Care provision for children and young people in residential schools
If your child has complex additional support needs and learns and lives in a residential school, they should continue to receive the care and support they require. Their school should be in touch with you directly about what this means for you and your family.
Learning from home
With many children now learning from home again, it’s natural to feel anxious about how this will work out. If your child has additional support needs, their school might put in place extra support to help them learn from home. If you’re concerned about what your child’s school is doing to support them, get in touch straightaway to see what they can do.
If your child gas complex additional support needs, you can access a bank of parent friendly resources put together by Education Scotland, working with a group of Head Teachers. This includes:
- learning resources for you to use with your child at home
- guidance and resources to help you understand and support your child with their learning.
Resources and support
There are lots of great resources and support out there to help make this time a little easier for you and your family. We’ve included some links to organisations who specialise in helping families who have children with additional support needs.
General information
Enquire – the national advice and information service for additional support for learning – has developed a number of publications with tips for parents on supporting children to return to school. Their section on understanding what the coronavirus changes mean for children with additional support needs in Scotland also has useful information and links to other sources of support, and includes information on schools and nurseries reopening.
Reach has a dedicated back to school section with lots of advice and information to help children and young people during the new few weeks. Reach can also help you understand children’s rights to be supported and involved in decisions so they have an equal chance to flourish in their education.
The Scottish Government has published guidance with signposting to other resources. This includes guidance on supporting disabled children and young people and continuity of learning for children and young people, including those with additional support needs.
Autism
Visit the Autism Toolbox for support and resources or download free guides here or the School Closures Toolkit. And remember you can contact The Scottish Autism Helpline on 01259 222 022 for further advice and support.
Education Scotland and the National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT) have developed a range of resources for supporting autistic learners back to school.
Dyslexia
Dyslexia Scotland offers advice for parents and young people – you can download leaflets on a range of topics here. This video made by one of Dyslexia Scotland’s Young Ambassadors has some useful tips for young people on studying at home, and you can find advice for parents on exams here. Their Dyslexia Unwrapped website offers information and support for young people aged 8 to 18+, including advice on studying. You can also call the Dyslexia Scotland helpline on 0344 800 84 84.
Exceptional healthcare needs
CEN provides a range of educational resources and materials.
Learning disabilities
CALL Scotland provides information and resources to help children and young people to overcome barriers to learning.
Salvesen Mindroom have developed a toolkit to support children and young people with learning disabilities, their families and school staff with preparations for transitioning back to school.
Sensory behaviour
Download a guide on how to deal with challenging sensory behaviour here.
Speech and language support
Find support and resources on the I CAN website.
Visual impairment
The Royal Blind School offers a wide range of ideas and resources.
Free materials – books, apps and guides
If you’re looking for some helpful materials to help you navigate this difficult period then we’ve added a few links below that might be able to help. These include free books and guides for you and your family.
- Books For All offers free online text books for learners with a print disability.
- Call Scotland has visual aids to help your child understand coronavirus.
- Wigit symbols provide symbolised, up to date news stories and resources which support some school topics, as well as stories and recipes.
- Singing Hands offers resources in Makaton.
- Dekko educational comic books are aimed at 8-12-year-olds and teach subjects like Maths, English, French, Biology, History and Geography through funny, colourful narratives. They were created by a young Scottish illustrator who struggled with dyslexia himself at school and developed this method of learning to help other struggling readers.
- Flamingo Chicks offers free accessible dance classes to keep disabled children moving during lockdown. Linked to the national curriculum, the classes are Makaton signed and with adaptations throughout and include ways you can support children with limited mobility.