Mum fighting for SEND provision for autistic son after mainstream school leaves him 'traumatised'

ITV Granada Reports' Emma Sweeney met Harrison and his mum Sam Walley to discuss the difficulties she has had getting him specialist SEND support

A mother says the mainstream school system has left her autistic child "traumatised."

Sam Walley has shared her story with ITV Granada Reports as part of a day of shining a spotlight on special educational needs (SEND) across our ITV regions.

Ms Walley says her son Harrison often experiences sensory overload in the classroom, which leads to frequent meltdowns.

But while his mainstream school has "categorically said" they cannot meet the youngster's needs, the mum says, her local authority disputes this.

This, she says, has left her with the only option of taking the council to a tribunal - as she believes the local authority is failing her son.

"Sometimes he will go into class and he can be ok," Ms Walley explained, "other days it can take a couple of members of staff to get him in.

"Quite quickly and soon into the start of the day, he will become dysregulated, that’s if they’ve put a demand on him.

"It can be something as simple as asking him to sit on the carpet next to the other children or just simply sitting at his table.

"He can end up becoming quite upset, quite distressed; tipping pots of resources onto the floor, tipping chairs - and he isolates himself in the toilets quite a lot, so he spends a lot of his time trying to escape the environment."

Since starting at a mainstream school in September, Harrison has been waiting for an EHCP - a statement of his education, health and social care needs.

Legally, local authorities have 20 weeks to complete these plans, but in this case, it has taken Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWaC) more than 60.

Harrison’s mum had hoped the final draft would state her son would be better suited to attending one of the borough’s 10 special schools - instead, they have recommended that he stays at his mainstream school.

Ms Walley said her son's needs "have been identified through specialist support that the local authority have commissioned and that I’ve had to commission myself, which all clearly state that Harrison needs a level of provision that a specialist school can offer.

"However, our local authority, which they do quite a lot, have tactically removed elements from those reports so that it reads to their narrative of placing him in a mainstream."

She is a member of CWaC SEND Accountability, a local campaign group calling for change.

One of the activists, Ali Hutchinson, said: "We see all sorts of families being ignored at the point of crisis, families being lied to, unlawful conduct, basic errors in EHCPs, which is this all important legal document."

Figures from right across the North West show that more children than ever before now have an EHCP.

But it isn’t a straightforward process - not everyone is successful in getting their local authorities to carry out an assessment while others - like Sam - say the content of their child’s plan is insufficient.

National figures show increasing numbers of families are contesting decisions made by their council.

Of those cases that ended up at tribunal last year, 98% of local authority decisions were overturned in favour of families.

Mel Merritt, who is Head of Policy and Campaigns, National Autistic Society said: "This should be a huge wake up call for just how broken the system is, and we need to return to having a system where is you have a special educational need you can get the support you need."

The new Labour Government has acknowledged that the challenges facing the SEND system are “enormous”.

It’s pledged to take a community wide approach to improve inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, while making help available for schools supporting children with the most complex needs.

But there is little detail as to exactly what these plans will look like in practise and therefore, whether or not families think they go far enough.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Cheshire West and Chester Council said there were "significant national challenges regarding the increase in requests for EHCPs" with the "demand for special school places outnumbering the actual number of places available".

The statement read: “Cheshire West and Chester Council continues to provide a Special Education Needs (SEND) service to children and their families in incredibly challenging national circumstances.“There are approximately 3500 young people with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) in Cheshire West. Our teams are currently working with settings, both in and out of borough, to ensure all young people with an EHCP have an identified setting.“Whilst we do not comment on individual cases, it’s important to note that there are significant national challenges regarding the increase in requests for EHCPs and the demand for special school places outnumbering the actual number of places available.“The annual number of requests for an Education Health Care Needs Assessment in the borough is continuing to grow compared to previous years, doubling since 2020.

"These figures are reflected nationally. The Council has committed additional staffing resource in response.

"The increase in the number of children supported with an Education Health Care Plan has led to an increase in the demand for special school places that can meet the needs of the young people.

"The council, in collaboration with some of our schools, has had agreement to use capital investment to increase capacity of places for children with SEND living in our borough.“Cheshire West and Chester has ten special schools and a number of resource provisions attached to mainstream schools which are all at capacity, with many taking additional young people to support the sufficiency challenges currently faced by the Council.

"The Council, schools and settings are working together to develop additional capacity over the coming years to meet these challenges.

"The aim is to support all young people to access education in a school or setting that can meet their individual needs and within their local community wherever appropriate.“However, it’s not simply the increasing demand for places, but also the increase in costs which is putting pressure on the system."

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