Autistic boy left without school for two years

A boy with special educational needs has spent more than two years out of school because the council cannot find him a place.

Leighton, 12, from Slough is autistic and was supposed to start Year 7 of secondary school in September 2023 but he is now in Year 8 and still without a place.

His mother, Louise, said his time out of school had left him feeling "very confused about why everyone is going to school and he's not".

A Slough Borough Council spokesperson said it was taking "proactive steps" to find Leighton a place.

Leighton was at Littledown Primary in Slough, a specialist school, and was supposed to continue in a specialist secondary school.

Slough Borough Council said it found him a place when he was due to transfer, but his mother said she felt the school "wasn't suitable".

Louise said the time out of school had left him "without crucial social interaction" with other children and said "he's nervous around people".

She said: "Leighton is very confused about why everyone else is going to school and he isn't.

"It's horrible watching him not interacting with other people.

"He holds my hand when we go out, squeezes my hand and asks to go home. During the holiday I wanted to take him to Windsor, but he didn't want to get out of the house."

"He is my permanent shadow."

Leighton spent a lot of time out of school during the coronavirus lockdowns.

Louise explained that his education health and care plan (EHCP) setting out what the council needs to do to provide for a child's special educational needs, expired during the pandemic.

She said the EHCP had been updated but the results of the reassessment haven't been given to her or any prospective schools.

A Slough Borough Council spokesperson said: "While the council regrets that Leighton has not been in full-time education since Year 7, we have throughout the process taken a number of proactive steps to find a suitable placement for him, including securing a secondary school at the point of transfer from primary to secondary that the council felt was an appropriate school."

In October 2024 the council said it asked 10 schools if they could take Leighton, but none of them were able to.

They added that they consulted four more schools this year, and while one said it could not take him, the other three were still considering the request.

The spokesperson said: "We remain committed to finding a suitable educational placement for Leighton and to working closely with his family to meet his needs."

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