ROLE OF THE ADDITIONAL LEARNING NEEDS COORDINATOR
Additional Learning Needs Coordinators are responsible for managing the needs of children with Special Educational Needs. In schools, colleges, and higher learning institutions some students require special needs for their development. Additional Learning Needs Coordinator works closely with the schools’ governing bodies, teachers, and parents to ensure that the needs of the students with Additional Educational Needs are satisfied. Additional Learning Needs Coordinators are also responsible for educating the rest of the school’s staff to ensure that quality services are provided to the students with Additional Learning Needs. Each school’s governing body has the responsibility of appointing the Additional Learning Needs Coordinator to ensure that the policy regarding the Special Educational Needs is properly implemented in the school’s daily activities. Collaborative working between the Additional Learning Needs Coordinators, and the schools’ governing bodies promotes faster development of children with Additional Learning Needs by ensuring that the Special Educational Needs policies are properly implemented.
Students with Special Educational Needs in schools requires to be treated differently from other normal students for their mental and physical development. The needs of the students with Additional Learning Needs are different from normal students’ needs (Collins, 2015, 587). Students with Special Educational Needs may have some mental problems, or they can be physically challenged. To promote mental and physical development for students with Additional Learning Needs, there should be policies to regulate the learning of the students with Additional Learning Needs. When students who have some mental problems are taught together with students who are mentally fit, education can be of no need for mentally ill students. Also, some mentally fit students can discriminate students with Additional Learning Needs when both the mentally fit students and the mentally ill students are taught together, which can adversely affect students with Additional Learning Needs (Mikkonen, 2016, 173). Therefore, there is a need to come up with policies that direct the schools’ governing body to appoint Additional Learning Needs Coordinator for ensuring that students with Additional Learning Needs exist peacefully in school and the education taught to them is beneficial for their development. Identifying and monitoring the progress of students with Additional Learning Needs is essential for their development.
Ordinary school teachers and parents may fail to identify and monitor the progress of the students with Additional Educational Needs. Failure to recognize students with Additional Educational Needs at the early stages of the children causes detrimental effects to the affected students (Szeto, 2016, 490). Students with Additional Educational Needs require to be frequently taken to medical health centers to monitor their development and health condition. If these students are not identified at a young age, they will be treated just like the normal students, which can cause them to develop some health problems such as stunted growth. Students with Additional Educational Needs require to be subjected to a different educational system from that of the normal students. If these students with special educational needs are not identified at their young age, they will be subjected to an education system that is similar to that of the normal students. Incorporating students with Additional Learning Needs to the same education system to that of the normal students cause adverse mental effects to the students with special needs. Students with Additional Learning Needs require a type of education that is more interactive for them to develop communication and listening skills. When these students are not identified at the right age, they undergo through a wrong education system, which worsens their mental conditions. However, when students with Additional Learning Needs are identified at the right time, they are subjected to an education system that is more interactive for faster mental and physical development. Therefore, there is a need for governing bodies to designate Additional Learning Needs Coordinator in schools to ensure that students with Additional Learning Needs are identified on the right time (Klang, 2017, 396). Identifying students with Additional Educational Needs is necessary for ensuring that these students are subjected to the relevant education system required for their mental and physical development. Additional Learning Needs Coordinators educates parents and teachers on the best methods to apply when dealing with students with Additional Learning Needs. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
Some parents and teachers lack knowledge on how to deal with students with Additional Learning Needs. Therefore, Additional Learning Needs Coordinators are required to educate these parents and teachers on how to deal with students with Additional Learning Needs effectively (Fishman, 2015, 530). Studies have shown that some parents tend to keep the students with special needs indoors instead of taking them to schools where their mental abilities can quickly develop. In some communities, having children with Additional Learning Needs is considered as a curse; therefore, some parents fear to expose their children who require some Additional Learning Needs. Keeping children with Additional Learning Needs indoors affects their general mental health because these students require an environment where they can interact with others for their mental development. If a collaborative health network exists between the Additional Learning Needs coordinator and the parents, the coordinator educates the parents on the need to bring children with Additional Educational Needs to school, which can help in avoiding the cases where some parents hide their children with Additional Learning Needs from the public. Some teachers lack adequate knowledge on how they should treat students with Additional Learning Needs. Students with Additional Learning Needs may have some funny behaviors while they are in school. For example, some students with special needs may remain silent when asked a certain question by a teacher. For teachers who have inadequate knowledge about dealing with students with Additional Learning Needs, they can end up vocally harassing these students because of their behavior to remain silent. Therefore, teachers need to be educated on how to encourage students with Additional Learning Needs to be participative in the school’s activities (Dascalu, 2015, 243). Additional Learning Needs Coordinator educates teachers on the best practices when dealing with students with Additional Learning Needs, which promotes the development and peaceful existence of these students in school.
