In this paper, I explore CLDD within the political background of disability, rooted in debates on SEND studies. Since the 1970s, policy reforms have prompted increased discussion around practices for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). However, these reforms have remained controversial and multidimensional across…

This systematic review explores test anxiety in children and young people (CYP) with learning difficulties. Research has found that students with learning difficulties experience higher levels of anxiety about school compared to peers without learning difficulties. One area of school that has had little research is test anxiety, therefore further…

The Engagement Model was launched in January 2020, endeavouring to address the weaknesses of the P-scales assessment for students not yet involved in a subject-specific curriculum. This paper will discuss how and if the tensions between previously adopted assessment systems as discussed in teacher interviews can be reconciled through the…

The Equals Formal Curriculum English Scheme of Work has been designed for that very small percentage of the school population, perhaps as low as one or two per cent, who have global learning difficulties (GLD) to such a degree that they are consistently working at levels significantly below their age-related peers for all of their academic lives.…

This article discusses how one special school for pupils with moderate-learning difficulties reflects themes in the literature on pupil motivation. It aims to highlight good practice and is based on reflections from prolonged working with the school as an advisory teacher, illustrated with teacher, pupil and parent comments from Y6 Education…

The study presents data drawn from semi-structured interviews with five young people permanently excluded from schools in North East England. The research aimed to investigate the risk factors that lead to the children using illegal drugs, to determine the drivers and implications for drug misuse and the carrying of knives into school. The…

This article details a piece of small-scale action-based research in a school for students with learning difficulties. It focusses on the use of Drama as a means whereby confidence of those students who are at a point of transition to employment can be enhanced. Using qualitative-based mixed methods of data generation, a range of issues are…

The telling of personal stories is a feature of everyday life. Young people with learning difficulties may find it difficult to report what has happened to them. A project was set up to investigate the impact of Storysharing® on the co-construction of personal narratives by staff and students in a special school. The current study investigated the…

The challenges presented by students who struggle to connect with curriculum learning in school constitute an issue that confronts education systems worldwide. This article reviews ways in which such students can be encouraged to engage more positively in their own learning, a process that benefits both the child and the whole school community. In…

This paper describes the process employed by a psychological service to gather the views of children and young people using guided discussion groups and questionnaires. Pupils in the guided discussion groups were asked to identify issues that affect them and how adults could help. This information was analysed using thematic analysis. Seven themes…

The introduction of the National Curriculum in 1988 caused much discussion (some of it angst-ridden) among both academics and practitioners working with pupils with severe and profound learning difficulties, and much of the meat (and the angst) of these discussions is still going on today. We argue that 24 years is a long experiment; that despite…

This study explored the perceptions of parents and teachers regarding the differential treatment or stigma experienced by pupils with challenging behaviour--more specifically, those with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties (BESD), as well as children with visible special educational needs (Down's syndrome and/or profound and multiple…

This article reports on research that was carried out with parents in order to understand the education system in England from their viewpoint through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with seven parents, who were largely sourced through a local dyslexia specialist tutor. The data were analysed by using cross-sectional analysis in order to…

The original concept of a subculture of learning support in secondary schools developed from a study of "Support Teachers, Learning Difficulties" in New South Wales, Australia. The study examined the influence of school culture on the service delivery model used by these support teachers in three case studies, one of which is reported in…

Successful transition from primary to secondary school is important for psychosocial well-being. Children with special educational needs (SEN) may face additional complexities at transition, although the impact of this process on children's psychosocial adjustment has been underexplored. The article aims to review systematically the literature…