In this story, we hear from Zoe about her experience of raising her daughter Olive in Bristol, and about Olive’s journey through the education system as a student with additional needs. Olive is turning 11 this year which marks her move from a local mainstream primary school: with no specialist secondary education provision currently allocated for Olive, Zoe is appealing to the council to secure a place for her in September 2023. Zoe’s situation has inspired her to organize a SEND Reform peaceful protest in Bristol, taking place on Wednesday 21st June on College Green, 11am – 2pm, to raise awareness of these issues and to build a support network and community for other parents in a similar position. Find out more on Facebook or contact Zoe at [email protected].
Zoe and I meet at a café outside Hamilton House. She’s come downstairs from a studio space from which she runs her interior design business. The building hosts many artists and colleagues who use it as an office base.
Zoe reflects on the inclusive nature of the creative community she sees within the co-working spaces within, and how it gives her a glimpse of a world in which disability is more visible, accepted, and accommodated:
“There are a group of adults with a variety of learning difficulties that come in most days and take part in activities. It’s such a pleasure to meet them in the kitchen for a little chat or in the corridor. Seeing people with disabilities in the place where I work gives me hope for the future. I think they are modelling something really good here.”
Zoe’s daughter Olive is turning 11 this year; now in Year 6, she’s attended a local mainstream primary, with one-to-one support, for most of her school years. Olive has cerebral palsy, hemiplegia, and hemianopia, with a loss of the right visual field on both sides. Her diagnosis has meant the mainstream school environment has been a challenge for her at times, both practically and emotionally.
“Things startle her – kids zooming past on scooters and she’s anxious about fire alarms.” Zoe explains; “She manages it all really well, but her biggest problem is behavioural and emotional stuff because she’s up to her eyeballs in processing what she’s seeing and hearing.”
One of the challenges is that Olive’s disability is initially hard to see, and people don’t always recognize that she needs extra consideration. It means it has often fallen to Zoe to negotiate the situations at school which feel overwhelming for Olive, and for many years she’s opted to leave early to miss the hustle of pickup time. A quieter school exit is better for Olive but also means that Zoe misses out on those casual school-run interactions that build relationships with other parents and help create a supportive community.
“Olive walks and runs and is physically very able, so people don’t have the visual cues that she has a disability. I think the school has done a good job of teaching the other children to be accepting, but it doesn’t always go the extra mile to be proactively inclusive. It has been very isolating for us both at times.”
Some of the difficulties Olive has faced are simply because of the way the education system itself is structured; including a daily rewards scheme, similar to those commonly found in many UK classrooms. With it not being possible for all thirty children in a class can be rewarded every day, Olive finds the scheme confronting and disappointing. When Zoe reflects on what could be done differently in an ideal alternative system, she pictures a setting in which the focus on individual relationship building between teacher and student takes priority instead:
“A more private reward that’s individual to each child on their terms would be more beneficial. People want a relationship, not a shiny medal. That’s what builds the rapport that enables enjoyable learning.”
Zoe hopes that Olive’s move to secondary school will provide an opportunity for her to enter a culture where she can focus on exploring her unique gifts and what she can bring to the world.
“She’s got so much to offer. She’d make a brilliant voice-over artist. I’m trying not to push her into it, it’s hard when you see a talent in your child, which is so important that the school can support with that.”
But with Year 7 looming this September, Olive has not yet been allocated a secondary school place. Zoe is appealing to the council for a place at a mainstream secondary with an attached resource base unit, which she feels will help Olive thrive. The resource base provides specialist education for students with a range of special education needs and ECHPs, and the teachers work closely with a range of professionals to support students’ learning.
Zoe sees how the practical setup would work well for Olive, “Resource base students are in the same building passing the mainstream children in the corridors, but they go down to lunch 10 mins early so they don’t have to deal with crowds.”
But, Zoe explains, “It’s more than just the bricks and mortar environment,” that she sees will make the difference in creating a good school experience for Olive: “The way that the teachers talk to the students creates a culture of inclusivity and compassion. Learning in a more hands-on way will help Olive, where the reason for doing a task is more obvious to her than reciting times tables from behind a desk.”
While Zoe wades through the red tape of her school place council appeal, she is also planning her first protest. She hopes the event will raise awareness about issues that parents of SEND children face, and that it will bring together a supportive community to help other parents in the same situation who might be struggling to know where to begin.
“Many parents don’t have the energy, capacity, or knowledge to take on the battle alone. There are a lot of Facebook groups for SEND parents and this is an opportunity for people to meet in real life.”
Zoe heard of a similar protest happening in London and made contact with the organisers to create a satellite event on the same day in Bristol, to build momentum and solidarity, and to make a protest accessible to Bristol-based families. The SEND Reform Protest will take place on Wednesday 21st June, on College Green, between 11am – 2pm
The protest has four clear demands:
- Inclusive education for disabled children: either in mainstream or specialist schools
- Adequate funding for school places, including adequate funding for provision in mainstream schools.
- Adequate training for all staff in mainstream schools – not just the one-to-one workers.
- Local Authority compliance with SEND law.
Zoe is clear that the focus should be on what they are campaigning for rather than what they are campaigning against.
“We are trying to paint a picture of where we want to get to. If you say no all the time people don’t know what to do. You have to say, “This. We want this!”
Zoe hopes that it won’t just be SEND children and their parents who attend, she recognises that it’s often down to the family to become experts in SEND advocacy and that the huge responsibility this involves could be eased if more of the community engaged.
“I hope we can build a community where everyone cares. It’s easy to think that it’s just down to the parents but when we are acting as a community it’s up to everyone. The thing that makes people act is human relationships. We can’t care about the people we don’t see – or that we haven’t been given the opportunity to connect with. That’s why it’s so important to continue making disability needs visible, both in our communities and at school.”
Join Zoe & Olive on Wednesday 21st June on College Green, 11am – 2pm, to raise awareness of these issues and to build a support network and community for other parents in a similar situation. Find out more on Facebook or contact Zoe at [email protected]
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