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SUMMARY STATEMENT
This presentation discusses roles that can be taken by residential special schools to support the education of children in inclusive education. By identifying the unique strengths of the special school, and using the concept of an array of networked services, this presentation will suggest services that a special school may provide in child placement, staff development and specialist resource facilities. Issues surrounding the organisation, administration and funding of these services will be raised.
ABSTRACT
Based on the results of a national working group examining the development of special schools in England, and drawing on recent developments at RNIB Condover Hall School, this presentation will describe ways in which a residential special school can serve as a regional resource to educational services for children with visual impairments.
Special schools have traditionally been part of a continuum of services available to children. However, this model implies that each service on the continuum is self-contained. An alternative model, of an array of networked services, is proposed in which the special school has a clear role through the delivery of services both on- and off-campus. In practice, these services can be local, regional or national in scope. This presentation advocates this model as a way of ensuring the unique attributes of a special school to continue to contribute to the maintenance of high quality services.
The presentation will give examples of the services that can be organised by a school. This range includes direct education placements; eg. long and short term education, schemes of shared care with the child's local provision, assessment, skills workshops, specialist units. It includes a wide range of staff development activities; eg. visits, workshops, mentoring, library resources, tutored placements and apprenticeships, research projects. It includes a range of off-campus support for children in non-specialist education; eg. advice and training for teachers and families, assessment alongside other educational and medical personnel, equipment development and material loan services. Non-educational services will also be described such as provision of conference facilities, vacation lettings and storage space rentals.
From this description of the services, the presentation will discuss models of service delivery, and identify important elements in the successful development of services. These elements include the use of service level agreements, effective marketing strategies, and entitlement statements.
The context of the presentation
is the English education system but the principles, and even most of the
specific services described, should be relevant to many other countries
in which the residential special school is attempting to clarify its role
within a system based on an inclusive education philosophy.