Derrington 2012 thesis.pdf - Anglia Ruskin Research Online

pupils… [Schools] should actively seek to remove the barriers to learning and
participation that can exclude pupils with special educational needs’ (p.2). Therefore,
it involves maximising resources to support learning and participation for everyone.
However practically speaking, it may be more straightforward for a school to address
the physical access needs of students than manage those disruptive and disaffected
students with challenging attitudes and threatening behaviour. According to Ofsted’s
report (2004), students with emotional and behavioural difficulties were putting the
biggest strain on the inclusion policy and mainstream school resources and there was
a huge need for more specialist units attached to mainstream schools. The Learning
Support Unit at Cottenham Village College was one such specialist unit.
My suggestion that music therapy can support students and promote inclusion in
mainstream schools is one of the key aspects of this study. Music therapy has an
increasing role in supporting students with special needs such as Autism, physical
disability or sensory impairments (Tomlinson, 2010; McTier, 2012; Strange, 2012).
However its role in supporting students at risk of underachievement or exclusion due
to emotional and/or behavioural difficulties is much less evident and lends weight to
the reason for this research.
3.2.2 Music therapy for students at risk of exclusion at Cottenham Village
College
This section describes the system of referral to a Learning Support Unit which was in
place when I set up music therapy at CVC: initial problems with students who
exhibited challenging behaviour were dealt with firstly by form tutors, then by head
of department and ultimately by head of year, if problems persisted. One of the
outcomes from such a process was for the student to be placed within the specialist
unit for a while and an individual timetable to be created. During this time the whole
staff team would be asked for feedback on the student in their lessons, both positive
and negative. Communication across subjects is always vital because students can
behave differently in different subjects and with different teachers. This is the reason
that three teachers for every student were asked to complete questionnaires for this
research study (5.5).
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