21 C9 C. 5 dayforecast. A desperate mum does not know where to turn after seeing her autistic son refused entry from 30 secondary schools claiming they cannot meet his needs . The 10yearold is due to leave Danecourt School in Hotel Road, Gillingham in four weeks time but has nowhere to go after. His mum has worked 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 the needs on his plan. After the first eight on her application form were refused, Kelly was forced to send out the form again and again and the list of schools she can apply for has got smaller and smaller. Kelly is worried the good work Harley s current amazing school has done will be reversed if he spends too much time out of an educational setting while she fights to find him a place. The concerned mum says she has applied to 30 schools, covering everywhere from Broadstairs to Swanley, but has been refused a place at every one due to Harley s complex needs. Harley is autistic, nonverbal and can only learn in very small time spans due to his mental capacity. She also says he prefers a larger school setting rather than a small independent school. Kelly added: He would not enjoy an independent school, which is more like a house with only a few children. He likes the school environment. . She does not know what will happen in September and is calling on leaders at Danecourt to consider offering education for older children. Every year they struggle to find suitable schools to place their pupils, she said. 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. . However, she has praised the school for providing an amazing and supportive environment for Harley, where she says he has flourished. They never thought he would be able to do his phonics but now he does. They have worked wonders with him. I have watched him go from this ball of craziness to just seeing him thrive. . 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 will be too restricted. I am a single parent with a fouryearold as well. He can t go from a school with teachers and teaching assistants to just me. He will regress and all that hard work will be gone. I can t give him what a school can give him. . With so many schools refusing to take him she feels the only option would be to try to raise funds to build additional facilities at his current school as many other special needs schools cater for their pupils until they are 18yearsold. 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, she added. That isn t going to happen very quickly and I don t even know how that would work. 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. What's for dinner? Plan meals, try new foods and explore cuisines with tested recipes from the country's top chefs. Trying to find the right nursery, school, college, university or training provider in Kent or Medway? Our Education Directory has everything you could possibly need!. This website and its associated newspaper are members of the Independent Press Standards Organisation IPSO. KM Group 2024
A mother struggles to find a school for her autistic son as 30 secondary schools refuse him due to his complex needs. Despite efforts with the council, no suitable placement has been found. The boy enjoys a larger school setting and thrives in his current environment. The mother is concerned about his future education and suggests building a secondary school at his current school or raising funds for additional facilities. Medway council states they are working on providing suitable provisions for children with special needs.