Summer 2021 Issue 59 £2
A VOICE FOR THE INCLUSION MOVEMENT IN THE UK
Steve McQueen: “We want meaningful change - so let’s get on with it.”
Contents 3
Interview: Steve McQueen
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Our Voice is Being Heard
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Returning to School
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Learning in Lockdown
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Q&A: Olivia Blake MP
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Disabled Women on the Frontline: event report
Small Axe: Education
Young person’s project
COVID-19 inclusive education Young campaigner, Daniel Jillings Chair of APPG SEND
By Yewande Omoniyi-Akintelu
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SEND Review for England
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Legal Question
An update from Richard Rieser A-Level results
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Editorial Welcome to the summer Inclusion Now magazine. As ever, these pages are filled with informative and thoughtprovoking news items about inclusive education. Opening the summer issue, film-maker Steve McQueen is interviewed by ALLFIE’s Disabled Black Lives Matter group (opposite), calling out injustice within our education system, and at the intersection of disability and race. Steve’s recent BBC Small Axe film, ‘Education’, depicts one family’s struggles to secure a good education for their son, Kingsley, whose school have already marked him out as a failure. In the 1970s, the British school system failed a generation of Black students, with the practice of segregation to “educationally subnormal” schools (ESN). While the formal system was largely abolished by the time McQueen was Kingsley’s age, he was similarly channelled into a lower stream at secondary school, with drastically reduced expectations. As DBLM discover, ‘Education’ is the most autobiographical film in the Small Axe anthology, and Kingsley’s experiences reflect his own: “My own Dyslexia was a big issue and, in a way, making Education was a way of dealing with what happened to me… how I overcame certain things.” It’s great to see a commitment to inclusion from high profile people, including politicians. From inside Parliament we hear from Olivia Blake MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on SEND. Richard Rieser discovers how her lived experience, as a Disabled person, has impacted on her political career (page 13). COVID-19 remains a key theme in Disabled Young people’s lives. On page 10, Kadijah Adam updates Michelle Daley on her return to school, with some strong messages for the government. Prominent Young Deaf and Disabled person’s campaigner, Daniel Jillings, explains BSL accessibility during lockdown (page 12). Armineh Soorenian brings news of ‘Our Voice’, ALLFIE’s national COVID-19 participation project, to amplify Young people’s voices (page 8). ALLFIE’s March International Women's Day event, with Inclusion London, Sisters and Frida and guests, was hearteningly positive. A large global audience attended the online webinar, which addressed issues for Disabled Women, “at the frontline of discrimination and inequality, and the multiple intersections of race, class, gender, and disability”. A link to the highlights reel is on page 16, where Yewande Omoniyi-Akintelu reports back.
In solidarity
Cover image: Steve McQueen portrait / Credit: John Russo
Catherine Bebbington
Interview
Steve McQueen: “We want meaningful change – so, let’s get on with it.” ALLFIE’s Disabled Black Lives Matter group interview with Small Axe film-maker
In April, members of ALLFIE’s Disabled Black Lives Matter (DBLM) group, ALLFIE Director, Michelle Daley, and one of our trustees, Mike Lambert, had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing artist and Oscar-winning film director, Sir Steve McQueen.
We had been impressed by his recent TV film series, Small Axe; a collection of five short dramas depicting the lives and struggles of Black, British people from the 1960s to 1980s. In particular, we were keen to talk to him about one of these dramas, 'Education', which has such obvious relevance to ALLFIE’s current work; combatting school exclusions.
‘Small Axe: Education’ is available on BBC iPlayer until November, 2021. It was clear from the outset of our conversation that he is completely downto-earth and unfussed by formality, wanting to be addressed as “Steve”. As the interview continued, he showed his understanding of intersectionality and his respect for the work of grassroots organisations, like ALLFIE.
Image: Scene from 'Small Axe: Education' ©BBC/McQueen Limited
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Interview: Steve McQueen Kingsley’s Story The central character in ‘Small Axe: Education’ is Kingsley, a 12-year-old schoolboy growing up in the early 1970s. Because of minor misbehaviour, slow progress with reading but, mostly, because of being Black, Kingsley is sent to a school for Educationally Sub-normal (ESN) children. From our research, we knew that Steve hadn’t been sent to an ESN school, but that, on account of his Dyslexia, his secondary school in Ealing had put him into a lower stream, involving drastically reduced expectations. Disabled Black Lives Matter wanted to learn more about the semi-autobiographical basis of 'Education' and asked Steve: Disabled Black Lives Matter (DBLM): “How far do Kingsley’s experiences, described in 'Education', reflect your own experiences when at school and how have you addressed these feelings in your later life and work?” Steve McQueen (SMQ): “Very much so. 'Education' was the last one I wrote in the series. I’d been pushing a lot of stuff away as there was a lot of hurt and dealing with a lot of things through 'Education'. So, I’d swept it under the carpet.”
