By being flexible and using a variety of teaching methods, we are giving each student the opportunity to use their strengths and succeed. Additionally, we will help them to improve things that they find more challenging. Differentiating deliverables etc is a way of doing this. The way we "market" to the students as to why we are having differentiated tasks would be important. What we can establish as a class can be that everyone learns in different ways and have different strengths, so as the teacher, you may be assigning slightly different tasks and you want them to do their best. If we educators establish a positive classroom culture which celebrates differences (instead of segregates) right at the beginning, and are consistent in the way we treat everyone in the class as a valued member, we will be an inclusive community.

Engaging parents not just help schools to gather information, it also help to ensure consistency practiced in school and at home.

Tang Wai Yue (Victoria School)

The pilot School-to-Work (S2W)* Transition Programme is a multi-agency collaboration by Ministry of Education (MOE), Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) and SG Enable, in partnership with SPED schools. This programme offers customised training pathways and work options for students with diverse disability profiles who have the potential to work. It helps graduates from Special Education (SPED) schools to transit successfully to employment.

Based on the students’ vocational profiles and needs, they will be recommended for suitable pathways that will offer them the necessary training and employment opportunities, including internships. The recommended pathways are all geared towards employment as the eventual outcome.

Under the training pathway, students may undergo various training and preparatory activities to acquire the skills for certain jobs. They will also receive employment services such as job referrals during or after the training. Students may also undergo internship programmes based on their abilities and preferences and available internship opportunities. The different training pathways will be customised to meet students’ individual abilities and preferences to ensure that they benefit from the training given.

4) Communication is key 

5) Involve all stakeholders (parents, school leaders and teachers) to help the child
6) Work collaboratively
7) Including students with SEN in mainstream classroom to learn the value of empathy and diversity

Sharon Tan
Angsana Primary School

1.      how do we address some teachers who are hesitant to teach such classes? 

2.      the scope is narrowed and there is targeted support with matching of form and subject teachers to such classes etc. However, with full scale SBB kicking in 2024, what kind of considerations should school have so that both teachers and SEN students will continue to be well-supported?
Karen (St. Margaret's Secondary School)
Reply: I have always shared and hope that SLs share the views as well, that for high-challenged classes with most students with high needs, the most versatile teachers (with a very positive mindset) - my personal definition of 'best' teacher, should be deployed. This should also be taken into account, when these teachers have done a good job, during ranking. 
As for your second question, this should be raised to DSEN on 1 July during the dialogue. Please help to do that. Thanks.

On top of that, as mentioned multiple times in the audio, other students may also learn the important lesson of empathy and compassion with the cultivation of inclusive culture in the class. This will serve as first-hand yet powerful experience for our young generation to learn the struggles of people with disability and be empathetic. 

Hieng Han (Tanglin Sec Sch)

This will be especially challenging when this particular class not only have many students with SEN but also have students with challenging behaviour.

Hieng Han (Tanglin Sec Sch)
Reply: You are right that it is more challenging. That is why we must not do it alone. In the provision of manpower/ expertise support, I believe that there is a concerted effort for the training of more AED LBS. In supporting high-challenged classes (with majority of high-needs students), we will need teachers who understand SEN support, are reflective and have a positive mindset, and are well-adept with sufficient knowledge and repertoire to create an inclusive classroom. More importantly, these teachers must be supported by the team (e.g. CMT) in the school and not be left "fending for themselves" on their own. Team support and planning will be key. The school can provide the necessary support e.g. in making certain accommodations to support the teachers and students in such classes.

Jaslyn

Victoria School

Roger
Yangzheng Primary

For the "normal" students, they too have their weakness and areas to work on, in terms of skills and values. So, I find that my work with my students with SEN is not so different. In fact, the motivating factors to being a teacher helped me to work with every student. 

When I work with my AEDs and teachers, we always ask ourselves, "What is his/her needs?" instead of the diagnosis. In fact, this question is for every student in our charge. So, needs based and many other factors in play should be considered. 

We can try our best to work with parents, but when we do have parents who affect the child negatively, we can only explore other factors to help the child. 

Shuying
Chongfu School

In school, there is a core group of trained TSN teachers who are the resource person that teachers can go to for support. The SEN champ and AED(LBS) in school have also played an instrumental role in promoting SEN awareness and sharing strategies and resources to support the teachers.  

More importantly, open communication between parents and teachers is key. Parents must trust the school and share information about their child’s learning challenges so that teachers can better understand and help the child transit into the school setting. 

Kar Mui

Shuqun Primary School

Dr Mariam spoke about the parents being part of the support team for the child with SEN and an excellent resource for the school to tap on for a better understanding of the child. I see the importance for schools to reach out and engage the parents of students with special needs, and build positive relationships with them. 

Having full advanced information from the parents about the profile of their child even before the start of the year would certainly help schools effectively deploy resources and plan interventions for the child. This partnership between the parents and the school will help to ensure that the child with SEN is better supported in his or her educational journey in the mainstream school. 
(Norain, Springfield Secondary)

So, my question is, for negative peer influence or interactions, do we have other strategies to help children understand the needs of students with special needs? so that interactions can be improved.

Shuying
Chongfu School

Reply: As teachers, we can start by modelling empathy and understanding.  In the classroom, we can model understanding and empathy for our students by not singling out the student and not calling out the student publicly for their perceived fault, for example messy handwriting.

We can also share with students (with the student with special needs already sent away with another adult much earlier than this session so that it is "not so obvious") on a Skill perspective. Visual spatial reasoning, body awareness, impulse control and emotion regulation skills could be viewed as issues faced by the student with special needs.  Given that frame, is he or she being unreasonable ‘on purpose’, or is he or she just lacking the skills to “do well if he or she could”? Having discussions with students in response to other students’ challenging behaviours can help shift their understanding to a more empathic frame. If you can frame the student’s behaviours as a SKILL challenge, not a WILL challenge, then you will be able to help other students do the same.

We should also encourage a relook at concept of Fairness.
As an educator, your ability to model empathy will have a strong impact on the student in question and the students in general. This will also then help all students to see that everyone has different abilities and we are being ‘fair’ if we respond to each person’s needs.
You can use the pic on equality vs equity to explain. 

Visual examples, like the image below can help students understand the difference between sameness and fairness. In the image on the left, the three children are all treated equally and given the same supports, whether they need it or not. The tallest child is getting more support than he needs and the shortest child is not receiving enough support and still cannot watch the baseball game.

Fairness, on the other hand, means that each student gets the support that he or she needs, as illustrated by the image on the right. As a result of the appropriate supports being given all the children are able to watch the baseball game. Although the children do not receive the same treatment, the students are being treated fairly and each is getting what he or she needs to be successful.