BRING BACK INCLUSION SQUADS!

Having grown up with a physical disability I've been all too well aware of diversity and equality issues that arise far too often in society. Sadly, when you're disabled it's a daily battle to live a normal life. Each and every day there's barriers pushed in our direction that the average abled bodied person doesn't have to face.

I've been brought up to fight against the barriers and was always told by my parents that I could do anything I put my mind to; perhaps it wouldn't always be easy and that it might take extra planning or a different route to the end result but nevertheless nothing was out of my reach. Never! In fact having a disability has probably made me even more determined to grab hold of everything that life has to offer. Yes, I have my down days but I know within my heart that if I let it run its course I'll be back on track and fighting once again because what else is there to do?

I'm 18 years old and due to leave education in just a few months time and am relieved to be doing be so as it's become impossible! If you can't reach the expected high standards, they simply just don't care-but that's a story for another day. Throughout my school life I've attended a handful of schools and my experiences as a disabled pupil have varied. Looking back there was one initiative that really worked throughout my time in education and I'm sad to report that it was scrapped for reasons that I am unaware of. But it worked and I genuinely believe it should have continued to develope across the country.

From around the time I was in Primary 3 until I left Primary 7 back in 2011, I attended a small rural school with around 36 pupils at any given time. During my time there an initiative referred to as 'Inclusion Squads' was born. In my opinion it was one of the most effective areas in our education at primary school and I genuinely feel it created a lasting impact. What's an Inclusion Squad might you ask? Basically it was group of pupils in each school who met up on a regular basis to create a plan to promote inclusion and equality within the school for ALL pupils!

There was a gentleman from the local council who oversaw the project visiting each of the schools within the area to work with pupils to make the Inclusion Squad ethos a reality. The gentleman just so happened to be an amputee himself so really understood both the importance and the objective of the groups. I've met a lot of really interesting people over the years but he was a real inspiration to me and the other pupils and I know for the fact that his influence created a lasting impact in my life.

He worked closely with the pupils as well as our headteacher to create something that should be in every school, workplace and organisation across the world. Sometimes the simplest of things were discussed but that's what made the difference; start small and it all grows from there. Having been involved in various projects throughout my education I can honestly say if one made a difference; the Inclusion Squads certainly did!

I genuinely believe this is something that could be established in every school across the world and make a difference in so many lives. It can be the simplest of things such as creating acceptance and understanding for every single person to walk through the door. Then there's looking at the more physical elements such as making the school building more accessible to adapting things such as PE lessons and Sports Day in order to allow everyone to take part. My school successfully did it, everyone was happy and it worked so why can't this be done in ALL schools?

Everything accomplished as part of the 'Inclusion Squad' was done in a fun and light manner which made it more appealing. I've been in schools, I know what it's like; there'd be no point in sitting pupils down and making it like another boring lesson. In turn they'll just shut off and what good would that do? Any action needs to be relative to young people in order for it to work; NOT just another lesson!

In my opinion, the younger that each individual is educated on inclusion and equality; the better! I would love to see the day where you can enter a room and no one flutters an eyelid no matter who you are or how you look. If children are taught from a young age that throughout life they'll come across many different people from all walks of live and that's completely normal, it'll make a huge impact on society!

Education is key for change and it can be done! 

Hello September!

Hello World! 

I thought it was about time I wrote an update for my blog seeing as it's been a few weeks since my last post. During that time the schools here in Scotland have returned following summer break and I believe that the schools down south have also followed suit during the past two weeks. With that being the case, I have been extremely busy throughout the past few weeks and haven't found the time or the inspiration if I'm being honest to sit down and write a new post. It's quite late right now and I'm a little tired however I don't feel ready enough to fall asleep just yet so thought I'd make use of my time to write a quick post for you lovely people!

Like I said above the schools have resumed following summer break and so has my home tutoring. This year I'm going to be focusing on art, music as well as working on the John Muir award which focuses on the natural environment and conservation. I have tutoring five days a week and oh my goodness is it going to take a while to get into the routine of having tutors at random times each day. But we'll get there eventually (I hope!).

As some of you may already know I play bass guitar and have been doing so for the past two years or so. I absolutely love playing bass particularly now that I'm at the stage where I hear a song by my favourite band and am able to pick up my bass and learn to play it almost immediately which is extremely exciting! So I'll be continuing to learn bass for the next year as part of my schooling which I couldn't been any happier about!

 During my art sessions which I only started a few weeks ago, I have already produced a bunch of art work using a range of materials and of course doing a little experimenting with Photoshop as well. Since the new term started I've produced a range of drawings/paintings of natural objects such as shells and flowers and in that short period of time have developed particular love of watercolour and line drawing. So I thought from time to time I might take a few photographs of my artwork and post them up here on my blog and share them with you lovely people as well as keeping track of it for my own future reference.

As we all know it's now September and summer is unfortunately behind us for another year much to my dismay. Without a doubt, autumn and winter are beautiful months for the scenery and the colours in the trees however I am not a fan of the cold weather that goes alongside that. As you'll have read in my previous blog posts I suffer from CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) which is affected and aggravated majorly by the cold and damp weather. It's only been September for just a few days and the weather is already reminding us that summer is now over. And with that has come an increase in my pain levels which has not been fun at all! So my trusty companion; my hot water bottle has shown face once again for yet another year. To whoever invented the hot water bottle; I thank you! I seriously don't know what I'd do without one nowadays.

Just as I was saying above we are now in the grand old month of September and despite my moans of September signifying the start of the colder weather, it also has its good points. September is my birth month and on the fifteenth of the month, I turn seventeen years old which is an extremely scary thought! It doesn't feel that long ago since it was my sixteenth last year. My goodness, the past the year has flown in so quickly!

So anyway, I just wanted to share this brief post to keep you all update to with all that's been going on in my life throughout the past couple of weeks. I am now going to edit and publish the post before making a start on another of my future blog posts so do keep an eye out for that; it should be up in the not so distant future! If you haven't already make sure to click here and give my Facebook page a like to keep up to date with all of my latest news!

Sending you all lots of love, peace and best wishes,

Robyn xxx