Inclusive Education - Shaping Hearts and Minds <3
I Am Me Scotland Education
Our new interactive education platform is available free for all schools in Scotland. Accessible and inclusive lessons, including disability awareness, UNCRC, Alcohol and Substance Awareness, Hate Crime, Downs Syndrome, Dementia, ADHD and so much more......
Disability awareness Programme
Nursery
Primary 1
Primary 1
Introducing the world of difference in a fun, interactive way.
Primary 1
Primary 1
Primary 1
Introducing disability and discussing difference.
Primary 2
Primary 1
Primary 2
Introducing hidden disabilities (autism), using an animated book written and designed by the I Am Me team.
Primary 3
Primary 3
Primary 2
Using animation to discuss the importance of being good friends.
Primary 4
Primary 3
Primary 4
Using animation to discuss hidden disabilities, exclusion and the importance of being supportive friends.
Primary 5
Primary 3
Primary 4
Using a film made with local children to discuss dyselxia, the film also introduces bullying .
Primary 6
Primary 6
Primary 6
A film made by Epilepsy Scotland, introducing prejudice based behaviour and touching on hate crime (race/disability).
Primary 7
Primary 6
Primary 6
A film made locally with high school pupils, opening discussion about hate crime and the consequences of this.
#MakeaDifference
Additional Information - Face to Face Deliveries
The overall aim of the #MakeaDifferenceScotland programme is to educate young people on the range of disabilities, including hidden disabilities, bullying and hate crime. We believe that early intervention and prevention will tackle attitudes and behaviours that lead to incidents within the school and community.
The programme has been designed to be progressive with lessons tailored to each year group e.g. P3 last year will progress to P4 programme this year. We focus on disabilities, exclusion, bullying, mental health and hate crime and the programme is an exciting, engaging and innovative way of reaching children from nursey school through to Primary 7.
Our programme offers children the opportunity to learn about and discuss these topics in a safe place. The programme is delivered within the classroom or assembly hall within the school.
I Am Me worked with young people, disabled people and partner organisations, such as Epilepsy Scotland, Dyslexia Scotland and Education Scotland to develop a suite of learning resources which is available for teachers to continue the discussion in the classroom. Each lesson is supported by a short film, which is appropriate for the age/primary school year and highlights how this links to and complement the experiences and outcomes set out in the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE).
The films prompt discussions surrounding people’s differences, feelings, values and beliefs, in turn supporting healthy relationships and helping children to flourish.
The Mental Health Strategy (2017), highlights that prevention and early intervention is Key to improve mental health in Scotland. In 2018-2019 the #MakeADifferenceScotland programme was updated to include a new Mental Health and Wellbeing section. This was developed by I Am Me Scotland and approved by RAMH (Recovery Across Mental Health).
In addition to the discussion, a teacher’s pack has been prepared for further classroom activities and discussion if required.
We hope to:
- Encourage empathy and understanding of the range of disabilities and the difficulties that people can face on a day to day basis.
- Enable children and young people to recognise what bullying and disability hate crime is, and to understand how their own behaviour and attitude can affect an individual.
- Empower children and young people to challenge prejudicial attitudes and behaviours and to know how to report incidents safely (tackling the bystander effect).
- Inform children and young people about the Keep Safe Initiative, ensuring that they can seek assistance if they are feeling lost, scared or vulnerable when out in the community.
We hope to work with more schools throughout Scotland and will strive to continuously develop and promote our programme to allow us to educate and listen to our children to make a difference in the future.
Information for Schools
Our Aims
The aim of this programme is to introduce disability and raise awareness of the effects of bullying, using activities, drama and film. We aspire to work alongside the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) to ensure that the participants develop their attributes and capabilities through active engagement and a participative learning experience.
It is intended that through participating in the lessons, children and young people can be:
Successful Learners
- Be enthusiastic and motivated to learn new things.
- Be able to make reasoned evaluations.
Responsible Citizens
- Have respect for others and demonstrate a commitment to participating in their community.
- Acknowledge diversity and understand that it is everyone’s responsibility to challenge discrimination.
Effective Communicators
- Demonstrate self-resilience and ability to communicate in difference ways.
- Take the initiative, solve problems and work in partnership and in teams.
Confident Individuals
- Be secure in their values and beliefs.
- Relate to others, manage themselves and develop and communicate their own beliefs and view of the world.
We aim to support the Scottish Attainment Challenge
The Scottish Attainment Challenge is about achieving equity in education. This can be achieved by ensuring every child has the same opportunity to succeed, with a focus on closing the poverty-related attainment gap.
The pupil census (Scottish Government, 2018) highlights that there are a higher percentage of pupils who are assessed or declared as having a disability in Scotland’s most deprived areas (26.7% compared to 14.4%). The Attainment Scotland Fund Evaluation (Scottish Government, 2018) suggests that the Scottish Attainment Challenge works well while trying to improve attainment or health and wellbeing of pupils in poverty who also face inequalities as part of other characteristics such as disability and additional support needs.