Nov 17, 2021, Cheshire Live: Widnes special needs pupil sent to school 40 miles away https://www.cheshire-live.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/widnes-special-needs-pupil-sent-22188746 NW England
A Cheshire special needs student has been transferred to a school more than 40 miles away from his home.
Kieran Priestley, who has autism, ADHA and OCD, lives with his mum Paula in Widnes and attends Ashley High School, the Liverpool Echo reports.
But Paula, 41, has said 'behavioural issues' stemming from his diagnosis has led to the school informing her they could 'no longer support him'.
The news has devastated the family, with Paula saying the decision will leave Kieran 'isolated' from his friends and means she has to wake him up at 5am every morning.
She said: "We had a meeting with the school last week and they said they didn't want to keep him there.
"There have been issues with his behaviour, such as shouting random words which they say is disruptive to the classroom, but these are linked to his conditions."
She said her son had been excluded 'eight or nine times' for his behaviour….
She said she was informed on November 11 by a transport service that he had been transferred to another SEN school to Waterloo Lodge in Chorley which is more than 40 miles away from their home, and that a taxi would arrive for him at 7.15am….
Due to his diagnoses, Paula said it "takes around two hours" every morning to get her son ready for school.
Describing her morning routine, she said: "Because of his [diagnoses], there's medications, I have to get him fed and washed. Now I get him up at 6.30am and at 8.30am we're still struggling because it all has to follow a set routine….
Another concern for Paula is the transport to and from the new school, she said: "They're expecting me to put him in a taxi with someone he's never met before to drive forty miles each way with a stranger….
Paula feels the school and the local authority (Halton Borough Council) should do more to support her son's needs….
