Mar 10, 2021, BBC News: Norfolk parents push for tribunal over shortage of special school places https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-norfolk-56338717 'Crisis for hundreds of children' Vanessa Vasey from Bradwell near Great Yarmouth is seeking to reverse a decision by Norfolk County Council to place her son in mainstream education. Her son, four-year-old Jesse, has Down's syndrome. He has difficulty with his vision and hearing, which also causes problems with his speech. Ms Vasey said he needed the environment of a special school, where classes are smaller and staff regularly deal with complex needs. "He's an amazing little boy, I'm absolutely blessed to be his mummy. He loves nothing more than to put a microphone in his hand and have a singalong to the telly," she said. "He's not toilet trained, he's unable to regulate his emotions so he can get quite bad tempered - he throws things, he hits things." Jesse can speak and sign a few words but is unable to express exactly what he means, his mother said…. "I've been told by the special educational needs coordinator at the school that Jesse would be better placed in a complex needs school. "I've been told by the local authority that he meets the criteria to go to that school, but he cannot go to that school because there isn't enough space. "This is a crisis for my child and for hundreds of other children and their families and I don't know what the answers are but somebody needs to find them, and fast," said The authority has spent £120m ($167M) building new special schools, but the earliest any children could attend would be Christmas…. Three new schools for children with SEND are being built in Norfolk - in Great Yarmouth, Fakenham and Easton - to provide up to 450 places over the next two years, and places at some existing schools will also be extended. Ms Vasey. Petition for more places In nearby Filby, Carly Bowler, mother of four-year-old Jamie, has launched a petition to get some 400 places for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Her son is severely autistic and is still in nappies…. She said the council had not kept up with demand for SEND school places and should have planned for demand. "The spaces that they are creating are not enough to cover those children [already in education] let alone those children that are due to start this September," said Ms Bowler…. 'New schools don't help us' Hayley Dudzinski, who lives in Mulbarton, is the mother of four-year-old Zephyr who is non-verbal and has a range of limiting conditions. … "I blame the council. They're building schools but they've let it get to a point in Norfolk where it doesn't help parents like me," she said. … '£120m [$167M US] spent on new special schools' Michael Bateman is in charge of Norfolk County Council's SEND provision and agreed more places are needed. "The difficulty is current vacancies, which is why we're building so many new special schools and other specialist provision," said he said. "So we don't disagree with the families and hope that at some point in the future we can make that specialist provision for them."
