Children in Wales ALN Ambassador programme (2023 – 2026)

Contact:

Claire Hathway, Development Officer ALN

claire.hathway@childreninwales.org.uk

As part of a large-scale evaluation of the new ALN reform, Children in Wales were commissioned by Welsh Government to work directly with Children and Young People, in Education Settings across Wales, to scope, develop and establish a Wales wide ALN Children and Young People’s Participation group. 

In gathering Children and Young People's views and experiences, our approach has been to use a multi-method, creative, fluid and participatory approach. Feedback was captured as part of group sessions, focus groups, and one-to-one interviews as part of a deep dive into thematic areas. 

The purpose of this work has been to enable Welsh Government to take children and young people’s views meaningfully into account in the planning and delivery of policy and services, whilst informing the wider on-going research and evaluation programme on the implementation of the ALN System. 

We are currently working with both Welsh and English Medium, Primary and Secondary settings, and one local authority housed specialist class provision for pupils with ALN. We have so far engaged with 4 settings, delivered 36 sessions and worked with 33 ALN pupils between the ages of 6 – 16, as part of the Children In Wales ALN Participation group. 

Thematic areas explored with pupils across all settings  

Our programme of work is underpinned by 3 thematic priorities agreed with Welsh Government.

1. About you in school:

  • Awareness and understanding from CYP of how their needs are being met by practitioners, their rights, their IDP and support available to them such as ALP  

  • Views from CYP on whether their ALP (Additional Learning Provision) meets their needs  

  • Engagement of CYP in ALN processes through a person-centred approach, such as CYP’s involvement in the development of IDPs  

  • Views from CYP on whether their language preferences are accommodated, e.g ALP available in Welsh or not  

2. About your school:

  • Are CYP happy with their educational experiences and do they feel they are learning, developing and making progress?

  • Do they want to participate in school/college?

  • Do CYP feel school/college helps them to develop positive social relationships, emotional resilience and stability?

3. About your future:

  • What are CYP’s aspirations for further education, for employment?  

  • Do they feel they can achieve these goals?  

  • Do CYP participate in activities outside of school/college? Does school/college help CYP to participate in these activities  

 

WHAT THEY TOLD US (as an example) 

“The teacher gives me praise, notices me, he is kind. Other teachers are so understanding, and they go out of the way so that I understand the work. I know they want school to be a safe space for me, and they want me in their classroom’. 

“I now have the courage to ask for help, but this hasn’t always been the case, it’s taken me years to build up this courage.’ 

‘I prefer small group interventions because I have more time to do the work, and I feel more confident. In a bigger class I will just refuse to read. 

‘Good support to me Is knowing you are around me. If people are touching me, I feel claustrophobic, I end up not wanting that support. I just need them around me when I need them to be’. 

‘I don’t ask for help in case they think I'm weird or stupid’. 

 

Reports and Resources

ALN Square

Children in Wales Participation Programme 2024/25 – Additional Learning Needs (ALN) End of year report

Read Here