Our founder Feliciea was working for many years in independent SEND schools for a wide range of children with autism, SLD, MLD and severe challenging behaviours and other needs. Over many years, Feliciea started to build an amazing system that became PAGS®.
Together with our several partners (SENCO and SEND headteachers) we have worked on understanding teachers' and health care professionals' needs in terms of tracking progress for some of their more complex pupils. We have succeeded to capture their developmental issues, anxieties, learning difficulties and other barriers, with multiple checklists, equations and IEPs (Individual Education Plan).
Here’s why we embarked on this epic journey to create PAGS®:
One of our SENCOs has a personal story that shows you what PAGS® means for him. When his son dropped out of school it was a sad day, but not surprising. He had spent several years being defined by his dyslexia. School seemed to be about what he couldn’t do: write, spell, keep up with the text.
The more it frustrated him, the more extra writing he seemed to get to catch up. The very thing he found challenging, he was given more of than his peers. In this deficit model, he became defined by his condition. And yet our SENCO's son had surprising strengths. For example, he can calculate volume and irregular areas in his head with ease. He can see the answer to a lateral problem while others are still reading it. Yet unlike PAGS® his school missed his strengths and only saw the gaps. And unlike PAGS® they measured him against his class, instead of against himself.