‘Narrow the gap' for preterm children

Each primary school classroom has as many as four prematurely born children. But according to the National Forum for Neuroscience in Special Education, few teachers are aware of this. Fewer still know how to recognise the specific educational needs of preterm children and how to address them. Yet experts say this population is growing, and liken the significance of their needs to those of autistic and Downs Syndrome children.

In May, the forum delivered a briefing to the government on the educational needs of children born preterm. Forum co-founder Barry Carpenter, visiting professor at the University of Worcester, wants the government to lead a study into improving teaching for prematurely born children. He is studying the educational outcomes and needs of preterm children in special schools, in partnership with schools network SSAT and premature babies charity Bliss. They want mainstream schools and parents to learn from the results and recognise preterm children’s special educational needs (SEN).

Medical advances
Carpenter says addressing the educational needs of preterm children has become more urgent as advances in medical science have boosted survival rates. “In 2000, only 23 per cent of prematurely born children survived,” he says. “Today, 63 per cent will, and are likely to have a disability that will give rise to special needs.” He says the needs of preterm children vary from having profound disabilities that require specialist care to SENs that are recognisable as existing behavioural conditions. “They do have particular learning pathways because the brain is learning differently,” he says.

“Preterm children are often in a state of hyper-arousal – they’re always on alert. If you’re constantly like that, you won’t be listening well in the classroom. Vision is the one sensory area that tends to get damaged. So teachers need to be aware that their visual processing – the ability to read and decode – can be dela