment area who had been permanently excluded from other schools. The most difficult to integrate are those with behaviour problems. .. Not just that individual child s needs but... [the school] has a responsibihty to aU children . Because there are spare places at Kingsley, he argued that the LA put pressure on him to accept such children. 

The formal admissions policy for Amadeus is in line with other community schools in the LA that is, all children who live locally are welcome to attend this fully inclusive school. There is no barrier to the admission of children with physical disabilities because of the high level of facilities, specialised equipment and staff expertise in the school. The school has a natural catchment area formed primarily by the housing estate in which it is located. 

The school describes itself as an inclusive school in its mission statement and it has developed admission, attendance and exclusion policies as well as a code of conduct in hue with this ethos. As one member of staff summed it up ... 

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