Today we spent the day at Manor Green School for special needs children. Having spent a year working with an autistic child I was expecting the inevitable shock to be softened by the little experience I already had with SEN pupils. It did not soften anything; it only set me up for a sucker punch.
My initial reactions to the fantastic facilities were tainted by the pity I couldn't help feeling for the children there. As we were shown around the school and into different classrooms I couldn't help but find it hard to look at the range of disabilities these children had.
However as the day continued and we spent time with a class in a maths lesson; having lunch, playing football on the play ground and seeing a snapshot of their afternoon's lessons I began to realize that the pupils were extremely happy. That they were in the best place for them, with everything suited to their needs. I began to enjoy the afternoon lessons as the pupils did.
My focus then shifted to the teacher and staff's role. With classes not larger than 10 pupils with at least 3 members of staff in as well the support available was fantastic. I also realized that the teacher was not only having to manage people in terms of their pupils but also in terms of the support staff in the room. As the Deputy Head pointed out to us earlier in the day this must be very daunting for someone new to teaching such as a GTP or NQT.
The level of differentiation needed for a class also became very apparent. Within one mixed ability class you could need to differentiate on 10 different levels. We saw a class split into two groups; the lower ability and the higher ability. We later discovered that within that 'higher' group of 6 pupils their were at least two other sub-groups. As the teacher we were working with observed; she may not have a lot of marking to do but that time is certainly replaced with lots of time planning and differentiating.
The experience was fantastic and well worth doing; despite my negative impressions early on and has certainly put a lot of things in perspective for me.
