Lincolnshire parent's protest calls for better special education support

Parents of children with special educational needs have held a protest in Lincoln.

The families claim their children are being let down and their needs are not being met due to a lack of spaces in specialist schools.

They want Lincolnshire County Council to offer more support.

The council said it was investing £100m to improve special schools and create 500 additional places.

About 30 to 40 families gathered at Castle Square for the protest.

Protest leader Corinne Bryan, 29, has two autistic children aged five and four, said families needed more support.

"We need more Education, Health and Care Plans (EHPCs), more special educational needs (SEND) schools and more mainstream teachers to be taught properly."

Another parent, Julie Heron, 47, said she was still waiting for an EHPC for her eight-year-old daughter who has autism and sensory issues.

She told the Local Reporting Democracy Service councils were "failing to follow" the system set up under the legislation.

"There's no accountability," she said.

Ms Heron hopes to send her daughter to a SEND school and has taken her daughter out of a mainstream school.

"We completely understand the point of view from the schools that it is difficult, because there can be a lot of people in a class, but at the same time her needs simply weren't being met," she said.

Hayley and Phil Roberts said it had been an uphill struggle to find a place for their five-year-old son a school.

After he was turned down by one specialist school due to his complex needs, the council proposed sending him to a mainstream school.

"So you're telling me that a specialist school doesn't know if they can meet his sensory needs but a mainstream school can? That makes no sense," Mrs Roberts said.

Their son has since begun attending a specialist school.

Sheridan Dodsworth, the council's head of SEND, said the government recognised there was increasing pressure on the system and had published a national improvement plan.

"In addition, the county council is investing £100 million to improve Lincolnshire special schools, creating over 500 additional places," she said.

A Department for Education spokesman previously said the government would intervene where local areas were failing children.

He said "significant investment" was being made in supporting children with high needs.

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