‘We’ve got a few who don’t go to PE’: Learning support assistant and special educational needs coordinator views on inclusion in physical education in England

Britain’s 1981 Education Act stimulated a partial migration of pupils from special to mainstream schools. The onus has since been on teachers to meet the needs and capitalise on the capabilities of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in mainstream school settings. The research analysed learning support assistant (LSA) and special educational needs coordinator (SENCO) views on inclusion in physical education (PE). Individual interviews were conducted with 12 LSAs and 12 SENCOs working in mainstream schools in North-West England. Open, axial and selective coding was performed on interview transcripts to identify reoccurring themes. The research found that SENCOs and LSAs considered PE to be an inclusive subject, the conceptualisation of which was left to them. However, developing PE provision that met the needs and optimised the capabilities of pupils with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and supporting pupils with SEND during team games and competitive sports, were identified as key challenges to inclusion in PE. This may be of concern to some educationalists given that these types of curriculum activities have recently been repositioned at the heart of PE in England. A key challenge for all those involved in educating pupils with SEND in PE, especially teachers and LSAs, is to plan and teach team games and competitive sports in ways that meet the needs of and stretch all pupils, in particular those with ASD

Mary Warnock

This biography illuminates the life and thought of Baroness Mary Warnock, whose active years spanned the second half of the twentieth century, a period during which opportunities for middle-class women rapidly and vastly improved. Warnock was described as ‘probably the most celebrated philosopher in Britain.’ She began her career as an Oxford University philosophy don and went on to become headmistress of an independent girls’ school. Warnock subsequently chaired two select committees which produced reports of lasting significance, first to children with special needs, and second to childless couples. She then became Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge, and an active member of the House of Lords. Alongside these positions, Warnock wrote twenty books, ranging from the fields of philosophy to education and medical ethics. Her ideas were largely in tune with contemporary progressive thinking but late in life Warnock’s extreme championing of assisted dying for older people won her enemies even among progressives. This authorised biography, written by a friend of the subject, will be of great value to the general reader with an interest in philosophy, ethics, twentieth-century cultural history, and the changing role of women from the 1950s onwards

Mary Warnock

This biography illuminates the life and thought of Baroness Mary Warnock, whose active years spanned the second half of the twentieth century, a period during which opportunities for middle-class women rapidly and vastly improved. Warnock was described as ‘probably the most celebrated philosopher in Britain.’ She began her career as an Oxford University philosophy don and went on to become headmistress of an independent girls’ school. Warnock subsequently chaired two select committees which produced reports of lasting significance, first to children with special needs, and second to childless couples. She then became Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge, and an active member of the House of Lords. Alongside these positions, Warnock wrote twenty books, ranging from the fields of philosophy to education and medical ethics. Her ideas were largely in tune with contemporary progressive thinking but late in life Warnock’s extreme championing of assisted dying for older people won her enemies even among progressives. This authorised biography, written by a friend of the subject, will be of great value to the general reader with an interest in philosophy, ethics, twentieth-century cultural history, and the changing role of women from the 1950s onwards

Mathematically gifted and talented learners: Theory and practice

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 40(2), 213-228, 2009, copyright Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/00207390802566907.There is growing recognition of the special needs of mathematically gifted learners. This article reviews policy developments and current research and theory on giftedness in mathematics. It includes a discussion of the nature of mathematical ability as well as the factors that make up giftedness in mathematics. The article is set in the context of current developments in Mathematics Education and Gifted Education in the UK and their implications for Science and Technology. It argues that early identification and appropriate provision for younger mathematically promising pupils capitalizes on an intellectual resource which could provide future mathematicans as well as specialists in Science or Technology. Drawing on a Vygotskian framework, it is suggested that the mathematically gifted require appropriate cognitive challenges as well as attitudinally and motivationally enhancing experiences. In the second half of this article we report on an initiative in which we worked with teachers to identify mathematically gifted pupils and to provide effective enrichment support for them, in a number of London Local Authorities. A number of significant issues are raised relating to the identification of mathematical talent, enrichment provision for students and teachers’ professional development

Medical ethics education in Britain, 1963-1993

Changing attitudes toward human experimentation along with other controversial moral issues emerged after the Second World War and, in 1963, led to the London Medical Group, organized by Ted Shotter, with similar Medical Groups emerging elsewhere from 1967. These became forums for discussion and debate arising from dilemmas encountered in medical settings. Medical ethics did not become a recognized subject in the syllabus of Britain's medical schools until 1993. This Witness Seminar transcript records the development of international ethical codes, the response to them over the period 1963-93 by students and doctors and the extent of resistance encountered from Deans, hospital administrators and others; the Groups' influence on medical practice; the impact on both Medical Group organizers and participants in their subsequent careers; the local and regional variations and their significant lasting contributions. The meeting was chaired by Dr Stephen Lock and included former Medical Group members, scientists, physicians and policy makers, such as Professors Kenneth Boyd, Bill Fulford, Roger Higgs, Bryan Jennett,, Sir Ian Kennedy, David Morton, and Sir Malcolm Macnaughton. An introduction by Professor Sir Kenneth Calman and appendices of the Very Revd Edward Shotter's reflections on the influence of the Medical Groups as a report for the Institute of Medical Ethics complete the transcript

