(UK) Stokes on Trent: Kids denied school places for "challenging behavior"/complex needs
- The end of childhood
- May 5, 2023
- 4 min read
May 1, 2023, Stokes Sentinel: The fight for education in a city with some of highest SEN rates in the country https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-on-trent-news/fight-education-city-highest-sen-8279458
Central England
Many parents across Stoke-in-Trent have found out recently if their child has got into the primary school they were hoping for.
For some, there will have been disappointment, as the clamour for places at the most popular primary schools means not everyone can get their first choice.
But all of these youngsters should receive the education that is their right in law - even if it’s not exactly where they wanted to receive it.
However, there are school-age children in Stoke-on-Trent for whom school is becoming a distant memory. Some of these children have ended up excluded from school because of their challenging behaviour, while others’ needs are so complex that finding - and funding - appropriate places can be a challenge.
The difficulties being faced by parents and education authorities exist against a backdrop of strict government guidelines that, in some cases, are almost impossible to adhere to. Under the guidelines, children who are excluded from school should be found a new placement by the council within a week of their exclusion.
StokeonTrentLive has spoken to parents whose school-age children have waited far longer for a new place than government guidelines say should be the case.
The council says it is “clearly preferable that children and young people are in school”, but that there are challenges when it comes to finding space in mainstream or alternative settings.
Heather Twigg’s nine-year-old son Alex was excluded from Heron Cross Primary school in Fenton on February 8 this year for disruptive behaviour.
The first education he received after that date - a lesson with a private tutor supplied by the council - was six weeks later.
She said: "He was already behind. Now he's way behind. I think he has ADHD and problems with his learning. He gets distracted and can't keep still. He's become worse over the years and has hit teachers."
Heather said she did not know about the possibility of trying to get Alex an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan - the legally binding document that obligates the authorities to make sure special support and budget is in place for the child’s educational needs.
She says she was not told about the possibility of having such a plan drawn up.
She added: "They could have had one of these plans in place. If I'd known about them, I would have done it years ago. It's taken for him to get kicked out of school to get to this point."
As of the end of 2022, there were 2,875 children or young people in Stoke-on-Trent with EHC plans - one of the highest percentages of children under a plan in the country.
In 25 cases last year where parents were initially refused an assessment for their child,
mediation resulted in all but nine of those decisions being overturned - a 64% reversal rate.
The council says that “in most cases where the refusal to assess is discussed at mediation and overturned, this is on the grounds that new or more evidence of need and provision is presented to the local authority”.
Once an EHC plan is in place, local authorities have to provide a "personal budget" that can be spent on the child's educational needs - either by the school, or in some cases by the parents themselves.
Heather is now expecting the result of Alex’s ECH assessment in May, and is waiting for an appointment with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).
She added she believed the system was not good enough.
“He shouldn’t be being kicked out of school at his age. With no education he’ll get nowhere in life. Until now he’s been shut at home doing nothing. I think he could get somewhere in life if someone listened to him and understood him.”…
Longton mum Kellie Lees’ son Nicholas Bailey has an EHC plan. But he’s been out of school since he was expelled, aged seven, from the Clarice Cliff Co-Op Academy towards the end of term in summer 2022.
He’s been missing regular education since he started in year two. Before he was excluded, his schooling had been reduced to just one hour a day.
Kellie, 35, says she’s been told it will be September before he is back in a proper educational setting.
And she said him being out of school was also affecting her ability to have Nicholas assessed by Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) to see if he has ADHD.
She said: “It’s because he’s not in a school setting. They’re asking for information from his school, but he isn’t there.
“The council should be getting them in a school as soon as they can. If they’ve got behaviour problems they need to get them in somewhere. It’s going to be even worse for them when it’s been left for such a long time. Nicholas thinks he doesn’t have to go to school any more.”
The council says it is in the process of increasing the number of specialist places. In September next year, the Manor Hall Trust is due to open a new free school, as is the Watermill specialist school.
And, the council says, “we are working with certain schools to establish specialist SEN (special educational needs) resource bases that will allow more children to sustain mainstream education”.
For parents whose children have particularly complex needs, there can be a feeling of great helplessness. Antonia Smith's son Christian suffers from autism, oppositional defiant disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, Tourette's syndrome, ADHD and depression….
The Department for Education says councils will be held to account for how they provide and manage the education of young people who are not in school.
A spokesman said: “We expect local authorities to meet their duties to all children, including making sure alternative provision that meets children’s needs and aspirations is available for those who are not in mainstream schooling.
“As part of the new Ofsted inspection framework, inspectors will assess the local authority’s supervision of arrangements for children and young people entering alternative provision, including whether they make sure that full-time education for children who have been excluded begins no later than the sixth day of the exclusion.”

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