Mum wants answers over school place fight
Holyport: Former school said it could not meet needs of autistic son, six
A Holyport mother has lodged a complaint following a battle to get her autistic son into a new school – after she was told he would have to leave his former one.
Louise Black’s six-year-old son, Arthur, was attending Furze Platt Infant School in its autistic resource unit.
Arthur also has a genetic learning disability, currently unknown and being investigated. He is at the stage of development of a 36-month-old.
Louise says she was told Arthur had to be taken out of Furze Platt infants because the school could not meet his needs.
This left her ‘fighting and fighting’ to get Arthur into another school.
There are only two special schools in Maidenhead – Manor Green, which Louise was told is full, and Forest Bridge, which has a waiting list.
Arthur joined that waiting list, and originally Louise heard she could not get Arthur into Forest Bridge before September.
After reaching out to Maidenhead MP Theresa May and the Department of Education, Arthur will start later this month.
But Louise remains displeased with the process, especially the level of communication from both his original school and the council.
Louise is still unclear as to why her son had to leave Furze Platt Infant School in the first place.
“They’ve never put in writing to me why they can’t meet my son’s needs,” Louise said. “They’ve told me that my son is drowning. That’s not a reason.”
Her other criticism is of the council process in finding a new place for Arthur. RBWM is ‘failing so many parents’ with children with special needs, said Louise.
“Say your child has autism, there’s not enough places in the Borough,” she said. “My son's been out of school for six weeks – and you're just left to deal with your child.
“If I was working full time, I would have to quit my job. We’ve had no support at all.”
Louise had specific criticisms for the Children and
Young People Disability Service (CYPDS) which is run by Achieving for Children (AfC), the council’s children’s services partner.
“When you phone RBWM to speak to this department, you’re only given an email address or mobile number. If that person doesn’t reply, you’re stuck,” she said.
She also feels the amount of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision in RBWM is not enough, believing more work should be done to create more special schools, rather than resource units within mainstream ones.
Overall, Louise has found the level of communication unsatisfying – she made complaints to the Borough itself about Furze Platt Infant School, but was told these were not upheld.
She has now made a complaint to the Department of Education.
“It’s been a long fight,” said Louise.
In a joint statement, the Royal Borough and Furze Platt Primary Federation said: “The council and schools seek to work with families and carers to best meet children’s individual needs as they progress through their school education.
“The council and Furze Platt continue to work closely together and liaise with the family in this case, however we cannot comment on individual cases as this would mean divulging personal information or correspondence.
“Where a parent requests a change of school placement for their child with SEND, there is a statutory process to follow and appropriate funding is allocated alongside that.
“Families of children with SEND can also get free, impartial and confidential information, advice and support via the Information, Advice and Support Service for the Royal Borough.
“In terms of SEND school provision, we’ve recently completed a public consultation on our plans to further expand local special needs provision within our borough, including the option of further dedicated support for children where the primary need is autism.”