Bracknell council failing special needs children – parent

Fay says she gave up her job to be at home with her child

The parents of two children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) have told the BBC a council was not doing enough to help.

Last year, an Ofsted and Care Quality Commission report found "significant areas of weakness" in Bracknell Forest Council's (BFC) provision.

It said many parents reported facing a "wall of silence" when seeking support.

The council says it has secured additional funding to help and is making progress.

In a statement, it said it "fully recognised and accepted" the findings from the inspection and said "both the council and local area partners acknowledged the need to make improvements". 

Bracknell Forest Council has been criticised for its special needs provision

Fay's autistic child George, whose preferred pronoun is they, has not been to school since last October.

"It was autistic burnout," she told the BBC, explaining: "We did a lot to encourage attendance and it was only when I had to physically peel them off me, finger by finger and move them backwards and shut the emergency doors, that I just felt enough was enough."

Fay said she reluctantly gave up her job as a speech and language therapist to be at home with George.

She said it has felt like a battle trying to get a crucial education health and care plan (EHCP) and a more appropriate smaller school setting was still not in place.

The mother, from Bracknell, said she was frustrated by delays, poor communication and a rapid turnover of senior staff at the council.

"I can't go back to work until this is sorted. There's a big impact on mine and my child's mental health. I just wish it wasn't this hard for everybody that's going through it," she added.

A recent survey by Bracknell's Parent Carer Forum found 68% of parents and carers who responded felt their child's SEND needs were not understood by the council.

Some 75% said they were not happy with its communication, while just 31.9% felt their children were getting the help they needed to achieve the best possible outcomes.

Emma also called for more training for everybody involved with SEND children

Former police officer Emma, also from Bracknell, said she left the service after 20 years to retrain as a therapist so she could help and support her daughter.

"What a catastrophic failing it is for children who need their parents to get professionally qualified to give them the professional help they need," she told the BBC.

Emma said the local authority needs to keep a consistent workforce "so that we're not continually having to go over old ground with new people" and urged "parent blaming" to stop.

"We can't all be difficult or wrong parents, there's so many of us," she explained.

The council told the BBC it was "not unique in having experienced difficulties" recruiting trained and experienced SEND professionals at all levels, "particularly post-pandemic", but said it had now recruited into key roles.

It said an extra £1m in government funding - and £350,000 allocated by the council in June - would be spent on improving services for children and young people with SEND by procuring extra staff, providing more training and improving processes.

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