Equal access to education

An educational psychologist has given evidence to a Senedd committee inquiry into equal access to education for disabled and neurodivergent children.

The Senedd's (Welsh Parliament) Children, Young People and Education Committee inquiry has been gathering evidence on how children up to the age of 16, who are neurodivergent, have sensory, physical, or learning disabilities access education and childcare. In its wide-ranging inquiry the committee has explored access to extracurricular activities, exclusion from education or childcare due to disability or neurodivergence, whether families and children have been affected by discrimination, the mental health, wellbeing and educational impacts of unequal access to education and childcare, the barriers providers face to offering accessible provision, support for parents and choice in education.

Dr Abigail Wright, Senior Specialist Early Years Educational Psychologist, appeared at one of the committee's oral evidence sessions alongside representatives from the Royal College of Occupational Therapists, Royal College of Nursing Wales, and Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists. She spoke about the positives that new legislation and the new curriculum can bring to Wales but warned that more training and guidance is needed to support professionals to bring about these changes. She also emphasised a need for embracing a non-linear system of support, which explores each child's context and creates a service around the child as and when they need support.

'What we need to work towards is more systemic models of looking at things, so maybe more circular models,' Dr Wright said. 'We've gone through the lines, we've gone through the triangle ways of service delivery, where you've got universal support, targeted specialists. We know we don't operate in linear ways – development isn't linear. So maybe perhaps working towards more models where you're mapping out in a system everything around a child, and all the people that could potentially help at that point, and working together to think, "What is the priority for that child and family at this time?"'

The BPS also responded to the committee's consultation last summer with support from members working in clinical, counselling and educational psychology – some of whom had lived experience of having children with additional needs. Their response pointed out that neurodivergent and disabled children had more difficulty in accessing education provisions, are more likely to be excluded and experience discrimination including social isolation, bullying, harassment and negative stereotyping.

Regarding the mental health and wellbeing impact of unequal access to education, the authors wrote that they would like to see more early advice and support available within the whole community without the need for a referral or label. 'Mental health support must be person and needs-led rather than diagnosis-led, where support is tailored to the individual, taking the holistic view of what is important to the child at that time ... We would also like the Welsh Government, local authorities, schools, communities, and families to access reliable, psychologically informed information and support when they need it.'

BPS Senior Public Affairs Advisor for Wales, Manel Tippett said: 'We were pleased to provide both written and oral evidence to the Committee in this area that our Education Psychologists feel very passionate about. During the hearing with nursing and other allied health professionals, we were able to highlight our collective views, which demonstrated we have much more in common than we think. It's all about working collectively, which is something we are able to do quite well in Wales.'