Mark Baggley: Just Meg

Transcript

I certainly believe in inclusive education, that's got to be the way forward. And my niece, Meg, who’s got Downs Syndrome, she’s – lives over here in Manchester in a village just outside Stockport, and she’s in mainstream school, mainstream infant school and junior school and she’s thriving, doing really well. And, interestingly I think her report made both me and my sister cry, ‘cause it said, 'Remember, it’s not just about what we do for Meg, it’s what Meg does for the school and what Meg does for the pupils', and you know, very touching really, it’s lovely to hear a teacher come out and say that, say, look it’s not a one way street. I mean, I know that at some point Meg intellectually probably won’t be able to keep up with the curriculum, we know that’s going to happen at some point possibly, but she’s made friends, both disabled friends and non-disabled friends. And everybody in the village knows who she is, she gets invited to sleepovers like everybody else, and that’s a massive part of inclusion and including the both sides. She won’t get stared at by people in the village, she’s just Meg, she’s not Meg with Downs Syndrome, she’s just Meg, and I think for that reason alone, it’s got to be the way forward.

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