My son has Down’s syndrome – and he belongs in a mainstream school | Sally Phillips

The success of the Finnish system is proof that inclusive education is best for all children, whether disabled or not

I realise me writing about Finnish education may require an awkward introduction. Some may know me from television, playing such roles as “whore in a helicopter” offering my services to newly elected MPs in Armando Iannucci’s Election Night Armistice, or not starring in Miranda Hart’s Miranda. Or from film, being the one who doesn’t snog Colin Firth, Hugh Grant or Patrick Dempsey in Bridget Jones’s Diary I, II and III. More recently, I got to be crashingly rude to Seinfeld legend Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s vice-president, in the HBO sitcom Veep. This character happened to be from Finland.

Veep is part-improvised, so, for research, I cyberstalked Finnish politicians on YouTube and keep a store of pleasing Finnish facts for emergencies. It’s an inexpressible pleasure waiting for precisely the right moment to release the information that Helsinki has a Burger King with a sauna or reference Finnish heavy metal. My character, Minna, is notable for her tendency to tag on an overshare: “Finland tops both the Yale environmental sustainability index and the UN development technological achievement table. Coincidentally, we also lead the world in coffee consumption and use of sex toys.”

Appropriately supported, kids with Down’s syndrome do miles better in mainstream education

Related: Down's syndrome test could see condition disappear, C of E warns

Continue reading... March 26, 2018 at 05:00PM