The Equality Act (2010) by the United Kingdom government is a legislation that ensures that students with Additional Learning Needs are not discriminated in schools. Students and pupils with Additional Learning Needs can easily be discriminated by the other students or by some teachers because of their disadvantaged state in the community (Hewett, 2017, 90). Also, students with Additional Learning Needs can easily be victimized while at schools. The United Kingdom realized that students with various disabilities were being discriminated and victimized while in schools and therefore the government came out with this legislation to ensure fairness in schools. Some students with Additional Learning Needs may be denied to join schools of their choices. Being denied to join schools affects the disabled students psychologically. The government decided to come up with legislation to ensure that all pupils have equal chances of joining the schools of their choices. According to the Equity Act (2010), it is unlawful to discriminate any student based on sex, age, belief, or disability. The legislation is important in ensuring that students with Additional Learning Needs have the same opportunity to join the schools of their choices. Some teachers have a tendency of discontinuing and victimizing students who are pregnant from the school. Pregnant students require Additional Learning Needs because of the responsibilities that come with being pregnant. According to the Equality Act (2010), it is unlawful for any teacher to discriminate students who are pregnant in schools. Additional Learning Needs Coordinators ensures that the legislation is implemented to avoid any form of discrimination to students with Additional Learning Needs in schools. Additional learning needs and disabilities (2014) have been reported as one of the most successful reforms in ensuring the needs of students with Additional Learning Needs are satisfied in schools.
The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) legislation brought major reforms that ensured that students with Additional Learning Needs receive the best treatment while in school. The activities of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities legislation are implemented by the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) (Barnes, 2008, 230). The legislation outlines the school governing bodies should ensure that the needs of students with Additional Learning Needs are satisfied without any discrimination. The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities legislation states that the Special Educational Needs Coordinator is responsible for ensuring that the policy is implemented at the school level for the benefit of students with Additional Educational Needs. Special Educational Needs Coordinator should be able to listen to both school teachers and parents to ensure that all the staff and the parents follow the Special Educational Needs code. The Special Educational Needs coordinator is required to asses and plan for the needs of the students with Additional Needs and come up with developing support programs according to the legislation (Done, 2016, 281). The Special Educational Needs Coordinator should be aware of the welfare and the needs of the students with Additional Learning Needs in the school. The Coordinator is also mandated by the legislation to organize for other activities such as calling outside educational psychologists in the process of ensuring that the students with Additional Educational Needs develop both mentally and physically without any barriers (Gaskell, 2009, 97). In addition, the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities 2014 legislation ensures that parents reports cases of children with difficulties to the Special Educational Needs coordinator as early as possible for appropriate intervention. Therefore, the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities legislation is key in ensuring that the needs of the students with Additional Educational Needs are appropriately satisfied in schools. Every child matters policy of 2003 is critical for the development of students with Additional Learning Needs in England and Wales.
