Case Study 1

Garry worked with a young person, ‘James’*, in Residential Care who exhibited challenging behaviour, including violent outbursts. Garry identified barriers to learning early on and consulted his mentor at Warwick University who suggested using a growth model (Mathematical Resilience) to help overcome his barriers and increase engagement. Garry discusses how he used the model to explore comfort zones which helped James develop a greater understanding of his emotions and the skills to self-regulate. Garry made it his mission to help the young person apply his maths skills in the real world and reintegrate into his community, encouraging the support staff around James to do the same.

*All pupil names are fictional.

Case Study 2

Our tutor Melanie worked with a Year 11 student who has been in a special school placement since Year 6. The student is on the autistic spectrum, has juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and a cochlear implant. The school completely closed down during lockdown, including on results day.

The parent/carer relationship deteriorated with the school, and they would only speak to the tutor. Provision simply did not happen, and the student was due to complete GCSE exams, but the school was focusing on functional skills. The tutor saw past the young person’s physical needs and recognised her academic ability and creativity. She discussed this with the young person, thinking of ways to further her creativity and agreed that they could gain recognition through qualifications.

The tutor wrote an extensive reference to the college advocating for the learner to be accepted onto an appropriate post-16 college course: Level 2 Animal Care. The tutor completed calculated grades for the learner’s Level 2 Functional Skills and contacted the exam bodies to obtain the student’s results singlehandedly. The learner was the only person in her year to receive grades and is now enrolled in the Animal Care college course of her choice.

Case Study 3

John joined Equal Education “on a whim” in May 2019, wanting to increase his experience working with young people with Special Educational Needs and learning difficulties. When he was presented with the opportunity to work with a young person in a secure hospital unit, he was unsure how he would fare. After a tough start, John had a ‘lightbulb’ moment when he came across a subject about which the young person became passionate. Here he tells us how important it was to identify the young person’s interests in order to boost engagement and how this has produced results that he never imagined possible.