The School of Education Blog

There’s a crisis in special educational needs provision: here’s the situation across the UK and Ireland

Posted on October 24, 2024 by School of Education University of Bristol

Cathryn Knight, University of Bristol; Joanne Banks, Trinity College Dublin, and Noel Purdy, Queen’s University Belfast

In the UK and Ireland, children who have significant special educational needs and disabilities can receive their education outside mainstream school. This often takes place in “special schools” or “special classes”.

In the UK, as well as the Republic of Ireland, legislation sets out that children have the right to attend mainstream education. This right cannot be refused based on the complexity of the child’s needs. However, many children are educated in specialist schools, and the devolved governments of the UK, and Ireland, have taken differing approaches to this provision.

But there is a problem. Across the UK and Ireland, there are far fewer places available in specialist schools and classes for the number of children identified with needs significant enough to warrant a place. (more…)

In conversation with: BSc Psychology in Education graduate Gayathrie Sunil

Posted on October 1, 2024October 1, 2024 by cu19879

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to study an undergraduate degree at the School of Education as an international student?

Gayathrie Sunil recently graduated from the School with a BSc in Psychology in Education. Now, she is here to tell you all about her experience of studying with us for the past three years.

***Gayathrie on her graduation day in July 2024***

Tell us a bit about you!

Hi! I’m Gayathrie Sunil, a third-culture kid, born and adopted in Kerala. I lived in China, Madras, and Nigeria before moving to Bangalore for high school. My undergraduate degree in Psychology and Education is from the University of Bristol.

One of the most significant aspects of my life is my passion for teaching and working with children, a passion that was ignited early on when I was growing up with two brothers. This passion, coupled with my diverse upbringing, has not only shaped my perspective but also instilled in me a deep joy in connecting with and supporting others. (more…)

New Open Source Resource from the School of Education

Posted on September 30, 2024 by School of Education University of Bristol

The 1988 Education Reform Act shook the English education landscape, creating an urgent need for professionals to stay informed, quickly, and clearly. Enter the Document Summary Service (DSS). Launched in 1989, the DSS delivered ten concise, two-page summaries of key education reports every month (except August). Packaged in boxes, they were sent to subscriber’s addresses. These reports were pulled from heavyweights like the Department for Education, Ofsted, Sutton Trust, and Ofqual. Subscribers included universities, schools, governors, inspectors, and local authorities.

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In conversation with: BERA Undergraduate Award Winner 2024, Em Quinton

Posted on September 18, 2024September 20, 2024 by cu19879

We spoke with Em Quinton, a BSc Psychology in Education graduate, who recently won the British Educational Research Association (BERA) Undergraduate Award 2024.

She told us all about how she ended up studying at the School of Education (which was not initially her plan A!), her favourite modules and her first reaction to receiving the prestigious award from BERA this summer.

Em Quinton on her graduation day last year.

Why did you want to study for a BSc Psychology in Education degree at the University of Bristol?

In the very beginning, I actually wanted to study neuroscience. Covid meant I couldn’t take my A-Levels, so I sort of happily fell into the course. I was desperate to be in Bristol, and wanted to do something psychology-related. It turned out that Psychology in Education was far, far better suited to my skills and interests than my original plan would have been, so I’m glad I carried on with my plan B!

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South West Anti-Racist Education Forum

Posted on August 9, 2024 by School of Education University of Bristol

On 28^th June, UWE hosted the third annual South West Anti-racist Education Forum (SWAREF), an event organised in partnership between UWE and the University of Bristol. The 2024 SWAREF aimed to build on the previous two events in 2023 and 2022 and provide informative and participatory sessions on issues which local practitioners have identified as priorities: student voice, racial literacy, safeguarding, refugee education and sharing current anti-racist projects and research. The takeaway from the day, described by an attendee, is that education practitioners should be ‘explicitly and actively anti-racist’. (more…)

Nearly half of children born in Wales in 2002-03 classed as having special educational needs – this may have negatively affected their attainment

Posted on July 29, 2024August 30, 2024 by School of Education University of Bristol

Cathryn Knight, University of Bristol and Emily Lowthian, Swansea University

Nearly half of people born in Wales in 2002-03 were classed as having special educational needs (Sen), our new research has indicated, raising questions about the system used to diagnose a generation of Welsh children.

Our report for the Nuffield Foundation found that 48% of this group, who are now aged 20 to 22, were identified as having Sen at some point before they turned 17. In some cases, this may have negatively affected their educational outcomes.

Pandemic disruptions meant complete data was only available for this year group. However, we also identified several factors that made some children born in Wales between 2002 and 2008 more likely to receive a Sen diagnosis – including being a boy, being born in summer, and being on free school meals.

Our findings suggest children from these groups may have been over-identified (and those not in these groups potentially under-identified). A new system for identifying educational needs was introduced in Wales in 2020, and the number of children being diagnosed has since fallen significantly – it was 20% lower in the year after the new system began. (more…)

King’s speech 2024: experts explain new government’s plans for workers’ rights, rail nationalisation, education, and more

Posted on July 29, 2024August 30, 2024 by School of Education University of Bristol

The king’s speech has been delivered, marking the state opening of parliament (technically, this was the first king’s speech with a Labour government in 74 years). The speech was written by Keir Starmer’s government, not the king, and lays out the government’s agenda for the coming year. Here, a team of The Conversation’s academic experts break down the key policies most likely to have a direct impact on people’s lives.

Read the rest of our expert reactions to the government’s plans for political reform here. (more…)

If the government is serious about tackling child poverty, it should extend free school meals

Posted on July 24, 2024 by School of Education University of Bristol

Will Baker, University of Bristol

The government has created a new ministerial taskforce for its child poverty strategy, led by Work and Pensions secretary Liz Kendall and Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson. It is urgently needed: 4.3 million children in the UK are living in poverty.

The government has already committed to making sure free breakfast clubs are available in all primary schools in England.

We know that having a good breakfast at school can help improve child behaviour and readiness to learn, and helps children achieve more at school. The introduction of breakfast clubs for all primary school children is welcome – but this cannot be the limit of the government’s ambitions if it is serious about tackling child poverty and dealing with its consequences. Extending free school meals in England would be a powerful step here. (more…)

Exploring issues in secondary subject English: Reconnecting curriculum, policy and practice

Posted on June 18, 2024July 3, 2024 by School of Education University of Bristol

By Dr Lorna Smith, School of Education, University of Bristol

The Victorian writer, philosopher and critic, John Ruskin, once invited his readers to ‘Commiserate [with] the hapless Board School child, shut out from dreamland and poetry, and prematurely hardened by the pressure of codes and formularies. He spends his years as a tale that is not told’ (Lawson & Silver, 1973, p. 330). But what tale could be told of today’s hapless secondary state-school student of English in England, who might be similarly shut out from dreamland and poetry and prematurely hardened and diminished by the pressure of narrow assessment objectives?

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Teacher professional development in Africa – a decolonial synthesis of the research evidence

Posted on April 24, 2024 by School of Education University of Bristol

By Dr Rafael Mitchell, Senior Lecturer in Comparative & International Education, University of Bristol, UK

What does professional development provision look like for teachers in African schools? What patterns exist across the region in terms of the focus and forms of provision? Who is able to access professional development opportunities, and who is being left out? What are teachers’ experiences and outcomes from provision?

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