We know remarkably little about the experiences of the 6,000 children with special educational needs who attend residential special schools. But My Life at School, a report from the Office of the Children’s Commissioner for England, seeks to fill that gap.
Researchers visited 17 special schools in England and talked to 83 children aged between eight and 19, as well as parents and staff. They used a variety of methods – given that many of these children have severe communication difficulties.
The findings suggest that despite the wrench of living some distance from home, most children see their special school as a “home away from home”, providing them with the community, safety and structure that previous schools often failed to offer. One young woman with autism told researchers: “I really didn’t like [my old school]. When I came here I felt it’s exactly like home and I’ve made lots of new friends.”
Most also appreciate being with others with similar conditions. As one said: “It’s better to be around people that understand you – how you’re like. And they won’t bully you about it because they’re the same.”
That sense of feeling “safe, settled and accepted”, which residential schools can offer, was also important to Peter, who was having to return to his home local authority area where he had no friends and no immediate prospects for a placement. “I’m scared,” he said. “I don’t want to leave. I want to stay here.”
In fact, schools’ protectiveness can sometimes insulate children from the real world and so make the move to the next stage of their lives more difficult, the researchers point out. They say that more needs to be done to prepare them for this process.
It is a view shared by Frances Winter, principal policy adviser, Children’s Commissioner Office, who says that problems seemed to be greatest at moments of transition – from home to special school, and then from school to adult services – where there was sometimes “a conflict between process and planning”.
However, despite these issues, the children give their schools a vote of confidence – they feel happy there, part of the community and feel looked after and treated well, even if they are sometimes homesick.
Getting ready to leave care: “I’m very worried about it”
Reggie* is 17 years old and has been in care for 11 years. Here he describes a typical day at his children’s care home in the north-west of England, where he’s been for the last year and a half.
This is the fourth children’s home I’ve been in, and the best so far. There are five young people here, aged 11 to 17. I’m here because of things that were going down at home. People think that anyone in a children’s home is there because they’re naughty, but that’s not true.
On a school day I’ll get up at 7am and get ready for school. I always make a cup of hot chocolate before catching the bus. The school has about 50 kids with emotional and behavioural difficulties. I’m studying for my GCSEs. I’m really good at art and I’ve been told I’ll get an A*. I’m not that good at English or maths and science because I’ve had to move around a lot and so missed a lot of my education. It does worry me a bit, but not that much.
Normally I’ll go to my bedroom once I get back from school. Sometimes I go out with my friends, usually just to chill. They know I’m in a home and they understand. They don’t treat you differently in any way. I have a good relationship with my key worker but there are special rules about what she can do. She can only give “safe hugs”, for example, which isn’t the same as with your own family. The thing I miss most about being in a home is not having my mum and my brother and sister here.
You have to leave here before your 18th birthday. Someone who lives at home might stay with their parents till they’re 21 or 22. But if you’re in care and not being educated you get pushed out into the big wide world much earlier. You’re expected to look after yourself, buy your own food, pay the bills and so on. I’m very worried about it.
*Not his real name.
