‘Nowhere that fits’: the dilemmas of school choice for parents of children with Statements of special educational needs (SEN) in England

Abstract

Example citation: BajwaPatel, M. and Devecchi, C. (2014) 'Nowhere that fits' -the dilemmas of school choice for parents of children with statements of special educational needs (SEN) in England. Support for Learning. 29(2), pp. 117135. 14679604.It is advisable to refer to the publisher's version if you intend to cite from this work. AbstractGiving parents a choice with regard to their children's education has been central to the political discourse of school reform at least since the 1988 Education Reform Act (ERA) (DfE, 1988). With regard to children with a statement of special educational needs (SSEN), a plethora of policies and laws (e.g. ERA, 1988; Education Act, 1996, SENDA, 2001)have given parents not only the right to choose a school, but also to appeal to decisions in the best interest of their children. Yet, despite the discourse the implementation and practice of such reforms are neither assured nor simple. Participants in the study indicated that they have little choice of suitable provision and are having to compromise either the academic or the social aspects of their child's schooling. 2This paper argues that for many parents whose children have a statement of SEN the choice of a school is often a dilemma as nowhere seems to fit.

An exploration of parental decisions to transfer children from regular to special schools

“…This finding is consistent with the literature on parentprofessional relationships (e.g., Bajwa-Patel & Devecchi, 2014;Hodge & RunswickCole, 2008;Lalvani, 2015). The significance of this finding is that the professional "nudging" of parents towards particular enrolment choices masks parents' true enrolment preferences.…”

“…There is no more obvious wound for students with intellectual disability than the latter. Children are more likely to attend schools outside their local communities (Bajwa-Patel & Devecchi, 2014), and, as reported in the introduction to this thesis and then again in Chapter One, the percentages of students with intellectual disability who continue to be educated in segregated settings is high, even when compared to children with other impairments. Just over 90% of students attending a special school/class had intellectual disability (NCID, 2013).…”

“…They are not likely, it seems, to easily find a school that will "fit" (Bajwa-Patel & Devecchi, 2014). Inclusive education is not just a matter of seeking enrolment in a regular school; it has long been known that physical presence does not automatically equate to inclusion.…”

There's never going to be a perfect school that ticks every box: minority perspectives of inclusion and placement preferences

“…Bajwa‐Patel and Devecchi's () mixed‐method research also explored parental choice, surveying 380 families of children with SEN Statements in Southeast England. They utilised Bagley and Woods’ () perspective on parental decision‐making, which is based on two values: instrumental‐academic and intrinsic‐personal/social.…”

“…Interestingly, all children with BESD attended special schools, indicating the abstractness of mainstream inclusion for children with BESD. However, parents of children with sensory and physical needs were very positive, with some suggesting that ‘all schools were open for me’ (Bajwa‐Patel and Devecchi, , p. 124).…”