C.E. Jottings

Funny how things turn out, given time.

Most mornings on the way to Paces Campus, I pass the Sheffield Wednesday FC ground. Outside is a board advertising Wednesday's next match - their season kicks off on Sat 7th August with a home match against Dagenham & Redbridge FC. Wednesday fans will not be pleased that they reason their club is playing this fixture is because they were relegated last season whilst Dagenham and Redbridge, on the up, were promoted. As a boy, I lived around the corner... Read more →

Do we still fear people in wheelchairs?

Joni Eareckson Tada, author, disability advocate and quadraplegic ("I'm a person not a condition") thinks so: "Even today, 20 years later, my wheelchair still makes people uncomfortable". Hat-tip to @GlendaWH on twitter, who says of Joni "One of my childhood heroes" Do you think Joni is right? "For the most part, able-bodied, "healthy" people still fear disability" Read more →

Getting steamed up about the Academies Bill & SEN

Andrew Sutton commented on my post Academies Bill and SEN "I do wish that I could work up a steam about any of this. Does any of it matter?" That is a very good question. My answer is that I think it does matter. Why? 1. Conductive education must come in from the margins and be part of the mainstream. 2. There is a fundamental change taking place in the general function of local authorities (in England at least) from... Read more →

Time to junk the term Special Educational Needs?

Is special needs a fad that harms children, as Francis Gilbert asserts in today's Daily Telegraph? Make up your own mind. In the Second Reading of the Academies Bill, Lord Low of Dalston who is also a vice-president of the Royal National Institute of Blind People, informed the Lords that "Twenty-one per cent of children have some form of special educational need." (As compared with the 2.7% who have statements of special educational need.) It strikes me that if as... Read more →

Academies Bill & SEN

For those interested in such matters, you can track the progress through parliament of the Academies Bill, due to be completed on 26th July 2010. Look for the link "All previous stages of the Bill" which will take you to links to the debates in the Lords and the Commons. There is much reference to special educational needs, but mainly in the context of children in inclusive mainstream settings rather than in special schools, though Stephen Twigg, (West Derby, Liverpool;... Read more →

Next Steps on SEN in the UK

The Minister of State for Children and Families, Sarah Teather, has announced the autumn publication of a Green Paper on special educational needs: "Next steps on special educational needs and disabilities". This is very much in line with expectations and follows on from the two reports published by the Conservative Party Commission on Special Needs in Education chaired by Sir Robert Balchin. (I can locate the Commission's Second Report published in 2007 as a downloadable pdf but have been unable... Read more →

Another Mom finds CE and wonders what it is.

Just a quick post, something that came my way thanks to Google. I'm enjoying a family holiday in North Carolina so can't bring myself to work out what to make of it. You might like to take a look for yourself. "About the small stuff: my take on CE" What would you say to Mom to help her understanding of CE and to keep her engaged for the benefit of her boy? She writes: "I think my personal feelings on... Read more →

The most important CE video since "Standing up for Joe"? #CondEd

Is "Twins" the most important single conductive education video since "Standing up for Joe"? Andrew Sutton thinks so "Wow!". Susie Mallett in a comment on Andrew's blog says: "It is without a doubt the best video on conductive upbringing that I have seen anywhere." Simply - I agree. And add that it is wonderful to see and hear some old friends. Here in this video is something of the inspiration for Paces that Karen Hague and I, parents ourselves, found... Read more →

Conductive Education's "curb appeal" for families

"Conductive education has always had that immediate sort of "curb appeal." Families who are confused, desperate, scared, and weary of hearing bad news are buoyed up by CE; not because it's CE, but because it hits home and matters right away in their every day lives." So writes James Forliti. I just loved that phrase "curb appeal" and wanted to share it! CE matters not because it's CE, but because "it hits home and matters right away in their every... Read more →

Dynamite at Priory School

I've just spent an enjoyable few minutes, courtesy of Judit Szathmary, listening to Lang Lang playing Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody. Thanks Judit! My eye was caught by her posting from March last year: "Have we forgotten about Dynamite?" I'm sorry to say I had done. I popped over to the Priory School website. There are a couple of dead links. I couldn't find any reference to Dynamite or conductive education. Can anyone help? Read more →