Teacher-co-ordinators

Virtually all the schools had identified the development of classroom investigations as a problem area. School inspections indicated that pupils needed to be more independent to set up their own investigations, as well as to be enabled to explain their findings. Head teachers, co-ordinators, and local authority education advisors considered that teachers were reluctant to provide open-ended investigations because they lacked confidence and knowledge in science. 

The inclusion co-ordinators of O Brien and Forest (1989, and see above) - paralleled perhaps by the teacher-co-ordinators of the Somerset Inclusion Project - could play the key role in ensuring that the kind of planning, communication and ongoing development necessary for room management, or any other means of oiganisation, are in place and monitored. 

The inclusion co-onfi/iotor has a clear role in facilitating these developments. While most integration schemes do nothave anyone in this role, there is an analogue here in the Somerset Inclusion Project in the role of the teacher-co-ordinator. 

Table 8.2 sketches the way that the special school became transformed into an inclusion service. It gives an impression of the significant organisational and persoimel changes which had to take place. Details of the new role of the teacher-co-ordinator are given in chapters 9 and 10, where the changing role of the LSAs is also discussed. 

A full-time teacher-co-ordinator was appointed from the Inclusion Project, managed by both the Meadow Hilt SENCO and SIP she also taught some French and was co-tutor, with the Head of Enghsh, for the registration class Greg and Mike were in, taking part in some PSE (personal and social education) lessorrs. A team of six part-time LSAs was appointed from PMS. 

West Hill is a community primary school in new buildings in the same town as PMS. The buildings are attractive and frilly wheelchair-accessible. West HiU was a pioneer in the proj ect, starting the primary phase on the initiative of one of the teachers from PMS, who is now the teacher-co-ordinator based at West Hill and sits on the school s senior management team. At the time of the research. West Hill had four children from the project Daniel, Joe, Tom and James. 

The role of the teacher-co-ordinator has developed idiosyncratically in different situations depending on the needs of the children involved. In the secondary school, it is summarised as ... 

The purchaser (LEA) must make plans to shift sufficient funds from segregative services to make the provision of the above inclusive services a realistic proposition. The financial implications of inclusion are significant and an inclusive policy is a prerequisite for confidence in the ability of the purchaser to maintain the necessary level of services to support inclusion. (These services include a service manager, teacher-co-ordinators, LSAs, bought-in professional services and supply and cover to provide non-contact time to hands-on staff for meetings, planning and training.)... 

It seems important that project children should be able to participate, at the level appropriate to them, in whatever reward schemes are in operation in their class. The teacher-co-ordinator at Oakwood Junior described howthis would work for Luke, who, until the end of the summer term 1996, had had his own gold stars There is now a class merit system which Luke is part of The class sets its own targets for the week Luke s is greater independence in drinking. ... 

It is clear that there were Material and provisionary outcomes from all projects, as the budget included a 1000 grant to be spent on books, equipment, and other resources. The significance of this varied, but it stimulated teacher enthusiasm and gave the science co-ordinator a stronger incentive to provide subject leadership. 

Internal seclusion (we now have inclusion, exclusion and seclusion), which is a timeout provision, not an LSU, but a short, time-limited removal from class into a well-ordered environment within the school. Internal seclusion should be seen as part of a continuum of support for pupils with behaviour difficulties and should be used within clear and consistent criteria. Monitoring of pupils and staff who use this facility will give an indication not only of pupil difficulties, but also subject and individual teacher issues. This data can then be passed on to department/subjea co-ordinators. 

However much teachers and Inclusion Project co-ordinators attempted to reduce the time spent by students in cupboards, resource centres or physiotherapy rooms, mere physical presence in the classroom, as noted above, was not necessarily an indication of involvement in the same aspects of the curriculum as the rest of the class. Luke, for example, often worked on his own programme with an LSA even though he was in the classroom ... 

The picture of non-inclusion illustrates the importance of teachers designing all class activities with the disabled child s participation in mind. The task is not easy -particularly in PE, where there is a need for forward planning in every aspect of lesson preparation. There is clearly room here for the development of haison between the co-ordinator-classteacher-LSA team in planning and developing appropriate activities. The imphcation is for further non-contact time to allow this. 

Non-contact time needs to be made available for frequent joint planning sessions between class or subj ect teacher and co-ordinator. 

Special educational needs co-ordinator a teacher with specific responsibilities for co-ordinating special needs provision in each school... 

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