Sharing Best Practice and Evidence-Based Therapy for Autistic Individuals
Sundial Therapy Conference 2022 : The first annual therapy conference in the Northwest is going to be held on 1st April 2022 at Haydock Park Racecourse. This is a perfect opportunity for all those with a common interest in special educational needs to keep abreast of current research and available support strategies. By coming together at the Conference there is an opportunity to learn about therapy practices, meet fellow professionals, autistic individuals, and their families. There are a wide range of therapies available to meet individual needs and targets, including meeting provision requirements for Educational Health Care Plans. Therefore, attending the Conference can help widen knowledge of what, where, when and how therapy offers may assist people from 0 – 25 years, either directly or indirectly via training/adopting specific approaches. The value of therapy is monitored using outcome measures and it is important to show how people may benefit from timely intervention. More importantly, Sundial Therapy stress the importance of gaining the views and opinions of autistic individuals regarding their needs. Perhaps you are a young autistic adult, parent/carer, SEN Officer, SENDCO, Care worker, Learning Disability Nurse, OT, SaLT, Psychologist, SEND educator; anyone who believes in the importance in aiming to Develop Independent Autistic Lives. Listen to the Latest Thinking from our keynote speakers talking about sensory integration, speech & language therapy and clinical psychology. Our speakers will enlighten you and focus on sharing information from their field of expertise, including; Communication and interactions with particular interest in support for those with the greatest communication challenges Thinking around Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for People with Intellectual Disabilities with a focus on how to adapt psychological assessment and treatment methods to the needs of clients with intellectual disabilities Coaching Parents of Children with Sensory Integration Difficulties We will be sharing a recorded interview with Dr Temple Grandin, an American scientist and animal behaviourist, being one of the first individuals on the autism spectrum to document the insights she gained from her personal experience of autism. In addition, there will be a range of workshops on offer, including Makaton signing, equine assisted occupational therapy and communication aids. You will also get the chance to meet some of our inspiring students who will be involved in the organisation in the lead up to the conference as part of their accredited learning, as well as supporting on the day of the conference. The conference will be held in this unique setting, in the luxurious premier suite, which has fantastic views across 127 acres of beautiful parkland. If you are interested in attending our face-to-face conference, join us on 1st April 2022 for an exploration of current thinking about therapy practices and methods in autism. Sundial are a specialised therapy, assessment and intervention centre based at Wargrave House School & College for children and young adults from all over the northwest region. Email enquiries@sundialtherapy.co.uk for further details and we look forward to seeing you at Haydock Park.
Facing the Cyber Threat in the Education Sector
Cyber security has long been a challenge for the Education sector, but with the recent increase of cyber attacks against academic institutions, awareness and action is urgently needed now more than ever. Schools and universities can be lucrative targets for cyber criminals, both in terms of data and money. If hackers gain access to a school network, they can acquire all kinds of data including teaching resources, financial records, and staff, student and parent information. What we have then seen in the recent rise of ransomware attacks, is the hacker demanding a sum of money to prevent the data being released to the public or the Dark Web. When schools have an important responsibility to safeguard their students, this can be a particularly worrisome consequence of a cyber attack. The National Cyber Security Centre released multiple alerts between September 2020 and June 2021 to help bring the ransomware threat to schools’ attention and encourage action. “This is a growing threat and we strongly encourage schools, colleges, and universities to act on our guidance and help ensure their students can continue their education uninterrupted.” – Director of Operations at the NCSC These attacks often start out with a phishing email to an unsuspecting target active on a school’s network, which may be a student or a member of staff. If the email successfully convinces the recipient, malware can enter the school’s IT systems, encrypting files and data and rendering them inaccessible until the school pays a ransom, usually in the form of cryptocurrency. Image by B_A from Pixabay The pandemic has exacerbated this threat for the sector, with many schools forced into an online environment with little time to prepare. Cyber criminals were able to attack a school’s network through remote access systems like remote desktop protocol (RDP) or virtual private networks (VPN) and exploit out-of-date software and poor password security. The challenge According to Government figures, in the last 12 months, 36% of primary schools, 58% of secondary schools, and 75% of universities have experienced a cyber attack. These numbers are of course much too high, but maintaining a fully secure environment is no easy feat for education institutions. Although educational institutions are starting to see the importance of cyber security, most struggle with tight budgets and usually other priorities end up having to take precedence over cyber security. Cybercriminals know that schools are not well funded in this area, making them ‘soft’ targets. The volume of devices on a school