The Making of British Bioethics

Recent decades have witnessed profound shifts in the politics of medicine and the biological sciences. Members of several professions, including philosophers, lawyers and social scientists, now discuss and help regulate issues that were once left to doctors and scientists, in a form of outside involvement known as ‘bioethics’. The making of British bioethics provides the first in-depth study of the growing demand for this outside involvement in Britain, where bioethicists have become renowned and influential ‘ethics experts’. The book moves beyond existing histories, which often claim that bioethics arose in response to questions surrounding new procedures such as in vitro fertilisation. It shows instead that British bioethics emerged thanks to a dynamic interplay between changing sociopolitical concerns and the aims of specific professional groups and individuals. Highlighting this interplay has important implications for our understanding of how issues such as embryo experiments, animal research and assisted dying became high profile ‘bioethical’ concerns in late twentieth century Britain. And it also helps us appreciate how various individuals and groups intervened in and helped create the demand for bioethics, playing a major role in their transformation into ‘ethics experts’. The making of British bioethics draws on a wide range of materials, including government archives, popular sources, professional journals, and original interviews with bioethicists and politicians. It is clearly written and will appeal to historians of medicine and science, general historians, bioethicists, and anyone interested in what the emergence of bioethics means for our notions of health, illness and morality

Medical Ethics Education in Britain, 1963-1993

Annotated and edited transcript of a Witness Seminar held on 9 May 2006. Introduction by Professor Sir Kenneth Calman.First published by the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL, 2007.©The Trustee of the Wellcome Trust, London, 2007.All volumes are freely available online at: www.history.qmul.ac.uk/research/modbiomed/wellcome_witnesses/Annotated and edited transcript of a Witness Seminar held on 9 May 2006. Introduction by Professor Sir Kenneth Calman.Annotated and edited transcript of a Witness Seminar held on 9 May 2006. Introduction by Professor Sir Kenneth Calman.Annotated and edited transcript of a Witness Seminar held on 9 May 2006. Introduction by Professor Sir Kenneth Calman.Annotated and edited transcript of a Witness Seminar held on 9 May 2006. Introduction by Professor Sir Kenneth Calman.Annotated and edited transcript of a Witness Seminar held on 9 May 2006. Introduction by Professor Sir Kenneth Calman.Annotated and edited transcript of a Witness Seminar held on 9 May 2006. Introduction by Professor Sir Kenneth Calman.Changing attitudes toward human experimentation along with other controversial moral issues emerged after the Second World War and, in 1963, led to the London Medical Group, organized by Ted Shotter, with similar Medical Groups emerging elsewhere from 1967. These became forums for discussion and debate arising from dilemmas encountered in medical settings. Medical ethics did not become a recognized subject in the syllabus of Britain's medical schools until 1993. This Witness Seminar transcript records the development of international ethical codes, the response to them over the period 1963-93 by students and doctors and the extent of resistance encountered from Deans, hospital administrators and others; the Groups' influence on medical practice; the impact on both Medical Group organizers and participants in their subsequent careers; the local and regional variations and their significant lasting contributions. The meeting was chaired by Dr Stephen Lock and included former Medical Group members, scientists, physicians and policy makers, such as Professors Kenneth Boyd, Bill Fulford, Roger Higgs, Bryan Jennett,, Sir Ian Kennedy, David Morton, and Sir Malcolm Macnaughton. An introduction by Professor Sir Kenneth Calman and appendices of the Very Revd Edward Shotter's reflections on the influence of the Medical Groups as a report for the Institute of Medical Ethics complete the transcript. Reynolds L A, Tansey E M. (eds) (2007) Medical ethics education in Britain, 1963–93, Wellcome Witnesses to Twentieth Century Medicine, vol. 31. London: The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL

Chapter 4 'Where to draw the line?' Mary Warnock, embryos and moral expertise

Recent decades have witnessed profound shifts in the politics of medicine and the biological sciences. Members of several professions, including philosophers, lawyers and social scientists, now discuss and help regulate issues that were once left to doctors and scientists, in a form of outside involvement known as ‘bioethics’. The making of British bioethics provides the first in-depth study of the growing demand for this outside involvement in Britain, where bioethicists have become renowned and influential ‘ethics experts’. The book moves beyond existing histories, which often claim that bioethics arose in response to questions surrounding new procedures such as in vitro fertilisation. It shows instead that British bioethics emerged thanks to a dynamic interplay between changing sociopolitical concerns and the aims of specific professional groups and individuals. Highlighting this interplay has important implications for our understanding of how issues such as embryo experiments, animal research and assisted dying became high profile ‘bioethical’ concerns in late twentieth century Britain. And it also helps us appreciate how various individuals and groups intervened in and helped create the demand for bioethics, playing a major role in their transformation into ‘ethics experts’. The making of British bioethics draws on a wide range of materials, including government archives, popular sources, professional journals, and original interviews with bioethicists and politicians. It is clearly written and will appeal to historians of medicine and science, general historians, bioethicists, and anyone interested in what the emergence of bioethics means for our notions of health, illness and morality

Outreach, July 1987

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Great Britain and Ireland Outreach Finding Ai