[SENco-forum]new stream-the right to a widening gap

i want to champion the right of children who will never make  "catching up 
progress" to a mainstream shcooling that meets their needs.   their right to a 
school that can pace their work to give them both the wide  rangeing main 
stream experiential learning and the tiny slow steps to   mastery in important 
areas such as time and money and access to speech that  stays put - this may be 
words but it may be on tape or in symbols or picture  cues.  

i want these children wti be valued and enjoyed and i want the  schools that 
they go to to embrace their difficuties as, if these children  flourish then 
we have a good school for all children as our learnining  along the way makes 
us better teachers for everyone.

i have wanted this for over thirty years since i opened the  first included 
unit in my area.  i feel that like the pot of gold at the  end of the rainbow 
it is much talked about but seldom achieved!

i intend to keep workng towards this aim.  i also want  genuine specialist 
supportive outreaching local provision preferably not  segregated by distance or 
attitude so that the very few children who genuiney  require a protected 
environment get that without going miles from  home.

the move towards generic special schools frightens me as it  seems that 
expertise cannot be easily generated within these and they  run the risk of 
becoming catch all places that struggle to be all things to all  men!!