network and students using their own mobile devices further adds to the cyber security challenge for the education sector. BYOD can be a security nightmare for IT departments because students’ devices are unlikely to be secure to an adequate standard, increasing the chance of data leakage and malware infections. Both students and staff lack proper cyber awareness training further weakening the defence against cyber attacks. Photo by Wendy Wei from Pexels Tackling the cyber threat Educational institutions need to take a holistic view towards cyber security and risk management. The most important first step schools can take is to assess their current security posture and address common points of failure. Since resources already run thin, it is a good idea to highlight the most problematic areas so you know where to focus them. Vulnerability audits can help to give an entire overview of one’s estate and where the key risks lie. Although a cost, the in-depth analysis and insight gained is crucial to overcoming cyber threats. One of the most common vulnerabilities found, for example, are end-of-life operating systems – ones that are no longer supported and receiving security updates. Without locating these on your network, you wouldn’t even know this was an issue before it was too late. Schools need to also address where most cyber attacks start – the people. While it can be difficult to deploy full scale cyber training programs for staff and students, greater attempt should be made to educate those using your network about the most common risks and how to respond to them. For example, exploiting passwords is a very commonly used tactic for cybercriminals, so users can make a world of difference by creating strong passwords for accounts and applications. Adding an extra layer of security with multi factor authentication will also help to protect an organisation from breaches. Cyber security awareness should be made a part of school culture, delivered throughout the school year to keep it fresh in staff and students’ minds. Without specialist knowledge and expertise, managing cyber risk can be daunting for educational institutions, so looking to cyber security standards can be a helpful way ensuring your organisation is covering the core security basics – before doing anything else. The Government’s Cyber Essentials standard is recommended by the Department of Education to all UK schools and universities wanting to lay down these foundations. By aligning with the Cyber Essentials technical controls, schools are able to reduce cyber risk by 80% and ensure better data protection and safeguarding. The certification can even be a prerequisite for certain grants and funding. With limited resources and funds and an ever changing cyber threat landscape, it will always be challenging for the education sector to manage cyber risk. But understanding the vulnerabilities, getting the basics right and advocating cyber vigilance within schools, can offer institutions the best chance of protecting themselves and their students against cyber attacks.
Outstanding-rated Academy educating sick pupils could close after “deeply flawed” Cornwall Council contract decision
One of the country’s leading academy trusts launched a legal appeal at the High Court against a decision by a county council that could lead to the closure of an academy that provides Outstanding-rated education to pupils with serious health issues including cancer. Since 2007, CHES Academy, part of Wave Multi Academy Trust, has been contracted by Cornwall Council to provide alternative education provision for children unable to attend school because of medical/health needs. It provides the education over three sites – its school base Glynn House and hospital school room in the Royal Cornwall Hospital, both in Truro, and an education unit within the adolescent mental health unit in Bodmin – but children and young people from across Cornwall attend its provision. CHES has been consistently rated by Ofsted as Outstanding over this period. However, Cornwall Council has opted to award the contract to provide the services from September 2022 to a new provider, Special Partnership Trust (SPT). SPT has no prior record of providing the education services required, while the County Council awarded Wave a significantly higher score in the quality of education part of the tender. Rob Gasson, the Chief Executive of Wave, said that as a result of the loss of services and income that will follow, CHES – attended by 120 children and young people with a range of health needs, including cancer and serious mental ill-health – would most likely have to close because it will become financially unviable. Mr Gasson said: “This will cause enormous anxiety to the pupils and their families. The local authority is not only denying unwell children from across our county access to an Outstanding-rated provision but effectively closing an academy – something that only the Secretary of State for Education, with whom we have our funding agreement, has the power to do.” Mr Gasson added that Wave has a number of concerns about the tender process and decision, including the pricing model and a number of breaches of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR). He said: “Wave’s costings, which received a score of zero, were based on our 14-year experience of the resource required for 120 pupils. We believe SPT will be unable to run the services to an acceptable standard on the basis of its submitted costs or will only be able to cater for a maximum of 75 pupils, far fewer than the 120 who need the support. We believe the low price can only lead to staff redundancies or children being denied access to a high quality education. “Cornwall Council has even acknowledged through this process that the winning bidder will not provide as high a quality of education as Wave. Yet it has still chosen to go with SPT. “We have as a result launched an appeal through legal channels.”
