Parental partnership and pupil participation

Parents and pupils are now considered to be invaluable members of any inter agency framework.

Pupil participation

Many practitioners would question how valuable a pupil’s voice is in situations where decisions need to be made about their own future educational needs. Children’s involvement in their own meetings can also make many professionals feel very awkward. However, Roaf (2002: 49) writes: ‘Children have benefited from, and contributed to, the more holistic agency approaches to their care and education developed during the past decade.’ Clough and Barton (1995) also illustrate how the voice of the child has been heard due to research and pressure groups. Indeed, the author has known situations where children as young as 8 have been able to play a full role in determining their own education and care futures. By being given relevant information, being listened to and given a voice, pupils can, in many cases, make sound judgements or at least offer valuable contributions that enable successful outcomes.

Case study

Child A was in an out of county placement and had been for the past few years. Due to county policies and financial concerns the home county’s social services and education department wished Child A to return home. This caused considerable concern for Child As local carers and educators, as progress was, after a long settling in period, actually being seen. Information about the possible options was shared by the social worker with Child A. At a statutory review meeting Child A eloquently told the large group of adults her views and the reasons for the request to stay where she was. The meeting in real terms ended there, because as the social worker said, the child’s voice had to be listened to and acted upon, if at all possible.

This was in accordance with Articles 12 and 13 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child:

Children, who are capable of forming views, have a right to receive and make known information, to express an opinion, and to have that opinion taken into account in any matters affecting them. The views of the child should be given due weight according to the age, maturity and capability of the child. (DfES, 2001: 3, Section 4)

Discussion

■ In how many ways are pupils, within your educational setting, encouraged to participate?

■ Do the pupils feel that they are listened to and that their voices are heard?

If your answer is yes - how do you know this?

If your answer is no - why not?

A word of caution is also given regarding pupil voice in the SEN Code of Practice Toolkit, Section 4 (DfES, 2001a) when it includes from the Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations, Vol. 6. Children with Disabilities (1991):

The SEN Code of Practice (2001: 3) recognizes that there is: a fine balance between giving the child a voice and encouraging them to make informed decisions, and overburdening them with decisionmaking procedures where they have insufficient experience and knowledge to make appropriate judgements without additional support.