(UK) Parent struggles to get severely disabled son in special school; mainstream schools unprepared
- 7 hours ago
- 2 min read
Dad Stephen Clark was terrified that his young son, who has special needs, would be unable to cope with a mainstream high school.
His boy Cameron, 10, who is described as non-verbal and at nursery level, was already struggling badly at a mainstream primary school.
And Stephen felt strongly that his lad should be in a special needs school that met his needs.
Most readers would assume that would be a straight forward matter and Cameron would be placed in the right school.
But that’s where things took a twist that Stephen did not see coming.
Education bosses, tied to a mantra of inclusion, told the dad that Cameron would have to remain in a mainstream primary - and then move on to the local high school.
Stephen decided that was not good enough.
With no legal training and zero experience of the court system, he decided to launch a legal action to get his boy where he needed to be - a special needs school.
And today we report that he was won that legal battle - forcing local school chiefs to give Cameron the schooling he needs.
Cameron’s case raises serious questions about how our schools are run.
Education “experts” have for many years dictated that special needs kids are best served in mainstream schools.
That may be true in many cases.
But it’s clear that there is a glaring lack of provision for children with additional needs.
Inclusion is a laudable aim - but too often it is used as an excuse to simply land more work onto already hard-pressed teachers.
Very often children with additional needs fail to get the attention they deserve.
While teachers often struggle to cope with the extra demands placed on them as a growing number of kids require specialist skills.
We hope this case shines a light on the issue and leads to the right kind of change.
And we are sure Cameron, with the help of his determined dad, will thrive in his new school.
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