Reflective Competency Statement

As a childcare practitioner it is important that I am able to recognise when a child in their early years may have a range of learning needs. To be able to understand the way I need to work with others to ensure that the learning plan that is in place for this child has a positive impact on their health, development and learning. To ensure I am offering an inclusive practice where the child is supported and feels valued and is helping them towards achieving the Five Outcomes of The Every Child Matters Framework.

Anyone providing services for children with special needs – health, education or social service departments, as well as voluntary organisations – must act within the legal framework. Legislation can change at any time and all health, education and social care practitioners, also Early Years workers, should be alert to new Acts and Regulations. There have been many changes to legislation in the UK over recent years which have affected this and a gradual increase in entitlements for these pupils.

I have distinctly applied for Special Needs Education because special education has always been what’s near and dear to me in the field of education. Being a special education teacher would be an inevitably rewarding job, in which I get to watch my students grow, as I celebrate their small breakthroughs and victories with them. These small breakthroughs and victories will improve over time and turn into giant leaps, which will leave a lasting impact and ultimately change the child’s life. Beyond just educating children with special needs, I aspire to educate the public about children with special needs and special education. By doing so, I hope to remove any uncertainty and fear the public has on this group of children. Not only do I want to impart knowledge on these special children, I also want to advocate for them, which is something that goes

The special educational needs (SEN) team are supported by a very active group who make sure that they provide a range of activities to meet the needs of our ever growing community of special schools, as well as colleagues in mainstream primary and secondary schools. Their aim is to work together to ensure good practice to promote effective approaches to enhance the students learning with Special educational needs.

Preparing regular education teachers to address the diverse needs of children with special needs in inclusive set up.

The case study will focus on the partnership between St Andrews Primary School and the Special Educational Needs Co - coordinators from the national health services. I undertook my placement at St Andrews Primary School and worked closely within the special educational need team, which provide support in relation to children with additional needs. As being on placement and having the opportunity to work alongside the early year’s team, I experienced that a few children were much slower in terms of their learning and development.

To provide a developmentally appropriate learning environment that is safe, healthy, respectful and supportive of children and families. For the learning environment to be safe, I ensure that I always check identification, and have parents notify me whenever someone new to the list will be picking up. I always bring my roster with me to ensure I have all my children with me. I do a roll call every time we get to a new area after traveling anywhere away from our room, and before leaving the room. Another way that I make the learning environment safe is by covering all the outlets in the room, and making sure sharp or dangerous objects are put away, and out of the children’s reach. I put cleaning supplies and other chemicals in high locked cabinets.

Kimora acknowledged, “I did not want to eat and her getting stern with me and making me sit at the table just made me start crying uncontrollable.”

The purpose behind this report is to analyse inclusive practice within an early years setting of a child with a special educational needs (SEN). This is done through a case study. In order to establish whether inclusion is being taken into consideration and put into place, theoretical views, legislation and appropriate intervention methods will be discussed in this report. There is sufficient evidence being drawn upon as how the setting provides equal access to the curriculum for the child. The report will consider strategies that are in place to promote and factors that hinder inclusive educational practice.

In 1994, representatives of 92 governments and 25 international organizations formed the World Conference on Special Needs Education and called on the international community to endorse the concept of change and inclusion through a new statement called ‘The Salamanca Statement’. As this was the first major international statement of what an inclusive approach to education needs to be, they formed practical strategies to ensure this positive inclusion would take place worldwide.

During the ten years that I have worked in primary education inclusivity has played an increasingly important part when considering how the curriculum can be delivered and how a classroom can be managed to ensure that it is accessed by all children. Experience of working within a primary classroom has shown that the accommodation of students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and the delivery of inclusive lessons have had a vital part to play when determining classroom

From the first day a child is born, parents are there to nurture their child, to support them as they grow and develop. There is a lot to learn about raising a child under normal circumstances, but when a child has special needs parents must learn this whole new language of medical and special education terms (Overton, 2005). Parents enter this new world where navigating for the best interest of their child is riddled with challenges and obstacles that they need to somehow overcome. This is especially true when parents are dealing with the special education program in their child’s school.

They also believe that by having children with special rights in the classroom it allows for more learning to happen for all of the children. I completely agree with this statement, since I truly believe that exposing children to diversity and disabilities at a young age allows for them to be more expecting of others as they get older as well as learn to work with others who may not have the same strengths as them. During this workshop it was also stated that you have to educate the possible. This really stuck with me since in special education it is so important to focus on a child’s abilities rather than their disability. I believe this approach is very effective for children with exceptionalities/special rights since it is so focused on the positive and inclusion rather than the child’s

For thousands of years individuals with exceptionalities have been present in all parts of society across the world, especially those with physical or sensory characteristics. However, the way that these individuals have been viewed has changed dramatically. Originally these individuals were seen as ‘imbeciles,’ ‘worthless,’ and ‘a burden on society’ and were often shut away from ‘normal’ society or simply left to die or abandoned to institutions. Society has, however, created a positive change and started to exhibit a more humanitarian view and protective nature and developed a concern for the welfare of individuals with exceptionalities. The steadily changing view of society has paved the way to where today these individuals are now considered a part of an all-inclusive society where every citizen has value, merit and is capable of making a contribution to society.

Every student has different needs within the classroom. As it is such, it is important that the teachers in charge of the students use a plethora of methods to ensure that every student is being challenged to their maximum ability. In an inclusion classroom, where there are such a variety of students, it is of paramount importance that regular assessments are given so that plans in order to further the children's educational goals are made and met. Regardless of whether a student is special needs or not, encouragement and support when failure is met is crucial to a student’s