Spotlight on SEND: Nottinghamshire girl without school for 16 months due to lack of provision
The parents of a girl from Nottinghamshire say they are frustrated and upset, as their daughter's special educational needs mean she has been unable to attend school for more than a year.
Amelia Brookshaw, 9, has severe sensory difficulties, Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) and she is waiting for an autism diagnosis.
She is also dyslexic and rarely speaks outside of her own home. Her condition means the little girl has spent 16 months out of the classroom.
Amelia's parents, Leanne and James, said they have struggled to even get their daughter into a school building.
Speaking to ITV News Central Leanne said: "It would just involve Amelia just not wanting to get ready, not be able to dress her and get her ready and she'd just stay there [sitting in a chair] until it was the end of school and then it was like 'oh it's the end of school now'."
"They were saying it was because we hadn't put parental boundaries in place, they sent us on parenting courses and things like that rather than listening to the whole picture", explains Leanne, "finally we got a school nurse involved and that started the process."
'Just want to hug her and make it all better'
Amelia's dad, James, said it was difficult to watch his daughter struggling with school and education because of her condition.
He said her behaviour drastically changed when she left nursery and moved to a school setting.
He told ITV News Central: "She'd be withdrawn, you'd pick her up and she'd be one child and then when you got home she'd be another. It was quite strange to see like 'that's my daughter but it's not my daughter'."
"All you want to do is hug her and make it all better but it didn't work", he added.
'20 minutes of education per week'
Leanne says for the last sixteen months the family has been left without any support.
"Amelia had a one hour session every Wednesday but that's now finished and then she has a 20 minute teams meet with a teacher and that's all the education she receives."
An exclusive ITV News poll looking into SEND provision across the country asked parents in the Midlands "Has your child or young person spent time out of school or place of education because their special educational needs could not be met?"
Examples of needs not being met included inadequate transport plans, no available teaching assistants or inadequate learning resources.
Out of 184 respondents within the ITV News Central region, the figures revealed:
Yes - 43%
Yes but were able to join virtually - 19%
No - 37%
Prefer not to say - 1%
The figures show 62% of children missed out on education because their additional needs could not be met by education providers.
Radha Borthayre runs an alternative education company. She believes some children haven't got the capacity to to go to mainstream school and learn a set curriculum.
She said: "I think they do need an alternative way and there is scope for them to have that education again but the system itself needs some change for that to be possible.
"I think that's where we bridge that gap, a really deep understanding of how children learn and what alternative ways there are to learn and therapeutic learning too which is quite important for mental health."
Nottinghamshire County Council said it has increased their investment to support children with additional needs, including a 70% increase in funding to meet needs in mainstream settings over the last 5 years.
It also said it has created 490 additional SEND school places and spent £78 million on specialist provision in 2023/24.
Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...