“My own Dyslexia was a big issue and, in a way, making 'Education' was a way of dealing with what happened to me, and dealing with how I overcame certain things.” “I grew up in the 80s and went into the high-school system in 1983. What was interesting was that, if I had been around in the 70s, I would have been in an Educationally Sub-normal School and there’s no ifs or buts about that. That’s what would have happened to me, if it hadn’t been for Black parents and Black parents’ associations who fought against the government ruling and stopped putting Black children and working-class white children into these ESN schools. There was an overpopulation of Black children who should not have been in these schools and Bernard Coard saw this government report and said these people should not be in there but are put in there anyway. It was only because of amazing parents and parents’ associations that it stopped. And it wasn’t just a rule to stop Black kids going there; it was a mandate to abolish these schools for all children. This is what these people achieved. My presence here with you today is directly linked to what Black parents and Black people did to change the law; to take away these terrible schools. “I wanted to put my life on the edges of what I could have experienced, or could have occurred in the 1970s. So, all the stuff you see in 'Education', about how my parents and sisters lived, it is fully accurate to me.”
The Parental Journey At ALLFIE, we’re familiar with the turmoil that often surrounds the identification of a child’s support needs and the subsequent struggle of parents to assert their rights in our harsh and bureaucratic education system.
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Image: Scene from mall Axe: Education ©BBC/McQueen Limited
Interview: Steve McQueen We often refer to this process as the ‘parental journey’. We were interested in the depiction of Kingsley’s parents in ‘Education’ and the development of their thoughts and feelings, to a point where they are able to help their son. We asked Steve: DBLM: “What choices did you make when making this film to show their evolving thoughts and realisations about the education system?” SMQ: “Often the case with a lot of immigrant people is that they trust the authorities because, obviously, coming to the mother country, they think: ‘they must know better than us… and we trust the education of our kids to these senior authorities’. Then they slowly find out that it’s not how they think things are." “This slow realisation was part of the experience for my parents too. If you did bad at school, or whatever, it was because you were not concentrating and not because of the teacher not teaching properly. Whatever the teachers said, they would do. And I hated that, I really did hate that. I loathed some of the teachers and how they manipulated my mother at the time. For my mother, it was really an awakening. “It was an interesting time for us as a family, to have that kind of communication for the first time. Before that, everything I did was wrong, and my parents were always right. Then, all of a sudden, they understood what was going on and the pain that I was going through.”
“Sometimes it’s very difficult to be heard, even by the people that actually love you the most. It was very important for me to communicate that message in Education."
Image: ALLFIE's Disabled Black Lives Matter group members interviewing Steve McQueen via Zoom.
(Top row L-R) Mike Lambert, Michelle Daley, Armineh Soorenian; (Middle L-R) Tasnim Hassan, Steve McQueen, Saâdia Neilson; (Bottom L-R): Yewande Omoniyi-Akintelu, Iyiola Olafimihan, Marianne Horan.
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Interview: Steve McQueen Calling Out Injustices Within the Education System We had read an article in Sight and Sound magazine in which Steve had described his school as ‘investing in Black failure’.
We wanted to hear more about why he had described his school this way. SMQ: “The context of that was when, later in life, a few friends met our former deputy headteacher. He told them the story of how the headteacher at the time hadn’t wanted to do anything about how the school was failing Black children, because that would only attract more Black children to the school. It wouldn’t be attractive to getting a certain type of clientele that the headteacher wanted into his school. The idea at the time was the school was only interested in getting a certain amount of children into Oxford and Cambridge every year – it was a tick in their box. That’s why I spoke about them ‘investing in Black failure’, because they didn’t care about Black people.” We moved onto talking about a scene in 'Education', which shows segregated schools as places where pupils are barely stretched, and education hardly happens. We asked Steve: DBLM: “You included that painfully long scene in ‘Education’, where one of the teachers is singing ‘House of the Rising Sun’ to the children. Was that done deliberately to convey the sense of boredom and frustration felt by Kingsley and his classmates?” SMQ: “That actually happened to me [Steve laughed]. One of our teachers was a guy who felt he had his dreams and it was like when you get a hairbrush in front of a mirror, except guess what, he did the same with us as his audience. They didn’t give a damn about teaching us. We were just taken advantage of really. It was all about wasting time.” This mention of time wasting really hit home for some of us who had attended segregated schools, where we weren’t stretched, expected to succeed or given the opportunity to achieve. We shared with Steve some of our own stories about children being poorly educated and bored in segregated schools. Identifying with what we’d said, Steve laughed and exclaimed: “Let’s get the tambourines out. But really, this is terrible.”
The Intersection of Disability and Race One of the things that had impacted us most about Steve’s film, set in the 1970s, is how little things have really changed. The systems have shape-shifted and the words we use are different: but Black boys are still being disproportionately excluded from school on the basis of disability. The Timpson Review of School Exclusion (2019) reveals the intersectional experiences of Black, Disabled pupils (mostly Disabled, Caribbean boys) in education, who will have a 58% chance of receiving a fixed period exclusion. Today, instead of sending such pupils to ESN schools, they’re sent to Pupil Referral Units (PRU), regarded by some as pathways to prison. According to HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Annual Report (2017-18), the reason 86% of inmates have ended up in prison, is a direct consequence of earlier school exclusion or attendance at a PRU.
