A Lichfield headteacher has called on politicians to help a fight to prevent residential care being axed for children with special educational needs.
Staffordshire County Council is reviewing the £1.7million funding for the facility at five of the 23 special schools across the region.
Among them is Saxon Hill Academy, which operates a sleepover club for pupils.
Headteacher Melanie Newbury has now written to MPs and councillors urging them to back a battle to retain the service.
“Saxon Hill Academy is a very specialist school for the pupil with complex medical needs who cannot access any youth clubs or social care provisions, or have a sleepover at a friend’s house.
“I have parents and carers who say that without Saxon Hill Sleepover Club, their children would never learn the essential independence skills to enable them to ever move away from a life of total dependence, which would be a very costly and very long term.
“The families of these pupils also have a respite need and by withdrawing the residential funding to these schools, an additional direct impact will be on social care as they will be inundated by our families requesting alternative overnight placements to maintain their family unit.
“Many of our families have claimed that they would not be together as a family without that one evening break to spend with siblings, who are also themselves young carers.”
Melanie Newbury, Saxon Hill Academy
When the review was announced in December, Cllr Jonathan Price said he was keen to explore whether the system was fair for all pupils with special educational needs across the county.
He said:
“To be clear, this is not respite care for families, but it provides additional opportunities for children with particular needs to socialise and to learn to be a little more independent.
“The challenge is that this opportunity is only open to around 3% of the children in the county who have an education, health and care plan – just the ones who study at the five schools.
“There is no predetermined outcome – what we are considering is how we can ensure children from around the county with special educational needs can access activities and learning opportunities outside school hours on a fair footing.”
Cllr Jonathan Price, Staffordshire County Council
But Melanie said removing such provision for children such as those at Saxon Hill would be “unethical”.
“The five residential special schools cost the local authority £1.8million per year from the High Needs Block of SEND funding, but the children and young people we are discussing here are those with the very highest needs.
“It is unethical in the extreme to take this opportunity to make progress away from the most vulnerable children in society and to take this rare moment of respite away from the most vulnerable families in our constituencies.
“Even the economic argument is extremely short-sighted as the impact of losing these provisions would include increased costs in social care respite placements, increased demand and tribunals for Independent Residential Special Schools, and the ongoing cost of residential homes through life if young people haven’t learned independent skills but are completely dependent on carers.
“In terms of quality provision, all of our five residential special schools are Ofsted rated outstanding year after year which is testament to the excellent work these staff teams do and the pupil outcomes that the local authority themselves scrutinise every single quarter and rubber stamp as outstanding.
“I understand that money is tight and that the local authority has an overspend in this particular budget, but it would be enormously short-sighted and entirely unethical to withdraw such an essential service and lifeline to these children and families whose daily struggle in unenviable in the extreme, even on a good day.”
Melanie Newbury, Saxon Hill Academy
Around 6,000 children in Staffordshire currently have an education, health and care plan, which provides each one with a personal education plan which is reviewed annually.
The county council says the overnight stays at the five schools are not part of any child’s specific plan, so are classed as additional provision.
Cllr Price added
“Whatever the outcome of the review no child currently accessing this provision will be left without a clear plan of support and those deemed eligible for respite care by a children’s disability social worker will still have access to short breaks.”
Cllr Jonathan Price, Staffordshire County Council
