Special educational needs children 'segregated and left to struggle in wrong schools to save money'
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Children with special educational needs are being "segregated" and left to struggle in the wrong schools because councils are trying to "save on costs", parents have told Sky News. Maire Leigh Wilson, whose four-year-old son has Down's syndrome, says she "shudders to think" where he would be now had she not been in a "constant battle" with her council.
"I think he would probably just be at the back of a classroom, running around with no support and no ability to sign or communicate," she said. Mrs Leigh Wilson wanted her son Aidan to go to a mainstream school with additional specialist support, but her council, who decide what is known as a child's Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP), wanted him to attend a special school.
The number of EHCPs being appealed by parents has risen "massively", according to education barrister Alice De Coverley. She said councils are struggling to meet the volume of demand with "stretched budgets", and parents are also more aware of their ability to appeal.
Be the first to get Breaking News. Install the Sky News app for free. Mrs De Coverley said more than 90% of tribunals are won by parents, in part because councils do not have the resources to fight their cases. Headteacher Justine Drury banned after school trip where 'girl was blackmailed into sex and students drank'.
Labour urged to 'focus' on pupil absence as report finds up to 300,000 children missing from school last year. Children experiencing 'unorthodox' schooling since pandemic, Ofsted says. She said, in her experience, parents of children with special educational needs will put "anything on the line, their homes, their jobs".