As a group that embraces more than one identity and movement, we asked Steve:
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Interview: Steve McQueen DBLM: “To what extent do you identify with the Disability Rights Movement and its struggle against segregated education?” SMQ: “The worst thing in the world is when you are put aside. This started to happen to me when I was 13 and already my path was sketched out for me. It is very important that that doesn’t happen. It is disgusting. It makes that person feel like they’re nothing. When a person is put aside, their behaviour changes, their grades change. But, when people are put side by side, everyone goes up and you feel better. This segregation, I find it all a bit disgusting and elitist. “I had to deal with a lot of stuff and my liberty was about doors being opened to me, in an environment of possibilities. When you’re in an environment of possibilities, then you feel like you can achieve anything and there are no limits. But when you’re put aside, you’re already being told you’re not the same as the rest. So, don’t even think about it, because you’ll never achieve more than these people say you can.”
The Future Towards the end of our discussion, Steve spoke about his recent photographic project, called Year 3. This exhibit, which opened at Tate Britain in 2019, attempted to bring together photographs of every year three class in London. SMQ: “This was the first time I was confronted with London and how London looks and the future of London. What I loved about the schools were images of non-Disabled and Disabled children in the same frame.” When we asked Steve whether he has hope for the future, he replied confidently:
“Of course I do. I feel hopeful because I’m talking to you guys now. But we want meaningful change – so, let’s get on with it. Further Reading/Viewing Education and the four other Small Axe dramas are available, free of charge, until November 2021: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p08vxt33/small-axe Bernard Coard, ‘How the West Indian Child is Made Educationally Sub-normal in the British School System’, 1971 (republished as the central article in the collection Tell it Like it is: How Our Schools Fail Black Children, 2005): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_the_West_Indian_Child_is_Made_Educationally_Sub-normal_in_the_British_School_System Edward Timpson, Review of School Exclusion, 2019: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/ system/uploads/attachment_data/file/807862/Timpson_review.pdf HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales, annual report 2017 to 2018: https://assets.publishing.service.gov. uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/761589/hmi-prisons-annual-report-2017-18-revised-web.pdf Bernard Coard, ‘Why I wrote the ESN Book’, The Guardian, 5 February 2005: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2005/feb/05/schools.uk Subnormal: A British Scandal An examination of one of the biggest scandals in the history of British education: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000w81h
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Young Person’s Project
Our Voice is Being Heard Project news from ALLFIE’s Armineh Soorenian, ‘Our Voice’ Project Leader ALLFIE has received the funding to create the ‘Our Voice’ project, so that Disabled Young people can have a say on what matters to them. This project addresses the isolation and intersectional exclusion experienced by Disabled Young people during the COVID-19 pandemic. At ALLFIE, we feel that during the pandemic, Disabled Young people’s voices have not been heard. As a result, support for their Independent Living needs, and control over what support remains has worsened. This is why we applied to the DPO COVID-19 Emergency Fund, organised by National Emergencies Trust (NET), to start a COVID-19 national participation project for Disabled Young people. What is ‘Our Voice’ project? We have recruited 11 Disabled Young people, aged between 16 and 25. The participants meet with members of the ALLFIE team via Zoom for about 90 minutes every few weeks, to have conversations and share their experiences. We have also used the time for training, introducing the social model of disability and the importance of using the right terminology when talking about disability. We felt it was significant for the participants to be aware of their rights and increase their knowledge about disability politics, so that they can participate meaningfully in the future discussions and own the Our Voice meetings going forward.
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Image: Armineh Soorenian, 'Our Voice' project leader
Inclusive Education, Independent Living and Intersectionality Over the past few months, the Disabled Young people have shared their experiences of inclusive education, Independent Living and intersectionality during the pandemic, as well as the impact of COVID-19 on their lives. The Young people have been involved in co-facilitating the discussions with ALLFIE staff and have brought their perspectives to the conversations. We intend to collect plenty of evidence and information on Disabled Young people’s experiences and the narratives will then
Young Person’s Project help us, as an organisation, to plan future projects and activities for Young people. Project Benefits Our Disabled Young participants have found their participation in the project beneficial, with a growing sense of confidence in disability rights. They often tell us how much they enjoy meeting each other and sharing their experiences, knowing that they are not on their own in facing disablism. The participation of ALLFIE’s staff in the meetings has allowed the sessions to have an intergenerational feel, and for the Young people to learn from those who have been involved in the fight for disability rights for many decades. The ALLFIE staff have also found the sessions informative and interesting,
learning about some of the existing and emerging barriers for the younger generation and what is important to them. From the feedback we have received, we are very keen to continue with the discussion groups beyond the project, and let the Young people organise and lead their own meetings. We hope that the Young people will go on to further leadership opportunities with the Disability Rights Movement. ‘Our Voice’ Outcomes From the conversations we have had, participants have produced resources on their experiences that are being posted on ALLFIE’s webpage and in other publications. Look out for articles on social media with the #OurVoice, and if you want to know more, please contact Armineh Soorenian.
