Boy without SEN school place 'lonely and in limbo'

A young boy with special educational needs (SEN) has spoken of his sadness at being the only pupil in his class without a school place for next year.

Isobel Woodhead's grandson Ethan told BBC News NI: "I will be the only one who will be lonely."

He is among an estimated 164 pupils across Northern Ireland who do not have an confirmed offer for September 2025.

Ethan and his grandmother took part in a protest over the lack of provision for SEN children which was held outside the Education Authority (EA) building in Belfast.

Ethan's last day at primary school was on Wednesday, where he attended a special service for school-leavers with all his classmates.

"They were getting up and saying what school they were going to and what they were looking forward to", his grandmother said.

"Ethan got up and couldn't say anything because he doesn't know where he's going – he's left in limbo."

Ms Woodhead explained that Ethan has made "brilliant" progress in school over the last four years because he has had one-to-one support from his teacher.

"Before he couldn't write, read, and now he can but he needs that special attention", she said.

"He's left now with nothing and he feels himself that nobody wants him because he's stupid - and he's not a bit stupid."

When asked what his message to the EA would be, Ethan insisted SEN children need schools and "people can't be denied with disabilities".

The EA has described the lack of available SEN places as a "crisis".

It recently wrote to principals informing them it was considering an unprecedented move to instruct some schools to admit SEN children.

But Northern Ireland's independent autism reviewer has said such a move would be "wholly unacceptable".

"I haven't seen any evidence that any school is saying: 'I don't want these children,'" Ms Cubitt told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme.

"What we're hearing is: 'We're concerned that we won't be able to support these children,' and I think that's fair enough."

Teaching unions have raised concerns that not all schools have the required training and facilities in place to cater for pupils with complex needs at short notice.

Ms Cubitt said highlighting those problems was "entirely reasonable".

"I think what we're seeing is not a reluctance, it's because they care."

She said the concerns of teachers, parents and everyone involved in the issue must be listened to.

Parents have told the BBC they do not wish to send their children to schools where they feel unwanted.

Fay Watson's eight-year-old son Charlie has not had a suitable school place since October and has missed out on his education for most of the past year.

Charlie previously attended a special unit within a mainstream school, but the placement was not sufficient to meet his requirements.

"He does want to go to a school, he does want to feel like he belongs somewhere, " Ms Watson told the BBC's Nolan Show.

"But he does have some trauma from the experience not working out for him."

She added: "He needs somewhere very nurturing for his needs and it is going to take a lot of time to reintegrate him, especially given how long we've waited this year.

"The longer he's out of school, the harder it's going to be to reintegrate him into a new placement."

Faye tried to get emergency tuition for her son since he left school but said her request was rejected "because he has nowhere to go, so that's kind of ironic".

She said special units within mainstream schools are "very good environments" for many SEN children, but not all pupils can be accommodated.

"They definitely need a lot of resourcing to help them. They need OT (occupational therapy) equipment, they need access to OTs (occupational therapists), to speech therapists.

"There are quite complex children who are now going into these unit environments."

Charlie is now waiting on a special school place for September but his mother said it has been difficult and stressful.

The EA recently identified 58 schools in locations facing pressure for schools spaces which it believed would be able to enrol SEN pupils.

However, it said only one of those schools responded with a confirmed offer.

Ms Cubitt questioned the assistance and reassurance that the schools had been offered by the EA.

"The perspective of trying to force schools to do something without the message coming alongside that that 'we are strongly going to support you, these are the things we're going to do'; without a clear message to parents - it's just wholly unacceptable," she said.

Ms Cubitt was appointed as Northern Ireland's first independent autism reviewer last August.

Her role involves reviewing the adequacy of public services provided to autistic people, their families and carers.

"I'm almost a year into my post and see that essentially nothing has changed," she told Good Morning Ulster.

In relation to the SEN school place shortage, Ms Cubitt said the EA was also overwhelmed by the situation and "good government leadership" was needed.