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(UK) Birmingham: Preschool "could not cope" with 4-yr-old's additional needs

Jan 15, 2023, Birmingham Mail: Mum says son, 4, 'failed' by nursery who could not cope with his additional needs https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/black-country/mum-says-son-4-failed-25982986

W. Midlands


Harry was excluded from the nursery, his mum Nicola Leivers has said A mum has been left frustrated after her son was excluded from a nursery. The decision was made because the nursery could not cope with four-year-old Harry's additional needs, his mum Nicola Leivers has said.

She claims that the nursery has "disadvantaged" her son, Harry, as nursery places are extremely limited due to it being mid-term. The family moved from Cotgrave to Bingham, Nottinghamshire, last year, where Harry had attended Serendipity's in Cotgrave from six months old.

As Serendipity's also run a nursery in Bingham, Harry was able to move from one nursery to the other in September 2022, where he was able to meet children that he would be starting school with, NottinghamshireLive reports.

Nicola, an operations manager, said: "At Cotgrave we filled in an assessment form for special needs, as he does have some behavioural issues. He started hiding things, he is not the best at paying attention.

"He is really clever, but he has to have ear defenders on, he struggles with noise and he struggles with eating, he doesn't like his foods touching. When we moved him across to Bingham they were fully aware of his additional needs and obviously, Cotgrave did a full report."….

Nicola was originally paying around £1200 a month for nursery, but when Harry turned three the 30 hours free childcare and 12 additional free hours due to his additional needs decreased the bill to around £600 a month.

Nicola claims the nursery manager rang her on Tuesday, January 10, and told her that from Friday, January 13, Harry was going to be excluded from the nursery as they felt they were not able to keep him safe and manage his additional needs. She explained that this was something they have never had to do before, and that she felt the nursery just saw her son as a problem they wanted to remove.

The mum said: "They have never had to do this before so they have no policy in place. I would understand if there had been a full investigation, so step one, step two, step three, we're really sorry we can't manage him, but they have now isolated a child with special education needs at a time when he needs to be around his peers getting ready to go to primary school."…

A spokesperson of the nursery said: "This is a very sensitive situation and that we are working with a family to help them access all the help and support they need. We are working with various bodies to ensure this happens as quickly as possible."…

Nicola Leivers and Harry (Image: Nicola Leivers/NottinghamshireLive)

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