https://www.allfie.org.uk/about-us/who-we-work-with/our-voice-project/
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Young Person’s Voice
Returning to School After Lockdown An interview with Kadijah Adam by ALLFIE’s Michelle Daley In a follow-up to Kadijah Adam’s insightful article in our Spring magazine, Michelle Daley spoke to Kadijah, a Disabled teenager studying in her local mainstream school, about her experiences returning to school after the most recent lockdown. When we heard from Kadijah during lockdown, she was excited and enjoyed remote education, so we wanted to catchup with her and see what she thinks of being back in school. Returning to school On 8th March 2021, the UK government reopened schools, as part of the easing of lockdown restrictions in the United Kingdom. For Kadijah, a year-10 Disabled student, this was a nightmare and she found going back to school stressful. Kadijah told ALLFIE: “It [the school] is a bit regimented [because of the physical distancing] and they haven’t made the right adjustments and it is not accessible for people with learning difficulties.” In Bubbles COVID-19 guidance on physical and social distancing has also had an impact on Kadijah’s school experience. In class, for instance: “When I don’t understand the question, I have to struggle on my own. I cannot see from one eye and have a learning difficulty and I need help with understanding questions and to access the subject material.” The Teaching Assistant (TA), who supports Kadijah and teachers in many of her classes, has to remain socially distanced and wear a mask. Kadijah said that she found this distance hard, as her TA and teachers are now often unable: “to sit next to me, help explain questions and diagrams to me because of the social distance.” Additionally, the formation of bubbles in schools has meant that Kadijah is isolated from certain peers: “I have a friend in year 11 I would talk to during breaktimes, but I’m not able to now because each year group is in a bubble.” She added: “I don’t like being back at school, it makes me stressed. I don’t like being in bubbles, I liked doing my schoolwork at home.”
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Young Person’s Voice When we spoke with Kadijah previously, she did not raise as many concerns around assistance received at school prior to the lockdown. For Kadijah, social distance has created further issues with how she receives support in accessing and engaging with her subjects. It has also created more separation and division, particularly as she already struggled socially in the school environment. Her return to school has exacerbated the negative schooling experiences and made her support even more inaccessible. Ignoring Youth Voice Kadijah feels strongly that the voices of Young Disabled people have not been considered in government legislation around sending children back to school, stating categorically: “[the] government shouldn’t force us back to school." Additionally, she spoke about how, as a Young Disabled person, she has to take exams that are inaccessible for pupils with learning difficulties: “I find the exam preparation too difficult and I get stressed." She feels as though she has been forced into a process that has not been fully supportive for pupils with learning difficulties. Kadijah told ALLFIE: “If I had the choice, I’d prefer to study from home, rather than going to school because I finds it less stressful." Kadijah wants the government to listen to Disabled students and understand that some Disabled students should not only have access to support within school, but also have the choice of whether to attend school or continue to study remotely from home. Final thoughts Kadijah left ALLFIE with three key messages: 1. Exams should be made accessible to ensure that they don’t segregate Disabled students with learning difficulties 2. Students should have a choice as to whether to learn from home, at school, or a mixture of the two
Image: Kadijah Adam at school in Milton Keynes
3. The government should speak and listen to Disabled student’s voices, and include them in decision-making processes
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Young Person’s Voice
Learning in Lockdown Inclusion Now magazine hears from prominent Young disability rights campaigner, Daniel Jillings, about his experiences of COVID-19 learning. Overall, I have liked being at home, but it has been hard work sometimes. My school normally sends work for me to complete via an app called Show My Homework and I complete it and send it online. Sometimes the teachers give us links to videos to watch for the lessons, but it has been harder if subtitles are poor quality. There are lots of online things that I can't enjoy at all, as they aren’t captioned. It's difficult and frustrating when things don’t have captions.
My Teachers of the Deaf have regular video conversations with me to ensure that I understand the work and to go through some topics, which is really helpful for me. I do prefer staying at home, as I have more free time and it’s easier for me to focus on work and get it done quickly. Overall, learning at home has been good for me, as I have people in school who make sure things are ok for me. I am worrying about returning to school mainly due to the face masks being used all day and the safety of school is one of the main concerns for me. Even with the support I have, it will be difficult to communicate with the other people with masks and things like that.
Since January, I have also had live lessons (on Microsoft Teams). For these, I need to use two screens so I can see what the teacher is sharing, as well as following my BSL interpreters. It can be tiring because I am focusing on my laptop all day. The Also, check out Daniel's recent blog and technology is simple for me, but it needs a video on returning to school with face masks lot of energy to concentrate, especially if there are a few live lessons on the same day.
Image: Deaf and Disabled people's rights campaigner, Daniel Jillings, studying remotely during COVID-19 lockdown
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Q&A: Olivia Blake MP
Disabled people have a new advocate in the House of Commons Q&A with Olivia Blake MP by Richard Rieser
Image: Olivia Blake MP, Chair of the APPG on SEND
Olivia Blake was elected as Labour Member of Parliament for Sheffield Hallam constituency at the 2019 election. During her 16 months in Parliament she’s been highly active and become a force to be reckoned with, including in her role as Chair of the SEND All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG). Richard Rieser interviewed her for Inclusion Now Magazine and found out how her lived experience (Olivia identifies as Disabled and neuro-divergent, being Dyslexic and having a longterm metabolic condition), has impacted on her career.