Head Teachers Role in Controlling Legionella in Schools
Author: Craig Morning, Senior Consultant, Water Hygiene Centre Ltd If you are a Head Teacher what are your responsibilities in relation to preventing or controlling Legionella in your school? To answer this question, it might be easier to split these into two categories, the first would be where the Head Teacher has full control over the management of water and the second where other bodies, for example a local council, have a significant say in maintenance activities. In this blog we will try to give you some tips that will allow you to take the appropriate steps based on the situation that you are in. So, you’re the Head Teacher with full control over managing water, first off, I’m sure you are more than likely to be aware that you are going to be responsible for overall health & safety, whether you are classed as the Duty Holder or the Responsible Person. This will include water safety and therefore it would be important for you to understand what you need to do. Under the requirements of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act and COSHH, the minimum expectation is that a suitable and sufficient Legionella risk assessment is carried out which assesses the risk of exposure to Legionella bacteria from work activities and identifies the precautionary measures needed. As the Duty Holder or perhaps the Responsible Person you should make reasonable enquiries to ensure that the assessor is competent and suitably trained and has the necessary equipment to carry out their duties safely and adequately. This does not mean that the work could not be carried out by anyone employed by the school but the ability to prove competence would fall to you, rather than the contractor, to provide. So now you have the findings of the Legionella risk assessment the real work for you and your team starts. There will be one-off works required from the assessment to reduce the risk, some of these will be physical changes to the water systems whilst others will be changes to policies or procedures or the need for members of the team to attend Legionella training. On top of these there will be the precautionary measures that have been recommended, these pre-planned maintenance tasks should be carried out at the correct frequency by suitably competent people. To find out more about these please see our recent blog Legionella in Schools: key points for good water management If, however you are the Head Teacher of a school where water is managed by an external team then it won’t be as easy to confirm what you need to do. We work with some local authorities where the Head Teachers are involved in the process with the support of a central maintenance / estates team managing works completed by a contractor. In this instance the appointment of a contractor would be completed for the local authority as a whole and it is unlikely that you will be named as the Responsible Person for the school. It may be that your responsibilities lie with the management of the janitor / caretaker at the school and making sure that they are doing their job and completing the pre-planned maintenance tasks. On the other hand, we work with others where the Head Teachers are not involved at all, all works are managed by the central maintenance / estates team. If you are in doubt, then you should start by asking the central maintenance / estates team.
Classroom coding goes into orbit: Astro Pi Challenge allows students to run experiments on the International Space Station
Two upgraded Raspberry Pi computers are set to be launched to the International Space Station (ISS) this December, enabling young people aged 19 and under to run scientific experiments in space and communicate with astronauts aboard the ISS. The European Astro Pi Challenge from the Raspberry Pi Foundation, in partnership with the European Space Agency, empowers primary, secondary and sixth form students, no matter their experience with computers, to write a simple computer program and share a message with the astronauts orbiting 408km above the Earth. The European Astro Pi Challenge from the Raspberry Pi Foundation and the European Space Agency supports children to code experiments and send messages to Raspberry Pi computers on the International Space Station The free Mission Zero online activity is curriculum aligned and guides pupils to write a simple computer program that will take a humidity reading onboard the International Space Station. Combining new STEM and coding skills with creativity and imagination, Mission Zero takes an hour, requires no specialist equipment or prior coding knowledge from student or teacher. Every eligible child that follows the step-by-step guidelines is guaranteed to have their program run in space with participants receiving a certificate. The European Astro Pi Challenge Mission Zero is aimed at primary school pupils and new coders in secondary school and guides young explorers through the curriculum-aligned steps of writing a computer program to measure the humidity on the ISS. They can share a personal message and create a digital