Mark Griffin MSP Visits Craighalbert to Learn More About Our Impact

We were delighted to welcome Mark Griffin MSP to Craighalbert for a visit that provided an important opportunity to share our work, listen to families and discuss how we can work together to create better outcomes for children and young people with complex support needs across Scotland.

At Craighalbert, our ambition is clear: we want to play our part in making Scotland the best place for every child to grow up, learn and achieve.

During his visit, Mark spent time with our children and young people, families, staff and Board. He saw first-hand how we bring learning, therapy and care together and adapt our approaches to enable every child to participate, communicate and achieve their potential.

From exploring the artwork being created by our pupils and learning about the different communication methods we use, to hearing about the adaptations that make learning accessible, the visit demonstrated what can be achieved when support is designed around the individual needs of each child.

Listening to families

An important part of the visit was hearing directly from families about their experiences.

For families of children with complex health, care, communication and learning needs, finding the right education, therapy and support can be challenging. Too often, families face barriers within systems that can be difficult to navigate, particularly when a child requires highly specialist and integrated support.

Children should not have to fit into services that were not designed around their needs. Their needs, rights and aspirations should be at the centre of decisions about their future.

Working in partnership with families is fundamental to our approach at Craighalbert. Their experiences also help demonstrate why wider change is needed if Scotland is to ensure every child can access the right support at the right time.

Understanding our value and impact

The visit also gave us the opportunity to discuss Craighalbert’s ambitions and some of the challenges we face as a national charity and grant aided special school providing highly specialist education, therapy and care.

Our integrated approach can transform opportunities for children and families, but services such as ours need to be properly understood, recognised and supported if they are to be sustainable and reach more of the children who could benefit.

This is not something any one organisation can address alone. It requires families, specialist providers, local and national government, health and education partners, funders and other organisations to work together around a shared ambition for Scotland’s children.

Heather Gray, Chief Executive of Craighalbert, said: “Mark Griffin MSP’s visit was a valuable opportunity to show, in a very practical way, the difference highly specialist provision makes for children and families. When specialist health, learning, therapy and communication support are brought together around the needs of each child, we see children participate, achieve and thrive.

Our ambition is to build on that impact, working with families, partners and decision makers to ensure more children with complex support needs can access the right support at the right time across Scotland. Specialist provision is not an optional extra; it is an essential part of a rights-based, inclusive Scotland, and it must be properly understood, valued and sustained if we are serious about helping every child thrive. We appreciated the time Mark spent with our team, children and families and the support and follow through offered as we continue to deliver our ambitious plans.’

Three areas for national consideration

Through our work with children and families, we have identified three areas where we believe further national discussion and consideration are needed.

 1. National Commissioning

Develop a national commissioning model for centres of excellence delivering highly specialist education, therapy and care.

A more consistent national approach could help ensure specialist provision is sustainable and that access is determined by a child’s assessed needs rather than where they live or the commissioning arrangements available locally.

 2. Better National Data

Understand need, plan early and invest wisely for children’s futures.

Better national data about children with complex support needs would allow Scotland to understand current and future demand, plan services earlier and make informed decisions about where investment is needed.

3. Rights Based Decision Making

Ensure children’s assessed needs and rights are at the heart of every decision.

Decisions about education and support should begin with what a child needs to learn, participate and thrive. A child’s rights and assessed needs must remain central throughout the decision making process.

Come and see what is possible

We were grateful to Mark for taking the time to listen to our children, families, staff and Board and to learn more about both the opportunities created through highly specialist provision and the challenges that remain.

We want to continue these conversations.

For those involved in shaping policy, commissioning services, funding provision or making decisions that affect children and families, understanding what specialist services look like in practice is important. Seeing the work first hand, speaking to families and meeting the children and young people we support can provide a much deeper understanding of both the value of this provision and the barriers families continue to experience.

We welcome opportunities to share our experience, evidence and learning with those who have a role in shaping the future of services for children and young people in Scotland.

If you would like to understand more about Craighalbert, our impact, the challenges facing the families we support and the areas we believe require further national consideration, we would be pleased to welcome you to the Centre.

Creating lasting change requires collaboration. By bringing together families, professionals, specialist providers, commissioners, funders and decision makers, we can build a better understanding of what children with complex health, care, communication and learning needs require and how services can respond.

Craighalbert wants to be part of that conversation and part of Scotland’s ambition to be the best place for every child to grow up, learn, participate and thrive.