The journey to Parliament Olivia gained her A-Levels at secondary school in the 2000s, when one would’ve expected schools and teachers to be vigilant for specific learning difficulties. However, she didn’t receive the necessary support to achieve the very high grades required for medical school (“Chemistry let me down”). So, Olivia opted for Microbiology, later going into NHS research. Olivia was not identified as Dyslexic until University and so got no reasonable adjustments at school. Meanwhile coming from a Labour family (her mother was the Labour Leader of Leeds Council), Olivia is a socialist and deeply committed on green issues, equality, workers’ rights and challenging austerity. Olivia ran for Sheffield Council and was elected as a Councillor in 2013. On the Council, she successfully pushed to bring services back in-house from poor privatised ones, pushed for a Local Living Wage, had the brief Children and Young People and became Deputy Leader with a Finance Brief, before being elected an MP. 1. Richard Rieser (RR): What led you to be a fighter for social justice?
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Q&A: Olivia Blake MP Olivia Blake (OB): “In lessons at school I was always the one to speak up, though my written work was not great, and teachers accused me of being lazy and in exams time ran out. Labour’s Literacy Hour with no flexibility and the loss of modular exams also adversely impacted upon my education." “My interest in SEND probably comes from my own school experience, which is why I joined the All-Party Parliamentary Group for SEND (APPG SEND) and was elected Chair. A post which I am very pleased to have just been re-elected to. This Parliamentary Group has just concluded and published their highly critical report of government, on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on children with SEND.” 2. RR: Why is inclusive education so difficult to achieve currently? OB: “Inclusion is not incentivised under current government measures in England. The Performance Tables are a big barrier to inclusion and the lack of funding throughout the SEND system all mean things are not improving for children and Young people with SEND. The Education Select Committee Report into SEND has shown there is a lot wrong with the SEND system and the government seems to have been dragging its feet on publishing the long-awaited SEND Review. ALLFIE and many other grass roots organisations are important in informing the APPG SEND on what’s happening on the ground, especially the voices of Young Disabled people." 3. RR: Tell us about launching the 26th March Report on SEND and COVID? OB: “Government must ensure support for children and Young people with SEND is part of all future pandemic planning. Today we published the findings from our inquiry into the experiences of children and Young people with SEND in educational settings during the COVID-19 pandemic. The inquiry – launched in July 2020 and consisting of a number of evidence sessions with parents, teachers and oung people – has found that the government and Department for Education did not do enough to support the UK’s most ‘vulnerable’ children and Young people during COVID-19, forcing schools and families to “pick up the pieces.” Our report concludes that the needs of children and Young people with SEND were continuously overlooked by the government in their COVID response. Guidance for special schools and alternative provision was published later than guidance for mainstream schools, making Young people with SEND feel like an “afterthought”. One parent, who took part in the inquiry, said: ‘It is very sad to see that the lives and care of our Young people is regarded as so unimportant that the services we rely on for support… were deemed non-essential and closed down for six months." “During the inquiry, we heard from Disabled children who were refused attendance in schools, despite not being able to replicate support in the home environment; parents who were left out of important decisions and risk assessments about their
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Q&A: Olivia Blake MP children's schooling; support staff not allowed on to school sites due to COVID restrictions and children made to start in a new educational setting without the support required in their Educational and Health Care Plans… We also found that the mental health of Young people with SEND, and that of their families, has been widely impacted by the pandemic, with increased levels of anxiety frequently reported by both children and parents." “The report also highlighted issues with funding for SEND provision, which was already of long-term concern, with local authorities, school settings and families reporting deficits in the high-needs budget. The report found that the impact on schools of COVID-19 related costs and loss of income has only exacerbated this crisis.” 4. RR: What needs to change in the SEND system? OB: “We lay out 9 key recommendations, including new additional funding for support for SEND children and mental health support, specific funding to deal with the backlog in assessments for Educational and Health Care Plans, and an urgent and time-bound parliamentary review in order to assess the impact which COVID has had upon children with SEND." “We are also calling on the Secretary of State for Education to publish the longawaited SEND review and commit to working with the cross-party group to ensure that SEND children and Young People are placed at the centre of government’s policies and decisions. I hope this report will focus discussion on how we address those problems and improve a system that has long-needed change." 5. RR: How did you get elected as an MP? OB: “It was not expected I would be elected as MP for Hallam. This had always been Liberal until the election of Gerrard O’Mara in 2015. (he had lost the Labour Whip because of controversial statements). But I was very involved with a wide range of campaigns and issues in the constituency that goes from city centre into the Peak District. I won against the trend with a narrow majority of 712.” Since arriving at Parliament, Olivia has been very active in the Commons Chamber, delivering speeches and posing questions during debates. She is also involved in All Party Parliamentary Groups on Pension Inequality, Youth Affairs, M.E., and ending the need for Food Banks. The Inclusion Movement must keep sympathetic MPs like Olivia well informed. Website: www.oliviablake.org.uk | Email olivia.blake.mp@parliament.uk
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News Reflections on ‘Disabled Women on the Frontline’: An International Women’s Day Event By Yewande Omoniyi-Akintelu, ALLFIE Office Volunteer On 26 March 2021, ALLFIE held an online event with partners Inclusion London, Sisters of Frida and guests. The aim was to explore the issues for Disabled Women on the frontline, as well as to amplify our voices and celebrate the contributions of Disabled Women and Girls within the Disability Rights Movements.
