Mum's fight for school place for autistic son

Stacy Gouldson said children with special needs are being failed by local authorities

A woman whose 11-year-old son has not been to school for a year is fighting to get him a place at one which can meet his special educational needs.

Stacy Gouldson said her son Mickey - who has autism, ADHD and learning disabilities - was offered a place at Brayton Academy in Selby, North Yorkshire, but it was not able to offer him the one-to-one support he needs.

As a result she is keeping him at home until she is able to find him a place at a special school - many of which are over-subscribed.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Council said there was "huge demand" for special school places but it said it would continue to engage with Mickey's family.

Mickey, 11, has ADHD, autism and learning disabilities

Mrs Gouldson, who lives in Malton and has two more children, praised Brayton Academy but said a mainstream school was "overwhelming" for a child like Mickey.

"Everything that Mickey needs for an education isn't in a mainstream school.

"It is overstimulating. He needs to be in small classes where he can have regular breaks to access sensory rooms."

In the academy's assessment of Mickey's needs they said they did not have the "staffing capacity to offer 1:1 support..." nor did they have "a calm space exclusively for Mickey's use when dysregulated..."

They said they have "offered a number of educational options within the academy to support Mickey and will continue to work with his family and the local authority to source a suitable long-term provision."

Mrs Gouldson said her son was being failed by the education system.

'Horrendous meltdowns'

Mickey should have started secondary school last September but instead he has been at home.

Mrs Gouldson said the local special schools were over-subscribed but that she could not put her son into a situation he would not be able to cope with.

Mickey said he missed seeing his friends and playing games with them but his mum said a mainstream school would not have provision to keep him safe.

She said: "His behaviours range from throwing chairs, horrendous meltdowns, banging his own head and hurting himself.

"I feel our children have been thrown under the bus by the lack of resources, the lack of money, and the tactics they are using to get parents to send their children to mainstream school are really underhand."

Parents in Leeds have protested to raise awareness of a lack of special educational needs places at schools

North Yorkshire Council’s corporate director for children and young people’s services Stuart Carlton said the council remained committed to ensuring that all children with special educational needs receive the support they need.

He said: “In North Yorkshire we have received 1,107 new requests for assessment during 2023/24 alone.

"We are continuing to work with mainstream schools and academies to ensure that the vast majority of children can continue to have their needs met at their local school in line with national policy."

He added that the council had provided 420 new places in special schools in recent years and that they commission more special school places than the national average.

'Radical overhaul'

More than 1.5m pupils in England have special educational needs or disabilities (Send).

The latest figures from the Department for Education show 517,000 children and young people were on an education, health and care plan (EHCP) in 2023 - the highest on record.

Currently 97,000 children in Yorkshire receive support with an EHCP - a number which has risen by 21% since 2016.

A BBC investigation recently found thousands of children in England with complex needs are missing out on support as councils fail to meet care plan deadlines.

Councils have a legal time limit of 20 weeks, in most cases, to issue an EHCP after a parent or school asks for one.

Between April and December last year only eight councils met the deadline in fewer than 5% of cases, the BBC found.

In Leeds, parents and school staff have called for a "radical overhaul" of Send provision and funding.

The GMB union has said Send support in Leeds, and across the country, was "in crisis" and families were suffering.

Mickey was offered a place at Brayton Academy, a mainstream school in Selby

The issue is one which has been addressed by politicians ahead of the upcoming general election.

The Conservatives said they would deliver 60,000 more school places and a further 15 new free schools for children with special educational needs.

Labour said they would work to identify children’s needs earlier so that intervention supports child development earlier and that they would work to improve inclusivity in mainstream schools.

The Liberal Democrats said in their manifesto they would give local authorities extra funding to reduce the amount that schools pay towards the cost of a child’s EHCP.

The Yorkshire Party has pledged to increase provision for Send pupils and the Greens pledged a £5bn fund to be invested in Send provision within mainstream schools.

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