Deciding to put our daughter into mainstream education was not as straightforward as I might have been led to believe. I had just completed a postgraduate in Inclusive Education when it was time to decide what we were doing for Trudy’s primary school. We hadn’t actually considered anything else as she showed good signs of being able to keep up with her peers and seemed to be benefitting hugely from the social interaction. The presumption of mainstreaming legislation in Scotland was firmly in my head and I had also attended the World Down’s Syndrome congress in Glasgow which seemed to state categorically that mainstream was the best setting for our children, unless there were other health or learning needs.

However, the first meeting we attended at her future primary school was an odd one. Nobody seemed to say much and the only thing I remember was the suggestion that Trudy should go to one of the special schools in the area. I was so surprised about this that I’m not sure I was ready with a response (unfortunately, a common situation for families of children with support needs). We pulled it back though and stated, categorically, that Trudy would go to mainstream until it didn’t work for her and we would know this, because she would tell us.

So, the decision was made and Trudy has been in a mainstream primary school for 4 years. She has been wonderfully nurtured, supported and educated to the best of their ability within the limitations of a mainstream environment. She has a few friends, gets invited to birthday parties and is usually front-lining at assembly or the Christmas show. But I want to talk about equity because, without this, mainstream just wouldn’t work for her. Equity, for me and for her, looks like this: She has her class, her teacher, a support member of staff if she needs it, opportunities to be part of the curriculum and opportunities to sit out at times when it’s too much for her, like PE for example. Trudy struggles with the noise so she sits that out. She needs to play still, despite being almost 9 so they have toys in the classroom.

But one of the main things that represents equity for me in such a subtle way is that quiet observation of teachers, support and office staff. Trudy arrived to school this morning in the pouring rain and the entrance had changed. She started to get upset (it had not been a great morning) and we were standing in the rain with my other children. One of the staff noticed us and let us go in the main entrance. There was probably a policy or a rule that states that base children go in the main entrance and mainstream children go in the playground entrance. Equity is about making a judgement on that policy, having the confidence to make decisions which meet the needs of the child, and that comes from both leadership and the staff.  I have many more examples where staff have altered what they’re doing for all children to make accommodations for those who need them. And this doesn’t result in chaos, children inherently understand that they all have different needs.

Equity for me is about adaptation and suitability of the curriculum and the provision to meet the needs of the children within it, and I am so grateful for the opportunities that presents for our daughter.