Opportunity playgroups

When he was three he attended a local opportunity playgroup of mixed disabled and non-disabledchildren three daysaweek before moving on to attend thePrincessMaigaiet School, first on a phased basis, then full-time when he was five. 

Joe was eleven at the time of the project. He is profoundly disabled and has transferred schools several times. His parents used to hve in a town in the north of Somerset before moving to their current address. From this town Joe first attended an opportunity playgroup, which they describe as brilliant . On reaching school age, he was sent to a school for physically disabled pupils in a city some miles distant. However, the journey took up to one and a half hours in each direction and the parents report that Joe would return from school with lumps and bites on his body. While he attended this school, Joe was sent to Hungary for conductive education. 

Mike s spinal disorder was diagnosed when he was three, after which he went to a local opportunity playgroup. Mike went to tlie local village infants school and then on to the junior school. His parents were unhappy with Mike s final year there. They had the impression that overworked staff found it too much effort to arrange things so that children with hmited mobility could take part. 

Greg went to an opportunity playgroup during his pre-school years, and also to the local village playgroup two mornings a week, from where he moved on to the local primary school with his peers. Around the age of nine and a half he appeared to be falling behind both academically and socially, despite the help of an LSA employed by the school, and was... 

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