animation that appears on the LED display for the station’s astronauts to read and enjoy. Samantha-Cristoforetti, Astro Pi Ambassador – Credit_ ESA.jpg Mission Zero is free, takes about an hour to complete and can be done in the classroom through the Astro Pi website: astro-pi.org. Teachers do not need to be coding-confident to include it in their lesson and no specialist equipment is required beyond internet connected computers. The two Raspberry Pi computers will replace older, less-advanced models called Ed and Izzy that were originally deployed as part of Tim Peake’s Principia mission in 2015. Every pupil that follows the step-by-step guidance is guaranteed to have their computer program, message and animation run in space and will receive a personalised certificate to confirm the date, time and location of the ISS when their program was run. They will also have the opportunity to name the Raspberry Pi computers heading to space in December. Young people can have a go and send their messages to the space station until 18 March 2022. Philip Colligan, CEO, Raspberry Pi Foundation said: “I can’t think of many free science-education projects for young people that have their own space programme. The Astro Pi Challenge is a fun activity to support children to discover coding, explore digital creativity and take part in an ‘out of this world’ learning opportunity. We are putting the power of computing into children’s hands with one of the coolest educational opportunities out there.” Olympia Brown, Head of Youth Partnerships, Raspberry Pi Foundation said: “More than 54,000 young people from 26 countries have taken part in the Astro Pi challenges to date to run their own computer programs in space . Our two new Raspberry Pi computers mean even more young people can learn about coding and digital creativity to empower them to share messages with the International Space Station. The upgraded technology allows young participants to develop and run more detailed and complex experiments than they have ever been able to before.” In addition to Mission Zero, the Astro Pi Challenge Mission Space Lab is aimed at teams of young people with some prior experience of coding. Teams develop more detailed experiment ideas in school or as part of a coding club that can run on the two Raspberry Pi computers, learning about the real-world impact that their experiments can have. The deadline for entries to this year’s Mission Space Lab has now closed but the most promising experiments will now be supported by the Raspberry Pi Foundation to progress their ideas, with selected teams receiving hardware to refine their experiment on Earth before the best ideas run on the ISS. Previous Mission Space Lab experiments designed by young people explored the health of forests and plant erosion and monitoring for wildfires. The Astro Pi Challenge has been designed to be “device neutral” meaning schools do not need to have access to a Raspberry Pi computer to take part – however they do need access to an internet-connected computer. The Raspberry Pi Foundation is a UK-based charity that works to put computing and digital-creativity into the hands of young people all over the world. It aims to empower young people to harness the power of community and digital technology to solve problems that matter to them and to express themselves creatively . To find out more about the Astro Pi Challenge and take part in Mission Zero today, visit astro-pi.org
Legionella in Schools: Key points for good water management
Starting with management policy; it’s important to identify a hierarchy of authority (communications pathway/organogram) for water hygiene management ensuring that those responsible are demonstrably competent to undertake their role. Doing so will help the organisation to suitably delineate between management and operational water hygiene responsibilities. Moreover, estates, facilities and/or caretaking staff will invariably accept responsibility for planned preventative and reactive maintenance tasks (as ‘authorised’ or ‘competent’ persons), whereas staff members with a strategic water hygiene responsibility (often estates) may accept responsibility for managing the organisational written scheme of control (sometimes referred to as the water safety plan). The responsibility to manage and deliver the organisational written scheme of control typically falls within the role of the ‘responsible person’ (RP). Nominating a demonstrably competent person (known as the RP) for water hygiene is a legal requirement and is a role of significant responsibility as the duty holder, or ‘directing mind’ of the organisation – often the Chancellor or Principal, may be the head teacher of a school (depending on the type of school) and may not necessarily possess the technical knowledge, qualifications, water hygiene experience or expertise to adequately execute the duties of the RP and therefore authority may be delegated by the duty holder to an RP. This may help to ensure that the estate is managed in accordance with accepted practices and that assurances are provided to occupiers of the estate (teaching