A new academic year begins…

Here we are, at the beginning of another academic year, with students, parents & teachers returning to education with renewed passions, energy & expectations for the year ahead.

For some students that first day back signifies a new beginning, the holidays have given them time to recoup, reenergize and reassess attitudes and expectations. So with head held high, deep breaths and hope in their hearts they step into school, college & university ready & determined to work harder, smarter and better, than they have ever worked!

For some parents that first day back signifies a new beginning, this year their child will be organized, they will keep up with home work & assignments, spelling tests, dissertations etc. This is the year that their child will ‘catch up’ will reach the average grades for their age group and/or get grades that reflect the amount f energy and effort that they put into their work.

For some teachers that first day their students come back signifies new beginnings, & opportunities, they are full of determination that this year they will make a difference, that they will inspire, motivate, effect change and enable ‘all’ their students to succeed. Also determined that this year the paperwork, marking and grading will be coped with, that the enforced bureaucracy will not get in the way of educating their students!

For me in my role as ‘The Dyslexic Dyslexia Consultant’, that first day back signifies that it is time to brace myself! To ensure I have both the time & emotional energy to be able to offer the right advice and guidance to those students, parents & teachers call when their initial expectations fall apart!

This year it was earlier than I expected, by 1:30pm on that first day back I had received my first phone call! A parent who was already at the end of her tether; promises made last year not kept and yet another teacher who didn’t understand the implications of her child’s Special Educational Needs (SEN) not to mention the ‘reasonable adjustments’ that should and need to be made. This parent wanted to know her legal rights, I could hear and recognize the despair in her words & vice as she realized she was going to have to fight for her child’s right to an effective education.

Later that afternoon I received my second phone call from another parent who last year had been promised a dyslexia screening test or their child,  that work would be differentiated and that the teachers would be given some dyslexia awareness training; a meeting with the SENCO (special Education Needs Coordinator) that morning confirmed that last year’s promises had not been kept!

How is it that these collective passions, determination, spirit, hope and potential can be so quickly suffocated?

Our SpLD (Specific Learning Differences) students return to education determined that this will be the year that they do better, that they try harder, that they will knuckle down and impress their teachers, lecturers & parents!

I wish the government would put specialist (plural) teachers into each school who really understand and know their stuff too advise teachers. Each school, university should have a team of specialist teachers & assessors ‘on site’ for the teachers, students & parents to access. (it’s not rocket Science!)

It is so wrong that students have eating disorders, emotional & self esteem/confidence issues want to do things like break fingers or worse, attempting and even achieving suicide, because school, college or university is so stressful. Surely if it were their parents who were responsible for inflicting this, they would be prosecuted and done for abuse! So why do we tolerate this from our education system?

Surely with the combined students, teachers and parents passions, determinations and expectations our education system should be enabling our teachers, parents to enable our SpLD students to reach their potential and not be wasting it leaving it to lay dormant, and worse than that in so many cases its left or buried beneath ignorance and lack of understanding!

If you live in the Shropshire area and you would like legal advice about education I can hand on heart recommend Mortimers Solicitors in Bridgenorth www.mortimers-solicitors.co.uk