The History of Newham as a place for inclusion – The people who made it happen

Linda Jordan and Chris Goodey

We interviewed Linda Jordan and Chris Goodey.

Linda and Chris became interested in inclusive education when their daughter Ellen Goodey, who has down syndrome, was born.

We interviewed Ellen separately. Click here to see the page about her interview.

Chris and Linda were told that Ellen should go to a special school. They wanted her to be part of the community, not segregated, and became passionate about inclusive education.

They formed a group with other parents who wanted inclusive education for their children. They worked with the council.

At the same time a law had been passed that gave disabled children the right to be included in their local school.

Linda Jordan decided to stand for council. At her first meeting as a councillor she brought a policy that said it was wrong to segregate people on the basis of disability and that they would work to enable every child to go to their local school. It was passed!

Here is a film from Linda and Chris’s interview with Act Up! about how they worked to make Newham inclusive.

We also interviewed Lesley Hare. She worked for the council as an inclusion officer when Newham was becoming inclusive and still works in that area today.

Here is a film from her interview with one of our members, Awa Jagne.