staff, students) regarding protection from waterborne pathogens such as Legionella and associated infection and disease. Good water hygiene management within school properties can be distilled into the following areas: 1 – Establishing the level of water hygiene risk; 2 – Devising an action plan proportionate to risk; 3 – Evidencing how risk has been suitably managed. ACoP L8 and HSG 274 Part 2 provide practical advice and guidance on how this can be achieved – to help ensure compliance with health and safety laws. Establishing the level of risk within school properties can be further compartmentalised into two main areas: 1 – Management policy; 2 – Operations. Whilst many of the operational and managerial water hygiene responsibilities may be delegated, it is noteworthy that the duty holder will retain accountability for ‘water and Legionella risk’. It may be prudent to consider this when planning the resources and budget required to ensure that all health and safety concerns are adequately addressed. The threat from Legionnaires’ Disease is considered ‘preventable’ and when contracted from an estate, invariably there will be legal ramifications… Once the management structure has been agreed and formalised within a policy document, water management considerations now become more ‘operational’. For example, a good starting point for a school, as for any organisation, would be to commission a site-specific water risk assessment with accompanying schematics. Carrying out a site-specific risk assessment is an absolute requirement under health and safety law. Provided that the risk assessment is accurate and completed in accordance with British Standard 8580-1 then the full extent of the water safety risk will be captured. The risk assessment should include a survey that includes all the systems that may contribute to or cause a risk of waterborne infection. Risks should be evaluated and quantified based on the likelihood of Legionella contamination within a given system and the consequence of infection from this bacteria, using a scoring system for example. School water systems that could present a risk will more than likely include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following: Domestic cold-water systems – cold water (i.e. less than 20°C) is to be achieved at the outlet within two minutes. This should be confirmed by monthly monitoring from sentinel outlets (i.e. those nearest and farthest from the water source); Domestic hot-water systems – hot water should be heated to at least 60°C and be distributed to all parts of the system at 50°C or above. Hot water should achieve temperature within 1-minute of opening the outlet. This should be confirmed by monthly monitoring of sentinel outlets or, where there is pumped hot water circulation, by monitoring the temperature at the farthest point on the recirculating pipework; Showers – ensure that these outlets are cleaned and descaled at least quarterly and used or flushed at least once weekly. If showers are infrequently used they should be removed or flushed regularly. Flushing activities are to be captured in a documented programme with records kept as evidence; Wash hand basin tap outlets – ensure that all outlets are used or flushed at least once weekly. Similarly, if there are infrequently used outlets then they should be removed or captured in the aforementioned flushing programme; Cold water storage tanks (stored cold water) – ensure that temperature within the tank is less than 20°C and that storage capacity does not exceed 24-hours of supply; Hot water generators/boilers (stored hot water) – stored hot water should be no less than 60°C and therefore flow at no less than 60°C from the boiler; Thermostatic mixing valves (TMVs) – depending on the asset which the TMV is serving, then water temperature should be regulated to 41°C +/- 2°C in order to mitigate scald risk. However, this falls within temperature range that encourages the growth of waterborne bacteria (20-45°C ) and therefore these risk systems should be dismantled, cleaned, disinfected and functional checks at least annually. The HSE’s HSG274 Technical Guidance, Part 2, Table 2.1 provides practical guidance on the minimum requirements for the management of these systems. Therefore, whilst it’s not mandatory to follow the guidance, bear in mind that should the guidance not be followed then an organisation will need to demonstrate that they have achieved either an equivalent or better standard. Once the risk assessments have been completed, an assessment of perceived inherent and actual risk will be provided by the surveyor. In practice, this often generates recommendations on how water safety risk can be reduced within the estate. The risk assessment can therefore be used to inform the written scheme of control and assist with the development of an action plan that identifies the corrective action to be taken as well as realistic timescales for completion. Schools, as with all organisations, must at this
The Government’s new autism strategy How will the new strategy improve wellbeing and educational outcomes for autistic pupils?