“We, as Disabled women occupy a very interesting place. We are at the frontline, often, of discrimination and inequality, also often at the multiple intersections of race, class, gender, and disability, but we are also at the frontline of change and our struggle for social justice” (Tracey Lazard: Co-Chair)
Highlights of the event are captured in this short YouTube film
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News Yewande Omoniyi-Akintelu took part as a panelist, to represent ALLFIE’s vision for an inclusive education system, and reports back on her experience:
“From an ALLFIE point of view, because we campaign against segregated education, there seems to be a lack of interest from funders and people who run projects to look at intersectional issues. So, you are segregated in education for example, you are further disadvantaged if you have more than one identity, that’s to say if you are a Black Disabled Woman, your chances of being segregated are even further. One of the things I discovered in my work with ALLFIE is the UN-CRPD, the UN Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, is written in an intersectional way but it’s not being applied in an intersectional way. So, when it’s being talked about, especially in the UK, people don’t consider the other identities that a Disabled woman may have.”
In March this year, I was asked by our director, Michelle Daley, to be a panelist for our joint International Women’s Day (IWD) event, with Inclusion London and Sisters of Frida, on the theme of: 'Disabled Women on the Frontline.' The aim of the event was to discuss issues including: • What barriers we face as Disabled women in our work and activism • What we can do to amplify the voices of Disabled Women and girls within the Disabled people’s movement • Campaigning in mainstream feminist spaces Preparing for Disabled Women on the Frontline event I was very nervous to be on the panel, as I was aware that I’d be sharing the panel with so many amazing Disabled Women activists that have so much experience and have been campaigning for many years. So, I was happy to hear that I would also be sharing the panel with other Young campaigners, Tasnim Hassan and Thiandi Grooff. Tasnim (an ALLFIE Trustee) and I are members of ALLFIE’s Disabled Black Lives Matter (DBLM). I really enjoyed hearing about everyone’s areas of work and learning about the different things that they campaign on.
Events like this are so important, because Disabled Women are not often welcomed in mainstream feminist spaces. Creating a space for discussion The event created a safe and open space for honest discussion, and it was good to discuss our shared experiences with the other panelists. I also enjoyed the chance to put across my perspective of being a Black Disabled Woman, and the intersectional
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News issues I experience. In both the Disabled people’s movement and the feminist movement, we don’t often get to hear from Disabled Women with intersectional identities, who experience different types of discrimination particularly genderbased issues in education. In my opinion, talking about and showing solidarity to current campaigns, like Black Lives Matter and Reclaim Our Streets, will help to encourage younger Disabled Women to be part of the movement, especially those with intersectional identities. I also think Disabled Women’s organisations using social media more will help keep them updated about what issues are trending for Young Disabled Women. My event highlights The event gave me a chance to hear about an area of activism that I don’t know much about, such as sexual violence against Women and girls that one of the panelists, Ruth Bashall, from Stay Safe East, has been campaigning on for years. It was also great to see so many people from Women’s rights organisations attending as part of the audience for the event. I had a chance to put across ALLFIE’s view of ending segregation to promoting equal rights. In my opinion, we will not be any closer to achieving equality for Disabled Women unless we start talking about ending segregated education. I got to speak about making rights accessible to Young Disabled women. I believe that is the key to encouraging Disabled Young Women to join the movement. I enjoyed hearing about issues, such as how to make direct action and protest more accessible, especially in COVID-19 times. The event was also made as accessible as possible, with BSL interpreters and closed captioning, which allowed more people to join. Learning from lived experience I think the most important thing that I took from the event is that lived experience is so essential to help amplify the voices of Young Women and girls in the movement. My lived experience has been so helpful in understanding and finding my place in the movement. Even though I don’t always feel experienced enough yet, as I am still learning every day, my lived experiences as a Black Disabled Woman have given me a unique outlook. I think many Young Women coming into the Disabled people’s movement might feel overwhelmed by not having campaigning experience, but they should never underestimate their lived experience. This is why the IWD event was so important and successful. It created a space where Disabled Women of different ages and backgrounds felt empowered to use their voices and talk about issues that matter to them. I hope there will be many more events like this in the future.
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Policy
Forward to Inclusion or ‘Back’ to Segregation: UK Government SEND Review for England By Richard Rieser, World of Inclusion “A whole generation is being let down as there is not sufficient support, or sufficient emphasis on enabling them to achieve their hopes and dreams” In 2019/2020 a number of highly critical reports were published on the UK Government’s approach to education for Disabled children and Young people, and those with Special Educational Needs (SEN). These highlight the extent to which things have got worse under the Conservative government, as well as due to COVID-19. They include: 1. The Audit Commission report, ‘Support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities in England’, published September 2019, stated: “Some pupils with SEND are receiving high quality support that meets their needs, whether they attend mainstream schools or special schools. However, “the significant concerns that we have identified indicate that many other pupils are not being supported effectively, and that pupils with SEND who do not have EHC plans are particularly exposed. The system for supporting pupils with SEND is not, on current trends, financially sustainable. Many local authorities are failing to live within their high-needs budgets and meet the demand for support. Pressures – such as incentives for mainstream schools to be less inclusive, increased demand for special school places, growing use of independent schools and reductions in per-pupil funding – are making the system less, rather than more, sustainable. The Department needs to act urgently to secure the improvements in quality and sustainability that are needed to achieve value for money.”
