10 April 2023 , 18:44
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A furious mum claims that her son is a "prisoner" at his special school where he gets little more than a "babysitting service".
Katie Hattersley's son Joe, 17, attends Hazel Oak, in Solihull, an all-age special school - rated outstanding in its most recent Ofsted report - which caters for children with moderate learning difficulties, many of whom are on the autistic spectrum.
But Katie wants to move Joe to another school in Coventry as she claimed Joe, who has speech and language difficulties, currently gets little more than a "babysitting service" at the provider's sixth form, reported BirminghamLive.
Katie told how a shake-up of its sixth form provision in September 2019 had led to Joe attending classes at nearby Solihull College.
She described it as a "horrendous situation" and said he had been moved "from the safe environment of the special school site to three rented classrooms in a huge mainstream further education college".
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Katie claims that her son is being kept "prisoner" at the school he attends (Darren Quinton/Birmingham Live)In a statement, Solihull Council reportedly said it couldn't comment on individual cases but bosses defended the school and said it had "provided essential specialist support for many years".
Katie claimed: "On some days students spend all day in their classrooms because they are too scared to go to the canteen. It’s an intimidating environment mixing with mainstream students. Our son is vulnerable and it’s not a safe environment for him to be in.
"The local authority has not followed up at all since the sixth form moved. The students are neither part of their school nor part of the college.
"We were promised the move would enable students to access areas of the college to enhance their experiences [through] access to the animal care, hair and beauty areas. In reality, all the children are permitted to access is the canteen, gym and library.
She feels that the school offers him a "babysitting service" (Darren Quinton/Birmingham Live)"It seems to us that children have been put in the sixth form and forgotten about. It’s a shocking provision for 16- to 18-year-olds to be in."
Katie previously took local authority chiefs to a tribunal but it didn't rule in her favour. Undeterred, she said she wanted to raise awareness of the issues.
She continued: "Hopefully it will encourage other parents to speak up and result in some improvements. Otherwise, these young people have very limited future prospects.
"At tribunal we appealed for speech and language therapy to be legally included in his education, health and care plan [EHCP] and to try and get a better college placement for Joe.
"The tribunal ruled Joe needs weekly speech and language therapy but that he had to stay at Hazel Oak. So we ‘won’ on speech but ‘lost’ on placement.
"I know the local authority think I’ve got an axe to grind because Joe was made to stay at Hazel Oak but that isn’t the case. What I want to expose is the dire college provision that Solihull offers SEND children.
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Katie wants to move Joe to another school in Coventry (Darren Quinton/Birmingham Live)"No child should have to shred paper for work experience and feed ducks at the age 16. Me and many other parents want a better education for our children like Coventry and Birmingham offer their young people. A postcode lottery should not curtail young people’s life opportunities."
A Solihull Council spokesperson said: “Whilst we are unable to comment on individual cases, our priority is always to ensure all children and young people receive appropriate education. In all cases where a tribunal has taken place, we are bound by the judgement.
“Hazel Oak Sixth Form has provided essential specialist support for many years. They are an Ofsted rated Outstanding school, enabling the children who attend to achieve qualifications and learn skills that will help them for the rest of their lives.
"The school’s links with local colleges and businesses provide a range of learning opportunities that help young people as they prepare to move on at the end of year 13.”