THE ongoing issue affecting children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) still not having received a nursery place for September shows no sign of abating as the school term approaches.
The Education Authority (EA) have been criticised over a range of issues which includes initially telling parents to only apply for one school of choice and then not informing parents when those places weren’t secured.
Several parents have spoken to us and all have similar tales to tell.
Rachel McCullough’s son Rossa is just about to turn four and received his full statement of Special Educational Needs in May. Rossa is non-verbal and has severe learning difficulties. Rachel said when making Rossa’s application she was asked to name one school only, which was Parkview.
It was not until last Monday that Rachel was informed by the EA that Parkview was not running a nursery this year as they were catering for P1 pupils instead due to restricted spaces.
“For weeks I have been ringing every day and emailing every single address I can after we found out Rossa couldn’t go to Parkview," she said. "The EA assured me one application was enough. This was weeks ago.
“I have since emailed everyone I could think of and phoned every day for an update. I didn’t receive a reply until last week when I was told they needed my consent to make another application, so for weeks his application had stalled because they didn’t tell me this."
WAITING: Rachel McCullough and her son Rossa
Rachel continued: “After giving my consent I got a phone call from the EA a few days later to say Rossa had got a placement at Fleming Fulton and I was so relieved. One hour later I had a new voicemail to say they had got it wrong and he hadn’t got in anywhere. Since then I have heard absolutely nothing from them and Rossa is still without a place.
“While everyone else was getting placed, he was just left. I do not know what criteria they have for placing kids. They sent me an email saying ‘We are committed to placing pupil XXX in P1/Nursery’. They didn’t even use my child’s name, the email just said XXX.
“They said to contact your link officer and in eight months I have had one reply from mine and they won’t answer calls or emails. I just don’t know what the EA expect parents to do.”
NURSERY: Rachel and Rossa have been waiting for more information from the EA 
Rebecca Bermingham and her son Nicholas have been trying for months to secure a place near their home in Lisburn. Rebecca said Nicholas has severe learning difficulties.
“Nicholas is practically non-verbal, he doesn’t speak but he will scream and he doesn’t do well in big crowds. When he was in Sure Start he only did well in very small groups. Our child psychologist said he needs to go to special school and my son struggles leaving the house and with the outside world.
“I phoned the EA every day about his placement and didn’t get a response and when I finally did they told me the information they were meant to have for him wasn’t in his folder."
MUM AND SON: Rebecca and Nicholas are still waiting to hear back from the EA
Rebecca continued: “After all of that they told me he hadn’t got into his school of choice and would have to go to a mainstream school for one-to-one learning in a classroom with 26 other children. Nicholas has severe learning difficulties and behavioural difficulties, he will not cope in a mainstream school.
“Their delays in not letting us know he hadn’t got into his school and in losing his information now means that he has lost out on a place. Other schools aren’t running nurseries or are already full. It’s unacceptable and the EA have let me down and also let my son down.
“All of these cuts are coming in and affecting the special schools and they don’t seem to be affecting mainstream schools, it’s not fair.”
Lisa McCartney and her son Jamie were told to make one choice for his nursery place. Lisa said she did everything by the book and filled in everything ahead of schedule after already having gone through a similar process with her daughter who also has autism.
Lisa said she has been left without any information from the EA who said they had no records despite her applications and constant attempts to make contact.
TOGETHER: Lisa McCartney and son Jamie have been left with no information on his nursery place
“I still haven’t heard a single thing from the EA. I have contacted them numerous times through email and reached out to everyone I could including MLAs who have also contacted them on my behalf.
“I’ve stressed to them how much it’s affecting our family not knowing if Jamie has a place. When we got through to the EA they said they didn’t have a record of any of this.
“My daughter is also autistic and I know how hard it is, so with Jamie I got the ball rolling straight away. He has his statement of needs from March and his diagnosis. He has very complex needs and in his assessment he was marked as below one in every section."
BY THE SEA: Lisa and Jamie together
Lisa continued: “I was told to make one choice, which was St Gerard’s but they had their funding withdrawn and Jamie lost his nursery place. St Gerard’s told me this, to this day no-one from the EA has told me he didn’t get a place.
“It is a complete lack of communication from the EA and we feel Jamie has been discriminated against because of his needs which has seen him put to the bottom of the pile. Going forward, will this now be a constant battle to get his basic needs met in education?”