On 21st July 2021, The Department of Health and Social Care and The Department for Education published a National strategy for autistic children, young people and adults: 2021 to 2026. The strategy offers the government’s intentions to improve the lives of autistic people and their families and carers in England. It builds on the previous strategy: Think Autism, which was published in Spring 2014. How did the Think Autism Strategy change? On 19th March 2019, The Department of Health and Social care and The Department for Education published: Review of the National Autism Strategy ‘Think Autism’: call for evidence. 2 surveys, 2,745 responses and 7 focus groups considered the strategy around 4 themes: Being part of the local community Getting the right support at the right time Developing skills and independence and working to the best of your ability Progress and priorities for future action Being a part of the local community The community’s understanding of autism Respondents of the survey reported that, in general, the people and organisations in their local area had poor understanding of autism and the needs of autistic people. The study also considered: ‘taking part in the community’. Getting the right support at the right time This theme focussed on ease of access to information for autistic people. Are they able to access information on the care and support they need to live healthy, fulfilling lives? Support during education The new autism strategy is being extended to include children and young people for the first time, so the review asked questions about the support that autistic people received throughout their educational life from early years to higher education. ‘Almost half of autistic respondents (47%) reported that they felt poorly supported in their education, while 19% said the support they received was mixed. Only 5% said they felt well supported.’ The study also considered: People’s experience of getting a diagnosis, Professional understanding of autism. Developing skills and independence and working to the best of your ability This theme was included to develop understanding of the support that autistic people could access to help them develop the skills they need to live independent lives. Survey questions also considered the amount of support received in the transition from school to paid work, and the support from employers once work has begun. Support when leaving school or college ‘Almost half of autistic respondents (47%) said they felt poorly supported. The majority of carer respondents (87%) and half of organisation respondents (50%) said this question was not relevant to them or did not provide an answer. However, 5% of carers and 20% of organisations did report poor support.’ The study also considered: Support to help find a job. Progress and priorities for future action This part of the review asked respondents what they thought of the progress made since the publication of Think Autism, and what they wanted to see improve in future. The following was identified: Inclusion in the local community Improving public understanding of autism Improving inclusion of autistic people in their community improving access to mental health services Getting the right support Support from general practitioners (GPs) Access to social care and community support Improving support to get into employment Improving support from Jobcentres Improving autism understanding in schools Making schools and support in education more accessible You can read more about the review, including summaries of the focus group findings, on the Gov.uk website: Summary of findings from the government’s review of the National Autism Strategy ‘Think Autism’: call for evidence The new strategy – how can the Autism Education Trust help? The Autism Education Trust is a not-for-profit educational organisation which supports autistic children and young people in their educational life. Our training modules and materials are offered through our Partners who tailor support to the needs of autistic people in their local community. The findings of the review have introduced the new 5-year strategy: National strategy for autistic children, young people and adults: 2021 to 2026. The strategy has 6 main areas which intend to make things better for autistic people: Helping people to understand autism. How the AET can help: Consider our awareness-raising module. Appropriate for everyone, whether they be teachers, learning support assistants, school meal supervisors, or taxi drivers. Explore our modules Helping autistic children and young people at school. How the AET can help: explore our free online resources including the Progression Framework, which monitors the progress of individual pupils, the Standards Framework, which considers leaders and leadership groups and the Competency Framework, for individual staff within the setting. Helping autistic people to find jobs. How the AET can help: Explore the Transition to Employment Toolkit. Making health and social care services equal for autistic people. Making sure autistic people get help from their communities. How the AET can help: contact your local training partner to get tailored support for your education setting. The AET license holder for your local area will plan their own autism strategy with the needs of autistic people in their local community at the forefront. Find out how they can help you: Find your local training partner Help for autistic people in the justice system. Find out more in their easy read version of the strategy: The national strategy for autistic children, young people and adults: 2021 to 2026 The Autism Education Trust’s Training is the only Department for Education supported, CPD accredited, Autism Training which is co-produced with parents, teachers and autistic young people. Find out more about the not for profit.
Young people discuss engineering a way out of climate change
