We are an inclusive early years centre in London, funded jointly by Islington education, regeneration and social services, and have six places for children with severe and complex needs. We know what it's like to receive a huge wad of medical information about a child and then be really worried about how to cope! We also knew, before we developed our passports, that primary schools were concerned about how they would manage with some of the children that we were sending on to them.
Although there is a need for specific information about medical conditions, behaviour strategies and so on, we felt that the existing systems of just sending on individual education plans, professional reports and a leaver's record, didn't really help staff to understand the child's needs quickly and easily. The reports can be written in language which seems to have very little to do with the daily experience of working with that child as a person. And they tend to focus on the child's difficulties and problems, rather than what the child can do and enjoys doing.
What are passports?
Passports are books with simple texts and photos made for children with special needs, in order to transfer information about the child on to other professionals, particularly around transition to primary school. Some special schools in Islington had tried them out before us and the original idea came from SENSE, the organisation for deaf-blind people.
The passports we have made at Fortune Park are our interpretation of this idea. Since we started making them, staff from primary schools and other early years centres have shown a real interest, so now we have started talking about them at conferences and courses. Changing Faces, an organisation that works with children who have facial disfigurement and is keen to help children and staff talk about 'difference', also influenced us.
The passports are written from the child's point of view and presented like a picture book, so that children can get involved in both writing and reading them, where possible. Each passport is different, in order to reflect each child's own special needs, but every passport will also contain a section on the child's family and interests. It is important to focus on the child, rather than the medical condition. The actual format of the passport is also flexible. We have used a scanner to scan in photos.
Some centres have digital cameras to use, but simply sticking in photos works just as well. It is important that the passport can be a changing document, and can be changed as the needs of the child change. For example, Amina, a child who is now in reception class, has a new chair, and the section we wrote about how to help her in and out of her old chair is now out of date. We deliberately used a folder with pages that slip in, so that any section in the passport can be changed easily.
The language used in the passport is very important. Staff and parents often struggle to find the right words to talk about difference. We think very carefully about which words to use and how to phrase things, so that we give a positive and respectful view of the child's impairments. For example, in talking about a girl with mobility issues, we thought very carefully about the words that she was happy to use about herself: 'I am a wheelchair user as my legs don't work properly, but I can crawl and pull myself up to the table or on to a chair. If I need your help I will ask you.'
Who could have one?
We have written passports for children with a wide range of needs, including cerebral palsy, facial disfigurement, medical conditions, autistic spectrum disorders and emotional and behavioural difficulties.
They could be written about any child whom we feel needs it.
Each passport will be different according to the child's needs. A child with severe cerebral palsy had the following sections in her passport: 'introduction', 'what I enjoy', 'my family and home life', 'communication', 'mobility', 'feeding'. Another child with a cleft palate had his written around questions that his mum told us children often ask, for example, 'Why does his face look like that?' 'Does it hurt?' 'Can he talk properly?'
Any of the keyworkers at Fortune Park might have children with special needs. They are the people who know the child best and they are the ones who take the lead in writing the passports. Of course, we involve the child, if they are able to contribute. One of our children who was not able to speak didn't take part in writing her passport. Another, with a cleft palate, was adamant about which photos we should use.
Transition can be a worrying time for any child. Parents of children with special needs are particularly concerned, and the passport is a good way of reassuring them. Children themselves can also be reassured by making the passport.
Who reads the passports?
Reception teachers and learning support assistants have said that the passport is very useful as a quick and reassuring introduction to the child. They are also useful for other staff in the school, who need to understand the immediate needs and personality of the child. Students, supply staff or visiting professionals could also read them.
Our aim has always been to get the passport ready in plenty of time before the child leaves Fortune Park, so that we can take it over to the primary school before the child arrives there. The keyworker can then read the passport to the class and children can ask as many questions as they like.
Children are naturally curious about difference and will ask questions.
However, it is much better for the questions to be asked before the disabled child arrives.
Parents of able-bodied children are sometimes worried about how to answer their child's questions about disability, such as, 'Why can't she walk?'
'Why does he look like that?' The passport can give them a language to talk with their child about a child's impairment as a passport can be taken home by other children, with the permission of the disabled child and his or her family.
When we first started using passports we had a staff meeting at the Centre to explain them. Several members of staff said that they wished they had read them while the children were still at the Centre. Often the keyworker may have a great deal of knowledge about a child which can be conveyed to others quickly by a passport. It stops inclusion becoming a mystery that only some people know about.
Children with special needs are as much everyone's responsibility as any other child and the passport helps staff to feel more comfortable about taking this on.
Where next?
We hope that our example might inspire others to make passports, and we would be very interested in seeing any that readers have made. You can contact us on earlyyears@fortunepark.fsnet.co.uk.
