Bridging the divide? Unit and resourced provision

As provision changes, boundaries blur, a continuum of provision is talked of, rather than a straight choice between special and mainstream education.

Additionally, a couple of thousand children are dual registered, spending part of their time in a special school and part in a mainstream school.

Specialist resourced and unit provision, a sort of halfway house, are increasingly popular options. Units are usually attached to a mainstream school and tend to specialise in a particular SEN, perhaps in autism, or hearing impaired provision.

Specialised facilities and specialists are attached to the unit, with help from teachers, therapists and others whose expertise is needed. Children will be based in the resource/unit, but may spend time in the mainstream classroom, and/or children from the mainstream may spend time in the unit.

Units and resourced provision often describe the same thing, though in some areas a unit operates as a mini-special school within a mainstream school, with resourced provision taking place mainly in the classroom, but with pupils being withdrawn to a resource for specialist input.

A third dimension for children with SEN - dual registration.

It isn’t only resourced provision that works in this way; many special schools actively encourage their children to spend as much time as possible in a mainstream environment. Visits have to be carefully planned to suit the needs of the child and indeed the other members of the class the child will be integrated into. Admittedly some inclusion into mainstream simply pays lip service and the benefits to the child are neither tangible nor overt. At the other end of the spectrum some children have benefited hugely from spending time in both special and mainstream schools. We’ve even visited schools where children in special schools are included for part of their time in other more specialised settings. What is evident is that forays into either setting need to be carefully planned with motivations identified.

Attending resourced unit provision - Peter's story

Unit and resourced provision are increasingly cited as desirable half-way houses, offering specialised input but with the benefits of accessible inclusion. However, as illustrated by Mary and Peter’s story (names changed to protect identity) things don’t always work out.

‘I have been battling with the school system for 8 years. My son Peter has Asperger’s syndrome, a bad temper and low motivation. He has been permanently excluded once and had lots and lots of fixed term and also illegal 'stay at homes'. I am appalled that special needs kids can be excluded at all, THEY HAVE SPECIAL NEEDS.

He is now in an autistic specific unit within a mainstream school which I had to fight for. I, perhaps foolishly, thought that my troubles with schools would be over when he got in, silly me. Peter is now on the v...