The United Kingdom government launched the policy Every Child Matters in 2003 to create equality of all children in England and Wales (Norwich, 2015, 117). Children may require Additional Learning needs because they are physically challenged or maybe because they have some mental problems. Some physical disabilities can cause children to be vulnerable to certain diseases. Every Child is Equal policy ensured that health professionals would be sent to schools to monitor the health conditions of students with Additional Learning Needs. The practice ensures that all the students in schools remain healthy even the disabled students. Making sure that students with Additional Learning Needs remain healthy helps the students to freely interact with others without difficulties, which is necessary for their mental and physical growth. Also, the aim of the Every Child Matters is to support the needs of every child to stay safe, enjoy, achieve, and to make a positive contribution to the community. Each of the aims of Every Child Matters policy has its framework. However, in all the goals of the Every Child Matters policy, Additional Learning Coordinator is responsible for ensuring that the aims of the policy are achieved at the school level. The Additional Learning Needs Code is a policy passed by the Wales government to make sure that the needs and the rights of the students with Additional Learning Needs were obeyed. The policy provides that for school teachers and parents who violate the rights of students with Additional Learning Needs by failing to satisfy their needs as outlined in the policy will be charged for violating the law. The Additional Learning Needs Code policy by Wales also provides tools, information, and guidance for all teaching practitioners who want to advance their knowledge about caring for the students with Additional Learning Needs. Therefore, the primary aim of all these policies is to come up with regulations and programs that ensure the needs of children with Additional Learning Needs are properly provided.
The Importance of Teaching (DFE,2010) policy provided a new context about the leadership of schools. The policy was introduced by the United Kingdom coalition government to improve school teaching services by enhancing the schools’ leadership. The school head teachers were encouraged to undertake different leadership roles. The Importance of Teaching Policy engaged school head teachers to take personal responsibility about the school development. The head teachers should not be much concerned about the financial benefits, but they should be concerned about leadership roles that can promote the development of the schools. The policy also placed the schools’ leaders to be more accountable to the parents and communities. Leadership roles that promotes the development of the schools includes ensuring equality among all the students. The policy played importance roles in ensuring the needs of students with Special Education Needs were satisfied. The school head teachers needed to appoint individuals who would monitor the services offered to students with Addition Educational Needs according to their new leadership roles.
The aim of several educational policies and legislation is to ensure that the needs of the children with Additional Learning Needs are satisfied at the school level (Daniels, 2007, 521). Some teachers and parents can misuse the students with Additional Learning Needs, which affects the development of the students. Most teachers lack the adequate knowledge required to for fruitful interaction between students with Special Educational Needs and the teachers. Additional Learning Needs Coordinators are trained on how to deal with students with Special Educational Needs. One of the roles of the Additional Learning Special Needs Coordinators is to train teachers on how to deal with students with Special Educational Needs. Educating the teachers on how to interact with students with Additional Learning Needs is a great step that can promote development and conducive learning environment for the students with Special Educational Needs. Timely identification of students with Special Educational Needs ensures that the children with special needs undergoes through the right educational system, which facilitates proper learning. Some parents and teachers cannot identify students with these special needs during early stages. The school head teachers should appoint Additional Learning Needs Coordinators who will be educating parents and teachers on how to identify students with Special Educational Needs. The importance of Teaching (DFE, 2010) policy suggests that the school leaders should adopt leadership roles that promotes equality in schools. To promote equality among all students in school, the school head teachers should appoint individuals who can collaborate with parents to monitor the services offered to students with Special Educational Needs. The National leaders should motivate all school teachers to undertake short courses that will enable them to learn on effective methods that should be employed when teaching students with Special Educational Needs.
In sum, in most of the learning institutions, the presence of children with Additional Learning Needs is undeniable. Students with Additional Learning Needs require some special kind of treatment. The Additional Learning Needs Coordinator is responsible for ensuring that the needs of the students with Additional Learning Needs are satisfied. The Additional Learning Needs Coordinator is responsible for promoting the development of children with Additional Learning Needs by monitoring their progress. Some teachers and parents may interact with children with Additional Learning Needs in a way that may violate the rights of these children. The Additional Learning Needs Coordinator educates the parents and the teachers on the effective methods of interacting with Children with Additional Learning Needs. Legislation and policies have been implemented to ensure that the needs of the Children with Additional Learning Needs are met at the school level. The Additional Learning Needs Coordinator is mandated by the policies with the responsibility of ensuring that the legislation and policies that promote the peaceful existence of children with Additional Learning Needs are implemented at the school level.
References
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