There’s been a big focus recently on inclusion in government policy across the U.K. , in an attempt to lower exclusions from education for children with additional needs. We were recently invited to the launch of one such strategy at a local council, which was actually part 2 of a 2 part launch. Which is a lot of tea, coffee and biscuits. For us it seems a bit of smoke and mirrors really, when not much is actually being put in place on the ground. Having set up as an early intervention charity over a decade ago in a very hostile environment, we have seen the practical support for young children with developmental differences across the U.K. get less and less. This is regularly blamed on Budget cuts, along with the age old excuse that ‘children should not be given 1-1 support as it makes them become dependent’ (go figure!!!). For a very long time we have seen first hand how much of an impact poor early education and support can have on all aspects of a child’s development. But nothing looks like it’s going to change for the better anytime soon.
Sometimes you just have to be the change that you want to see in the world so we decided to jump right on in and set up our own nursery here in London. The Play2Talk Nursery is in a nutshell ‘inclusion in action’. We don’t have a strict admission policy on diagnosis and we will offer a place to any child that needs a bit of extra help to build their social communication and play skills. It’s a place where everyone can belong and everyone matters. We follow the EYFS curriculum and link it to themes that our children and their families can relate to and enjoy. We ensure that all children are given the opportunity to meet their fullest potential so that mainstream school can happen with far fewer barriers, not least because the support that everyone fights for will inevitably continue to be limited by budget, bureaucracy and policy.
The past fortnight our little learners have been enjoying our Travel the World theme with family members and caregivers coming along and joining us for the ride. It’s been amazing to watch our little ones learn all about their own, and their classmates’, home countries all over the globe. Children achieved their individualised learning outcomes for all areas of this topic and we all had a lot of fun along the way, We are very proud that we have built a language rich, all inclusive curriculum where all of our pupils can experience everything that their peers have access to in other settings, in a way that makes sense to them and fosters their individual strengths. We hope that through accessing a provision like ours, where everyone matters equally, our little friends will be able to better navigate all the many opportunities that the world has to offer them.
Inclusion isn’t about fancy online strategies and policy launch events. Inclusion for us means everyone having the right to the best possible learning opportunities and everyone having the right to belong.
