Ipswich MP continues campaign to help children with learning difficulties
Tom Hunt is working with Matt Hancock to help children with learning difficulties reach their full potential
Ipswich MP Tom Hunt is continuing his campaign to ensure all children with dyspraxia and dyslexia get the support they need with education, regardless of their background.
He's said previously: "I will campaign for first class provisions for all SEND kids whether in special schools or in a mainstream setting. It is vital that no one is left behind and that Britain can utilise the creativity and talents of these students.
"I will promote skills training and apprenticeships in Ipswich. This will ensure that there are avenues to good careers for young people.
"I will campaign for funding for exercise and leisure facilities. Activity is important for children’s health and mental wellbeing as well as keeping them occupied and away from crime."
Tom Hunt was diagnosed with dyslexia and dyspraxia when he was 12 years old and at the time he had "the reading and writing age of an 8 year old."
He told us how fortunate he felt that he was able to go to an independent school, where he was able to receive additional help, but understands that not all schools are able to provide the kind of support he received, which is why he is so passionate about this campaign.
He said "I'm very, very keen to ensure that it's not a sort of, you know, post code lottery when it comes to dyslexia and dyspraxia and getting that kind of support, getting the diagnosis as early as possible, earlier than 12, even though I was quite lucky to get diagnosed at 12 and and then have the support in place to ensure that those young people can achieve their full potential."
One of the ways in which he is going about making this change, is by working with Matt Hancock so that children are able to get diagnosed at an earlier stage, ideally at 7 years old, so they can receive help earlier on.
One thing Mr Hunt said about learning difficulties is that they can be "hidden disabilities where they're less obvious, but they impact learning in quite a significant way."
The MP is starting with help for dyslexia, but is keen to expand this resource to help other types of learning difficulties.
"The big thing is that you're you're not a conventional learner. Your brains wired a bit differently. You process information a bit differently.
"So it's about trying to have an education system. It is sensitive to that, trying to have, you know, not just specialists in place who are able to provide that one to one support from time to time, but also having all teachers is more of a general awareness of these types, disabilities and the fact that not all young people process information in the same way."
He told us that one way of moving forward with this campaign is working with Ofcom to change the ways schools are assessed.
Right now, Ofcom focuses largely on the grades schools are producing, but the MP says that might need to change: "When I'm looking at a school... each school operates in a different circumstance. They have different proportions of young people with learning disabilities or have different proportions of children from affluent backgrounds (and) deprived backgrounds.
"But but ultimately I think we should be looking at what a positive difference a school has made to the young people that it's responsible for fundamentally.
"Of course (a)part of that would be how are they doing (in) exam results. But it would be taken into account, the circumstances in which they're operating.
"And I think that's it. That's important. I mean, you obviously still had the league tables when it comes to exam results, they'll still be there and you know and parents and the government can look at those.
"But but you'll also have Ofsted inspections and and outcomes to make sure that it's rewarding right things and incentivizing right things, because some of our schools and I speak to, particularly in my own constituency, feel that on occasion... they're not always properly rewarded for work.
"They're doing special needs and you know, it's such an important area. I wanna make sure that it's an important component of Ofsted inspections going forward."
We also asked about the mental health impact this would have on children: "We know that mental health, mental well being and and general well being it is it's not disconnected from outcomes when it comes to academic work.
"I'm not saying that you know academic results aren't important. They are, but I want everybody to achieve their full potential in terms of what they're capable of.
"I think you you want to create the right incentives for schools and and and I think that having an assessment system that rewards schools that want to have a high proportion of saying kids reward schools who do a good job by then."
Another way Tom Hunt wants to make sure children are getting the support they need is by reducing class sizes, but this would involve an increase in investment: "The money would have to be found.
"But my argument is, it's a bit of money up front, but you get it back in, you get massive returns in the long run because it's about utilizing the potential and talent of our young people. And and I'm giving him support they need.
"I mean I'm I'm a I'm a conservative. I don't like spending money for the sake of spending money. But ... I would see this as an investment, an investment in our young people. So yeah, money would have to be found from somewhere."
Tom Hunt also believes this will have benefits for families and the future:" So my one of the arguments that I make about special educational needs is for this not just about, yes, it's about the individuals in question about their families and fairness and justice for them.
"But it's also incredibly important for why this society, because I think if we get send right when we can utilize the talents of many individuals who are more often than not, you know, unorthodox, unconventional, unconventional creative thinkers who can make a really positive contribution to society."