Over 24,000 students take part in virtual event Thousands of secondary school students have sent a resounding message to decision makers about the ideas needed to help meet net zero targets. The students, who took part in a Schools COP organised as part of Tomorrow’s Engineers Week (8 to12 November 2021), have discussed how engineers can help the country meet net zero. Ideas included ways that engineers can help efforts to improve biodiversity on land and at sea and the development of self-sufficient agri-biomes for farm animals to capture methane so it can be converted into an energy source. The ideas were initially developed at a summit of more than 70 students from over 30 schools. Over 24,000 students registered for the event and more have since debated the ideas in the classrooms as part of Tomorrow’s Engineers Week. Over 27,000 students have also watched films of inspiring engineers who are helping to tackle climate change on Snapchat and TikTok. Engineers featured in the films included Jaz Rabadia MBE, who is helping businesses reduce the amount of energy that they use and lower their carbon footprint. Jaz said: “When deciding what I should study at university, I researched engineering and I realised how important it is in making a difference to the world and to bettering people’s lives. I knew then that, by studying engineering, I could help make a difference.” Dr Hilary Leevers, Chief Executive of EngineeringUK, which organises Tomorrow’s Engineers Week, said: “It has been inspiring to hear about all the ideas discussed by students and by the level of thought that had gone into their ideas. Some converged with technologies currently being explored, others were more unexpected but showed real creativity and innovative thinking. “Students clearly saw the role of science and engineering in meeting the net zero challenge. It is vital that we convey to all young people the range of exciting engineering roles that they could have in the future, and through them contribute to achieving net zero and a greener world.” The ninth Tomorrow’s Engineers Week (#TEWeek21) took place from 8 to 12 November 2021 with a lesson plan and teaching resources available for schools to take part in the Schools COP discussions. A packed calendar also saw engineering professionals showcase the impact their jobs have on meeting net zero. Meanwhile, institutions, employers and schools came together to deliver inspiring activities to give young people the opportunity to discuss solutions to the climate crisis. For more information visit: www.teweek.org.uk
Teaching difference: Minimising bullying of those with learning disabilities and autism
More than a third of students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) experience bullying while in mainstream education1. While bullying at this age often stems from a lack of understanding, for those in the receiving end, the issue often follows them into later life. In fact, according to a Dimensions survey, 73% of those with a learning disability or autism have been subject to hate crimes, with 78% feeling they were targeted due to their disability2. Education will be key to overcoming this shocking statistic. We must equip our teachers with the resources and knowledge to inform the students in their care, and ensure children grow not only to understand, but to champion diversity and difference. Discussing difference Children who are taught about diversity at a young age are often more accepting of those who are different from themselves. While this can be a challenging topic to introduce to the classroom, teachers must feel able to approach this topic with their students. As part of the #ImWithSam campaign, Dimensions has developed a KS3 lesson plan that can support teachers in discussing difference and diversity. Focusing on three key themes – health and wellbeing, relationships, and living in the wider world – the plan offers a number of useful activities designed to raise questions and encourage positive discussion. Encouraging communication Some 75% of young people with autism have experienced bullying and, alarmingly, half do not feel safe while at school 3. It is imperative that these students can speak up, yet this often isn’t the case — many children with learning disabilities and autism who experience bullying often feel their concerns haven’t been heard, while bullying robs many of their confidence, leaving them afraid to report concerns. Sometimes, it can be difficult for teachers and students to communicate, so we must better prepare our teachers to deal with incidents of bullying involving those with learning disabilities and/ or autism. Teachers should be aware of any behaviours of distress, why they occur, and understand that these behaviours aren’t voluntary. Often simple measures, such as talking in a quiet environment, the presence of a parent, or the use of visual cues, can help students to open up, feel comfortable, and share their experiences4. Overcoming ignorance Bullying and hate crimes come in many forms, and go beyond verbal and physical abuse. Dimensions’ #ImWithSam campaign shared the stories of those with learning disabilities and autism and the hate crimes they have faced, from theft to sexual abuse, and ‘mate crimes’ where they are befriended and coerced out of money or possessions5. Dimensions’ research shows educating our young people about difference is the most effective way to prevent such incidents from occurring6. Teachers should encourage empathy and understanding among their pupils by encouraging them to reflect on ways those with differences are perceived, judged, described and treated and the impact this can have; as well as ways to challenge and change these negative behaviours. Overcoming bullying Name-calling and exclusion on the playground can have a devastating impact on the lives of its victims. Past surveys show 56% of children with a learning disability have cried as a result of bullying, while 33% have hid away in their bedrooms7. Likewise, those bullied during their early years are up to three times more likely to self-harm once they reach adolescence. We must equip teachers with the knowledge to educate pupils on diversity and end persistent bullying which disproportionately affects those who are seen as being different. After all, all children deserve to learn and grow free from fear or mockery, and those with special educational needs and autism are no different. Author: Tracey Garcia, Involvement and Engagement Manager, and Dr Mark Brookes MBE, Advocacy Lead at Dimensions UK 1. https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8812/CBP-8812.pdf 2. https://dimensions-uk.org/get-involved/campaigns/say-no-autism-learning-disability-hate-crime-imwithsam/know-more/ 3. https://www.ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk/information-about-autism/in-education/bullying 4. https://dimensions-uk.org/get-involved/campaigns/say-no-autism-learning-disability-hate-crime-imwithsam/i-am-a-teacher/ 5. https://dimensions-uk.org/get-involved/campaigns/say-no-autism-learning-disability-hate-crime-imwithsam/ 6. https://www.dimensions-uk.org/wp-content/uploads/Im_With_Sam_Final_Dossier_REDUCED.pdf 7. https://anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/tools-information/all-about-bullying/at-risk-groups/sen-disability/do-children-send-experience-more