Post-16 Transitions: a Longitudinal Study of Young People with ...

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Figure 4:6: Young People’s views on school experience, special or mainstream school Special school School helped give me confidence to make decisions Mainstream school School did little to prepare me for life when I left/leave Special school Mainstream school Special school School has taught me things that would be useful in a job Mainstream school School work is generally worth doing Special school Mainstream school School helped me to decide what I wanted to do next Special school Mainstream school School helped me to decide what I wanted to be doing in five years time Special school Mainstream school I found it hard to make friends at school Special school Mainstream school I got a lot of support from my friends at school Special school Mainstream school The teachers at school did not understand my needs Special school Mainstream school 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Agree Source: IES/MORI 2003 Case studies – school experiences The characteristics of young people with SEN are hugely variable and they attend a wide range of types of school provision. Young people in the case study sample, for instance, had attended mainstream schools with varying levels of support, special units in mainstream schools, a range of types of special schools and a ‘tutorial centre’. It is not surprising, therefore, that their experience of school and the role played by their schools in the transition process are themselves highly variable. Post-16 Transitions of Young People with SEN: Wave 2 51
In some cases, school embodied the best of ‘traditional’ special education. Sophie1 for instance, is a young woman with severe and complex learning difficulties who was 18 at the time of interview, but had attended the same small special school since the age of five. Her mother described the school in the following terms: “I mean it’s a very good school, we think it’s a very good school. The head teacher is exceptional and we’re not alone in saying that you know. She is very good with staff and cheerful and with the County Council so I think we’ve been very lucky there.” This ‘exceptional’ head was able to offer the sort of personalised support which young people and their families needed. In this context, the formal processes of review and planning simply formed part of a close and continuing stream of interaction between school and family. Sophie’s difficulties present significant educational problems to her teachers, but ones that are well-understood and can be met by a committed staff. However, young people who present behavioural, emotional or social difficulties appear to be much more difficult for teachers to deal with and these young people face the real threat of a breakdown of the relationship with school. Carl is a young man with severe autism who attends the sixth form of a special school for pupils with moderate learning difficulties. As he entered the teenage years, he began to present acute behavioural problems in terms of violence to family, teachers and other pupils. He also began to engage in sexually inappropriate behaviour. The school was on the point of excluding him and was only dissuaded from doing so when it secured extra funding from the LEA to provide one-to-one support. As Carl’s needs have eased, he has remained in the school post-16, and at the time of interview was attending a link course at a local FE college with which the school had a good working relationship. Plans were already in place for him to complete the transition to the college full-time in the following year. However, not all such problems had equally positive outcomes. A number of young people we spoke to had had somewhat turbulent school careers, particularly in the latter stages where their difficulties and frustrations reached crisis point. Matthew, for instance, described himself as having dyslexia, though it appears to have been his behavioural difficulties which caused the greatest problems for his teachers. After an unsuccessful time at primary school, his difficulties were identified by his secondary school. He was not regarded as having sufficiently severe problems for the school to seek a statement, but he nonetheless received a level of support which both he and his mother regarded as valuable. Despite this, Matthew found relationships with his teachers and his peers difficult. He was bullied and himself became a bully in turn. He misbehaved in lessons and was given to outbursts of temper in which he might hit other pupils. The school’s approach was supportive, but as his SEN teacher told us, ultimately it was ineffective: 1 All names have been changed to protect the identities of the young people who took part in the case studies. 52 Post-16 Transitions of Young People with SEN: Wave 2
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RESEARCH Post-16 Transitions: a Lon
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Acknowledgements The authors would
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Contents Executive Summary viii 1.
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Executive Summary Introduction This
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help or information from the young
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profound difficulties and those whi
Page 14 and 15: 1. Introduction This report present
Page 16 and 17: Main-stage fieldwork The aim in the
Page 18 and 19: Table 1.2: Estimates of the number
Page 20 and 21: • Chapter ten draws together the
Page 22 and 23: when educational options have a str
Page 24 and 25: of work-related training schemes. I
Page 26 and 27: without very considerable effort on
Page 28 and 29: introduction of a Children’s Bill
Page 30 and 31: 3. Characteristics of Young People
Page 32 and 33: difficulties. The less common forms
Page 34 and 35: Table 3.6: Statement of special edu
Page 36 and 37: Table 3.10: Change in SEN status N
Page 38 and 39: severe learning difficulties/profou
Page 40 and 41: 4. School and Outcomes A primary ai
Page 42 and 43: Table 4.2: Young person’s recall
Page 44 and 45: Table 4.5: Reasons why transition p
Page 46 and 47: Table 4.7: People involved in the t
Page 48 and 49: Table 4.9: Coverage of transition p
Page 50 and 51: Table 4.10: Coverage of transition
Page 52 and 53: Figure 4:3: Reasons why Year 11 dis
Page 54 and 55: Table 4.13: Provider of help to pre
Page 56 and 57: Table 4.15: Most helpful person whe
Page 58 and 59: Table 4.18: Extent to which school
Page 60 and 61: In cases such as these, transition
Page 62 and 63: were choices but young person and f
Page 66 and 67: “In school he had quite a lot of
Page 68 and 69: Figure 4.7: Whether gained qualific
Page 70 and 71: Figure 4.11: Level of qualification
Page 72 and 73: • Over three-quarters of all youn
Page 74 and 75: Table 5.1: Current main activity Al
Page 76 and 77: Table 5.4: Current main activity, b
Page 78 and 79: Table 5.6: Current main activity, b
Page 80 and 81: college for people with LDD, and we
Page 82 and 83: transition plan to have sought advi
Page 84 and 85: 5.2.3 Ease of transition The majori
Page 86 and 87: Table 5.14: Occupation/training typ
Page 88 and 89: 5.3.3 Method of jobsearch and advic
Page 90 and 91: • help to progress into work/trai
Page 92 and 93: Table 5.21: Reasons for current ina
Page 94 and 95: Table 5.24: Advice received when lo
Page 96 and 97: However, he was finding this new co
Page 98 and 99: years, often in quite productive ac
Page 100 and 101: Table 5.25: Parent/carer view on ex
Page 102 and 103: employment or a training placement
Page 104 and 105: Figure 6:2: Benefit receipt, by SEN
Page 106 and 107: had not had any subsequent contact
Page 108 and 109: Table 6.3: Type of support lost sin
Page 110 and 111: Table 6.5: Additional support recei
Page 112 and 113: met by his special school sixth for
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education since their child left Ye
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• colleges (33 per cent of parent
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published information against just
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who had a statement of SEN and/or h
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Table 6.12: Parent/carer knowledge
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Figure 7:1: Qualifications gained (
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Parents were also asked to reflect
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“(He is) a bit more independent;
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immaturity and the fact that she is
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8. Leisure Activities and Social Li
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Figure 8:2: Weekday evenings spent
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For some young people, the involvem
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For Li, who has found his own way o
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Figure 9:2: Parental views on young
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Table 9.1: Views on the future, all
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Table 9.5: View (4) on the future,
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9.3 Next activity Almost three-quar
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plans for their futures but for var
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10. Conclusions 10.1 Introduction T
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Transition planning is purposely fo
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needs in both the academic and the
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and most reported that they had mor
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the most severe and complex difficu
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Appendix One: Wave 2 survey Summary
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Table A.1: Profile of participating
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10.5.2 Weighting Table A.3 reports
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• Economic factors • Structural
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gave their consent and who lived in
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Gareth is a young man with learning
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she does not succeed, her Connexion
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examples here are Maria who wants t
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time to themselves. The problem for
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here. He is one of the nicest peopl
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Appendix Four: References Bignall T
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