A leading charity and coalition of leading organisations has expressed its disappointment that special schools are not set to re-open and has urged the Scottish Government to reconsider its position. It has also urged that teachers and support staff at these schools be among the priority groups being vaccinated.
The call has been made by Kindred, an advocacy organisation supporting parents of children with complex needs. Its director, Sophie Pilgrim, has written to the Scottish Government’s deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education, John Swinney MSP, urging it to reopen special schools to full time-placements who want to return.
The Scottish Children’s Services Coalition, an alliance of leading organisations that campaigns to improve services for vulnerable children and young people has also given its backing to the call.
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland special schools have remained open, whereas in Scotland there is a patchy picture, with some local authorities keeping all special schools open while others are offering pupils a few days at school each week, or no provision at all.
In addition, some independent grant-aided special schools appear to have closed altogether and reverted to ‘on-line’ learning for their children, even though it is evident that many of the children cannot engage in this form of learning.
In her letter, Ms Pilgrim has expressed her concern that with this second lockdown, children’s physical and mental health is also degenerating as they are not able to access the therapy and support required.
It notes that parents single-handily cannot provide that treatment and therapy for the children, without the support of the schools, highlighting that attendance at a special school goes beyond a child not getting an education, it is the therapeutic support that those children are getting and the respite support for the parents. The charity has heard that some children are being very violent towards their parents or their siblings, behaviours which are very hard to unlearn
Parents of children with complex needs are also in many cases experiencing physical and mental breakdown, impacting on their long-term capacity to care for their children.
In Scotland there is a presumption of mainstreaming, meaning that only children with the most complex needs are given a place within specialist provision, which is delivered through a rigorous process of assessment. There is no doubt that all these children would be classed as vulnerable and these are children who cannot be left alone and unsupervised and some require 2:1 care.
The UK Government has stated: “Special schools should continue to welcome and encourage pupils to attend full-time where the parent/carer wishes for their child to be able to attend. Special post-16 settings should continue to welcome and encourage students to attend as per their usual timetable where the young person wishes to attend. [1]
On these grounds, special schools have been kept open in the other nations of the United Kingdom.
Sophie Pilgrim commented: “We are really disappointed that special schools are not set to reopen. As a charity we have been speaking to parents of children with complex needs and they tell us that their children’s physical and mental health is degenerating because they are simply unable to maintain therapy and support within the home environment.
“The weather is now too cold for many parents to take children out. Added to a loss of routine, this has created further stress and anxiety for these children, often leading to challenging behaviour not seen before. Many parents in turn are sleep deprived and often neglecting their own medical and care needs.
“Special schools have a vital role to play, providing respite from care for parents, as well as therapy, education and social engagement for our most vulnerable children. Without these reopening we will pay a heavy price as a society.
“We would urge that Scotland follows the lead shown by England, Wales and Northern Ireland and we re-open our special schools to full time placements for those who want to return.“
Kenny Graham from the Scottish Children’s Services Coalition also backed this call: “There is a current patchwork approach to opening special schools across Scotland and we fully add our support to this call by Kindred to ensure that these are fully reopened.
“Many of those we are supporting are finding the current situation incredibly challenging, with greatly increased social exclusion through being at home.
“The loss of routine has proven extremely difficult for many, impacting in many cased on both the children and their parents. It is vital for those who want to, that they have the opportunity to return to school and have full access to the care and support they feel they need.”
CASE STUDIES
Claudia Romero Espinosa, Edinburgh
Claudia’s son Christian is 11 years old and has complex needs, uses a wheelchair and is visually impaired. He also has respiratory problems, but the most difficult issue is his uncontrollable seizure activity. Christian is fed by tube, requires constant suction and needs an apnoea monitor during the night because sometimes he stops breathing.
Christian normally attends Oaklands School in Edinburgh but is now at home full-time.
Claudia has two other boys (aged 14 and 15) to look after and her husband is working at home.
Christian gets a day of respite at Calareidh, which is an NHS facility supports the needs of children with very complex needs.
Claudia however notes she is:
“Really struggling to do the physiotherapy, hydrotherapy and various sensory therapies that Christian needs and I feel that I am unable to fully meet his care needs. These were previously done at the school and with another lockdown, everything has stopped with a huge impact on Christian’s engagement and progress.”
Juggling Christian’s needs, medical, personal care, therapy and education with home-working and home-schooling his older brothers is also challenging because each one needs a dedicated space, so that means that Christian and Claudia have to be in only one room for most of the day. Christian would be developing better at school because the staff are trained to help in his development and Claudia is concerned that she can do a fraction of what they do at school.
Claudia believes all special schools should be open, with precautions in place, and offering children full provision during lockdown.
Kirsty Watt, Edinburgh
Eilidh Watt is 13 years old and has complex needs including learning disability and Autism Spectrum Disorder. Her mum, Kirsty Watt, is a single parent.
Eilidh is non-verbal, has balance and coordination problems and is tube-fed. She has intractable epilepsy and can experience as many as 10 seizures a day, with her oxygen needing to be monitored. Each night Kirsty stays up until 11.30pm or 12 to ensure that Eilidh’s tube-feeding has been completed.
Eilidh is usually up at least once in the night and sometimes on three occasions. Kirsty has to be up again at 7am to try get her ready for the school bus.
From being at Braidburn special school full time, which was a real godsend for the family, she is now at school in Edinburgh three days a week and has two night of respite care each week,
Kirsty notes that “Being at school is very important for those with special needs as they have a routine and home learning has left Eilidh incredibly unsettled and her behaviour can become quite unsettled.”
Maya James, Edinburgh
Maya’s son Dillan (above) is 10 years old and is at Prospect Bank School. He is now attending school only two days a week following the lockdown.
Maya has three children and says that she is able to explain to the other children about Coronavirus including her youngest who is 4 years old.
Dillan however has no understanding and with the loss of routine “his whole world has collapsed, he is very distressed and has become aggressive.”
Maya says the family is not coping and there is nowhere to take the children.
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