My SEND child's private school fees are paid for by the council - how I did it

My SEND child's private school fees are paid for by the council - how I did it

Syreeta Brown’s daughter was a pre-schooler when she was diagnosed with autism. Brown felt like one of the lucky ones – believing that having a care plan for her education at an early stage would make it easier to access the right primary school. The reality was quite different. Despite applying to primary schools in her area of south London, the local authority could not find her a suitable place in a state school for reception. Instead, they a…

Council 'going in wrong direction' as money for SEND children faces deficit

Nottingham City Council has gone through the money 'at a rate of knots' due to soaring demand

Mum of child too anxious to attend school gets awarded £1,500

A mum of a South London child too anxious to attend school has been awarded £1,500 from her council after it failed to arrange alternative education. The unnamed girl, known only as B, missed out on classes for six months due to Lewisham Council’s delays in offering her replacement tuition elsewhere. The Local Government Ombudsman […]

Lack of SEN support leads to a sharp rise in school absence and EHC plan requests

This applies in England only. There is not enough SEN support in mainstream schools for children with special education needs (SEN), leading many families to seek an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan to secure the support their child needs. These are the results of our survey of more than 2,000 families of children with SEN in England, published last night on Channel 4 News. SEN support is help available in schools to children who have SEN b…

Nottingham: City Council going in ‘wrong direction’ as money for SEND children dwindles

Nottingham City Council is facing a deficit in funding for children with special educational needs – having gone through the money “at a rate of knots” due to soaring demand. Councils have been allowed to keep spending on high needs education using their main bank accounts since 2020, to help stave off effective bankruptcy as […]

Derby City Council fails to explore”viable options” for Special Educational Needs places

Like most cities, Derby is in desperate need of school places for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Due to the lack of local capacity, many children are being placed outside of the City resulting in additional expense to the Council. Photo credit : Primary Practice https://primarypractice.co.uk/ The best option for most children with SEND is to be educated within a mainstream school environment. This can be expensi…