This blog has been written by the team at Learn & Thrive – a charity that helps learners with Down’s syndrome access specialist support. Find out more about Learn & Thrive on their website here.
When is the right time to have the ‘talk’ with our learners with SEND?
Well, the simple answer is, it’s never too early. Without access to high-quality, specialised education, learners with SEND can’t thrive. Simply tagging them on to existing programmes of learning does them a dis-service and they need the opportunity to learn the complex and forever changing unspoken social rules that
pulse through the world around them. These skills around managing their bodies and their choices not only keeps them safe, but empowers them to access the wide range of experiences and opportunities they deserve.
We know that while the RSE curriculum provides a helpful framework, our learners often need much more in terms of foundation skills than their typical peers. We also have a responsibility to deliver it in an age-appropriate way. It’s up to all of us to pick up the missed learning and provide these learners with what they truly need; teaching which is aligned to both their learning needs and their specific ‘problem areas’.
A key issue that isn’t necessarily restricted to the SEND community, is the issues around teaching puberty and sex education. For typically developing learners, they may receive the basic teaching necessary, and much of their own learning comes from inference, chatting with friends, and other social situations. However, our learners can’t, and shouldn’t(!), be learning from inference – sometimes TV shows like Eastenders, aren’t quite built to be a positive learning experience! Furthermore, the variation of experiences in the real world can be confusing and isn’t conducive to clear-cut lessons on puberty and sex education.
To adequately support these learners to understand these often quite sensitive subjects, we must push through the awkwardness in favour of clarity, repetitive teaching, and practical examples. ‘Learning for Life’ provides a ready-made set of video lessons and resources to support educators in just these topics. Built with specialists from Inclusively Down, the new series ‘The Changing Adolescent Body’, uses the framework of the primary RSE curriculum on puberty, growing up, and personal hygiene, alongside additions specific to these learners, to provide high-quality, accessible, and specialist videos and resources. There’s no mincing of words in this series – we are teaching clearly and concisely, so that learners can learn the basics, and discuss nuances with their parent/carer, support worker, or teacher.
Resources like this work to negate the feeling of being left behind. Free and accessible online anytime, they are made to be used flexibly and provide the teaching our learners with Down’s syndrome (initially designed for that community, but now used by many more), and SEND so desperately need and deserve. These series are ready to go in the home, school, or support groups, saving crucial time and money for parents and educators alike. We all feel the strain on our teaching and support staff across the country, so to free up their time gives them a greater opportunity to support their students more effectively.
Born out of the lived experiences of the Learn and Thrive CEO and the other learners at 21 Together, a Down’s syndrome support group in Kent, Learn and Thrive has been rapidly growing over the last three years. With thanks to grants and trusts, everything produced by the charity is completely free. ‘The Changing Adolescent Body’ is the newest of five series in Learning for Life, a project providing teaching across the primary RSE curriculum. Also, by Learn and Thrive Teach Me Too is for early years, and focuses on speech and language and cognition and learning. Everything the charity produces has been created by and with specialists from across the SEND community, including specialist teachers, counsellors, and
consultants.
Want to learn more? Visit the Learn and Thrive website to see what’s available, and sign up for free to access the projects.
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