2. The Parliamentary Education Select Committee Report on SEND, published in October 2019.
In 2014, Parliament legislated with the intention of transforming the educational experiences of children and Young people with special educational needs and disabilities. The report makes clear this has not happened: “Let down by failures of implementation, the 2014 reforms have resulted in confusion and at times unlawful practice, bureaucratic nightmares, buck-passing and a lack of accountability, strained resources and adversarial experiences, and ultimately dashed the hopes of many… Implementation has been badly hampered by poor administration and a challenging funding environment in which local authorities and schools have lacked the ability to make transformative change.” (Page 3)
The Select Committee argues for: • More rigorous inspections and a direct route to enable parents to contact Ministers • An easing of restrictions on local authorities’ abilities to establish special schools and resource bases • Much greater opportunity for Young Disabled people, such as supported internships and apprenticeships
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Policy 3. An article in SEN Jungle in September 2019 warned a further SEND Review risked kicking the issue into the long grass:
“Ministers know that the reforms haven’t worked as intended in many areas, and that children with all types of needs are losing out on an education, with long-term consequences for their wellbeing and life-chances. They know that families are struggling and having services withdrawn; they know that more than 8,000 children with SEND have no school place; they know that requests for children to have their needs assessed are routinely refused; they know that local authorities find endless inventive and unlawful ways to put up barriers to children receiving support; and they certainly know that education, health and social care services often simply fail to work together in any meaningful way.”
Lack of Action and COVID-19
Since these publications, there has been no review published. The COVID-19 pandemic has massively impacted on all children’s learning, but especially Disabled children and Young people. COVID-19 has led to a worsened mental state for a majority of Disabled children, according to a survey of the Disabled Children’s Partnership in March 2021, which found that 29% of Disabled children were shielding, and 54% of parents (of 507 responders) felt that their Disabled child had lost confidence over the previous 12 months. This included life skills, such as being out and about (53%), communicating with others (49%), interaction with strangers (47%) and familiar people (38%). The government has talked about ‘catch-up’ but, as we can see from the reports above, the system was not working well for the majority of Disabled children and their parents before lockdown. Now the review, when it comes in late spring, will need to address building back better for the whole SEND system.
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Funding
The SEND Review appears to be led by the HM Treasury looking for quick wins to claw back money, rather than providing long-term solutions to the chronic under funding of SEND. There are now 390,109 pupils and students with an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP), (an increase of 10% on 2019 and 62% on 2015), far more than anyone anticipated. Because the system cannot cope with the increased number of pupils with EHCPs, greater numbers are being educated in inappropriate settings. In the past year there has been a 15% rise in the number of pupils with EHCPs attending independent schools, which are not independent special schools. National Education Union analysis indicates that, in order to address the shortfalls, the ‘High Needs Block’ should be £2.1 billion a year higher (assuming the 2020/21 number of EHCPs were funded at the 2015/16 rate). The government has acknowledged the issue and increased funding, (from £350 million for 2019-20, £780 million for 2020-21, to the announced £730m for 2021-22). But this isn’t enough, given the scale of need. The government needs to increase funding in the planned Comprehensive Spending Review for 2023-24. The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the financial situation for many schools, who have incurred additional costs. The failure to keep up in real expenditure terms is putting increasing pressure on school budgets (non-ring-fenced), leading to widespread cuts in vital inclusion support, and subsequently impacting the 1.1 million Disabled students on SEND school support. The NEU Conference at Easter 2021 voted strongly for policies supporting inclusive education, including restoring funding, and was a great day for the NEU, Disabled people, parents of Disabled students and education in general, to achieve unity on such a wide-ranging motion. It highlighted how a range of government policies on curriculum,
Policy assessment, privatisation, real-term funding cuts, disproportionate exclusion rates, and failure to implement disability equality duties under the Equalities Act, has meant Disabled children and Young people have been let down by the mainstream school system. When combined with other intersectional identities, for instance class and gender, these outcomes have led to multiple failures. Meanwhile, the growth in local authorities (LAs) placing Disabled children in expensive independent schools is causing a great financial strain on LA budgets. The Conference agreed to, “build a widespread campaign for better treatment of Disabled staff and students and to achieve a well-resourced mainstream inclusive education system, sufficiently funded with trained staff, where all can thrive."
