A mother in Kent faces uncertainty as her autistic son is denied entry to 30 secondary schools. She calls for improved SEN provisions and a secondary school at his current primary.
Bollywood Fever: Finding a secondary school place for your child can be challenging, but one desperate mum is at a loss after her autistic son was refused entry to 30 secondary schools—through no fault of his own.
In just four weeks, 10-year-old Harley is due to leave his primary school in Gillingham but still has no secondary school place confirmed. Kelly Adams, from Rainham, Kent, has been working with his council special educational needs (SEN) officer to send out his Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP) to special needs schools, but they have all said they cannot meet his complex needs.
The single mum fears that the progress Harley has made at his current school will be reversed if he spends too much time out of an educational setting while she continues to search for a new school. Harley is autistic, non-verbal, and can only learn in very small time spans due to his mental capacity—yet Kelly says he prefers a larger school setting over a small independent school. She is unsure what will happen in September and is calling on leaders at his primary school, Danecourt School, to consider offering education for older children.
She explained, “Every year they struggle to find suitable schools to place their pupils. If they had their own secondary school, it would not be an issue. If the council could stop building houses and build a Danecourt Secondary school, the problem would be solved.”
Despite the challenges, Kelly praised the school for providing “an amazing and supportive environment” where Harley has thrived. “They have worked wonders with him. I have watched him go from this ball of craziness to just seeing him thrive,” she added.
While she waits for a suitable school, Kelly has been told she may need to keep Harley at home and “go down the tutor route,” but she worries he will not cope and “he will regress.” She said, “He wants to go to school. It’s part of his routine. He loves seeing the other children. He likes to play on the field and with the water in between his learning. It’s his happy place. I’m mum. He would not want to blur the lines between school and home and learn with me. He can’t be expected to stay at home. He will be too restricted.”
With so many schools refusing to take him, Kelly feels the only option might be to raise funds to build additional facilities at his current school, as many other special needs schools cater to their pupils until they are 18 years old.
“I’d love to set up a GoFundMe to raise money to build a secondary school, but obviously, you would need to find a site and get permission. That isn’t going to happen very quickly, and I don’t even know how that would work,” she said. “They need to stop giving the land to housing developers and build another special needs school.”
A spokesman for Medway Council said it continues to work to ensure there are sufficient places with the “right provision for our children and young people.”
“We are continuously developing further provision to meet the growing needs and, where necessary, commissioning independent providers,” they added.
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