PDA and Education - an update. Success!

Our 17 year old PDA daughter has had what could be described as a 'patchy' education experience. Through no fault of her own, I must add. 

Those of you who have read our book PDA in the Family or followed this blog or my Facebook page closely will know many of the details of her education trials and tribulations. It's a long story, containing some superheroes but also a couple of villains, sadly. One of these has taken up far too much of my head space over the past few years and I can't deny I'm writing this post with him in mind. Maybe he'll get to read it, and it might lead to some reflection... I won't hold my breath though.

We have news. This week, we found out that our PDAer has passed her Functional Skills Level 2 in English. This qualification is equivalent to a English GCSE grade 4 (a C in old money!).

There was no stress around sitting this exam, no preparation for it at home. All she has done is two 45-minute sessions of English per week for a grand total of four and a half school terms. I think her English teacher only talked about the possibility of her taking this exam for one of those terms. So it's pretty much a case of 'rocked up and aced it'.

We've always known that she has a brilliant mind - her range and use of vocabulary is amazing at times. I say 'at times' because for much of the time she does not talk in person, to us or others. She types insightful comments online (she's no fan of TikTok but is well versed in YouTube!) and also types fan fictions that she publishes online. Communicating is probably one of her biggest challenges in life - she can talk, very well, but generally only on 'topics of her own choosing'. There's no denying however, that her English language skills are outstanding.

Anyhow let's get back to the story of our PDAers education, or lack of it, and why, and how, she is taking Functional Skills exams rather than GCSEs or A-levels.

From when she first started at her infant school, she needed more support than other children. More support to stay focused and encouragement to do what the other children were doing. When it came to taking the end of Key Stage 1 SATs (standardised assessment tests which were compulsory for 6-7 year olds at that time), she was taken to a separate room where the teachers helped her to answer questions by employing all sorts of PDA approaches - a huge helping of novelty and fun, and a chime on a musical triangle every time they wanted her to respond.

Her mainstream experience came to an abrupt end at the age of 10, just before the end of Year 5. The Headteacher of that school at the time was not prepared to give her the extra support needed and so she was not going to be ready to sit down and take her Year 6 SATs with her peers. She recognised herself that she was different to the majority of the other children in that mainstream school, and she wanted to move to a school with children who thought more like her.

Sadly, there just didn't seem to be a school like that in our county. After eight months of 'discussions' with the Local Authority we tried a moderate learning disability school even though we didn't feel it was going to be the right fit for her, and sadly we were proved right. For about a year we struggled through trying to see if the setting could somehow change to accommodate her needs but ultimately that was not possible. More time at home followed as we tried to search for a new solution, and we were hit with the extra challenge of the pandemic. Despite this Sasha agreed to attend some sessions run by the ESMA service (Education Support for Medical Absence) and eventually began some art and design sessions at a specialist school for children in years 9-10 (age 14-16) who had found school difficult.

On their website, this school states 'We offer functional skills, vocational qualifications and GCSEs. Please see our examination results as we are very proud of our pupils and their achievements.' However at the time our daughter attended, there was no offer for her to attempt her Functional Skills exams - worse than that, she was actually refused entry to English and Maths lessons. Not because Sasha said she wouldn't do them (she was willing to try, although it's true that the idea didn't exactly fill her with joy...), but as far as I could tell, it was because the school didn't believe she could learn or take any exams in those subjects. They weren't prepared to let her try.

So off to Tribunal we went - but that's another long story, all in our book, so I will cut it short here for the purposes of this post. 

What happened next was that Sasha spent a lot more time at home, out of school, with no formal learning. Eventually, she was put on role at a fourth 'school' (fifth if you count ESMA) and a very slow transition ensued. I use inverted commas for school because this setting is not a traditional school as most people would imagine. When Sasha started attending, sessions took place in an office block, and for the past year they have been in a large house.

The graph above is one that our PDAer created herself a few years ago as part of an animation about her school experiences - I think if I asked her to re-draw this, there would be a long straight line headed straight back up at the point 6 mark!

What made this setting different? How have they managed to support Sasha and help her achieve this result?

People. Attitudes. A desire to understand and help the individual. A way of encouraging that was working with Sasha rather than teaching at her. That's what has made the difference. Sasha has had full attendance since the day she started (apart from an odd sick day), and that is no mean feat for a girl who was classed as a school refuser for a long time. We are so proud of her, and very grateful to the individuals who work at this setting.

I've only mentioned English but last term Sasha also passed her Functional Skills Level 1 in Maths. That's equivalent to GCSE D-E or 3. This term she will attempt the Level 2 in Maths and I believe she will succeed. Do these qualifications matter though? That's a whole other blog post, that I have a lot of thoughts on - watch this space if you dare :)

Words used at the Tribunal that I will not forget were in the statement from that third school as they tried to justify not including Sasha. They suggested they understood that Sasha had complex needs, but they didn't feel they were 'as considerable as many others who have succeeded in a school environment'. They stated that 'there is a tendency for her parents to believe that the PDA type behaviours precludes Sascha from the childhood others enjoy. Sascha life is devoid of any meaningful challenge and this isn't representative of real life or the approach that will support her to become a successful adult' (sic). 

In other words, they thought we were the problem (I guess I can take comfort from the fact they didn't write it was just mum, ha!).

And yet, with no different approach from us as parents, but a very different approach from a different school, these qualifications have been achieved. Alongside that, our PDAer has grown in confidence and matured and will absolutely be a successful adult (something we've never doubted by the way). Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, Mr Statement Writer....