5. Reform the Curriculum and Assessment system: Build a flexible, child friendly system, including (new) non-exam-based accreditation, including creative, vocational, interpersonal and social skills, and moderated teacher assessments, which have worked during lockdown. 6. End exclusions and ban zero tolerance behaviour policies (for instance, Behaviour Hubs): Empower Disabled students, end disablist bullying and introduce/enhance peer support/collaboration and buddy systems. 7. Fully implement the School Access Planning Duty within 5 years, by which time all schools must be accessible. 8. Empower all Disabled children and parents to know and exercise their rights to fully resourced inclusive education, requiring an inclusive ethos and strong person-centred approach. Demands for when the SEND Review 9. Government policy to create a more relaxed goes out to consultation and stress-free environment in schools: We know the money and solutions exist. This is a Including a mental health counsellor in every political issue and we have set out the following school and increased funding for CAMHS. demands for the UK Government to implement 10. Reasonable Adjustments: Government to in the SEND Review: enforce a public duty to Disability Equality and fully implement Reasonable Adjustments 1. Full government funding: Meet the growth in throughout the education system. students with SEND on EHC Plans and school support - ring fenced so these students benefit To achieve the above demands and reorient directly from the current notional £6000. the English education SEND system toward 2. Develop government policies in line with inclusion, parents, teachers, school students, Article 24 of UN-CRPD: Explicitly support trade unions and the community need to mainstream schools in developing inclusive work in solidarity over the coming months. education instead of omitting it from policy. Please get involved and do all you can to 3. Stop building free special schools: An spread these ideas. injection of resources to develop and increase mainstream provision to halt the World of Inclusion large increase in placements in special schools, phasing out the use of expensive independent special schools by LAs. Inclusive reading 4. Improve training on SEND and inclusion: If you like Inclusion Now, you may be interested in Initial and continuing professional subscribing to ezines and blogs from Inclusive Solutions. development with mandatory in-service https://inclusive-solutions.com/termly-inclusive-ezines/ whole staff training and disability equality https://inclusive-solutions.com/category/blog/ and human rights training for all.
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Legal Question I am an 18-year-old student who has received my A-Level results, and am “underestimated unhappy with the final grades awarded by my teachers. I feel the teachers my ability, based on their perception of my impairment, which is discriminatory. I know if I’d had the opportunity to sit the A-Level examinations, I would have achieved higher grades and secured my university place on a dream course. I want my A-Level grades to reflect my ability, what should I do?”
In light of the difficulties faced by the COVID-19 Pandemic, Ofqual announced that A-Level results should be determined on the basis of teacher assessment and evidence rather than exams. This requires teachers to assess performance and use evidence of performance throughout the course to inform their judgement. Exam boards will work to ensure that requirements for internal quality assurance are consistent across each college and will make arrangements for this to be checked. This will include the sampling of centres and your results will not be published until the exam board is satisfied that the grades suggested are accurate and fair. If you do not agree with the grade that your teachers have determined for you, then you will be able to appeal your grade to the exam board. Ofqual has decided for 2021, to make provision for students to appeal their grade on the grounds of procedural failure or an unreasonable exercise of academic judgement. If the exam board believes that your grade does not represent a reasonable exercise of academic judgement, then they will amend the grade to reflect your ability. This should allow for your A level grade to accurately reflect your abilities and for you to attend a university course that meets your academic achievement.
Any appeal should properly consider arguments over disability and perceived disability, if this has impacted on the assessments completed. Schools and colleges are required to comply with the Equality Act 2010, which includes a duty not to treat an individual less favourably because of their disability when assessing grades. It would be unlawful for your college to award you a lower grade because of something associated with your disability or what they perceive to be your disability. Your teachers should use a broad range of evidence across the curriculum to determine your grades before submitting this to the exam board. This should take into account the reasonable adjustments you may have been entitled to access, should you have sat the exam at the end of the academic year. If Young people find themselves in difficult situations like these then they can seek legal advice on their individual circumstances. It is important to remember that up to date advice on your specific circumstances will always be beneficial. Please also take into consideration that the legislation and guidance, in relation to COVID-19, is frequently changing and this could impact on any advice given.
This Legal Question was posed by ALLFIE’s Simone Aspis, and answered by Lydia Neill. Lydia Neill is a Paralegal in the Public Law Team at Simpson Millar Solicitors.
www.simpsonmillar.co.uk
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This magazine is published by: The Alliance for Inclusive Education (ALLFIE) A national campaigning organisation led by disabled people. ALLFIE works to change laws, practices and procedures which discriminate against Disabled Young people and prevent inclusion. ALLFIE works together with allies to build a social climate in which everyone has a valued place.
336 Brixton Road, London SW9 7AA Tel: 020 7737 6030 Email: info@allfie.org.uk Website: www.allfie.org.uk
In collaboration with: Inclusive Solutions
A team of psychologists and associates who specialise in cutting edge practical strategies and ideas for developing effective inclusion in local mainstream schools and communities. We work with anyone who wants to bring about the real systems changes that are necessary to move towards a truly inclusive society.
Tel: 0115 9556045 or 01473 437590 Email: inclusive.solutions@me.com Website: inclusive-solutions.com
World of Inclusion A consultancy that provides advice, resources and training in the UK and around the world to develop equality for disabled people especially in education. Richard Rieser is an expert disabled international equality trainer, consultant, film maker and writer and teacher.
Basement, 78 Mildmay Grove South, London N1 4PJ Tel: 020 7359 2855 or 07715 420727 Email: rlrieser@gmail.com Website: worldofinclusion.com
DISABLED PEOPLE, PARENTS AND ALLIES, WORKING TOGETHER to educate, facilitate and empower everyone who wants to be part of the growing inclusion movement. Together we want to bring down the barriers so all young people can learn, make friends and have a voice in ordinary school and throughout life. For each and every young person, this is an essential human right.
ALL MEANS ALL
