I used to be the kind of person who trusted the experts - you know, doctors, government bodies, people in suits with important-sounding job titles. I assumed they had our best interests at heart. How naive of me.
Fast forward to today, and I’m deep in the bureaucratic nightmare that is trying to get my ASD son into the right school. And let me tell you, I’ve seen behind the curtain… and it is not pretty.
I’ve been dealing with Mark Wynn the CEO of Lancashire County Council and other senior officials, and let’s just say they’ve been playing fast and loose with the truth. I mean, I expected some red tape, but actual lies? That, I was not prepared for.
Lie #1: The Case of the Vanishing 1:1 Support
The panel at Lancashire County Council decided that my son should go to a behavioural (BESD) school called Nugent House. Why? Because it was cheaper than the ASD specialist school that we wanted. But here’s the twist - Nugent House School only sent costings for 1:1 support for the first three months, despite my son having full-time 1:1 support for the past three years. It also states in his EHCP that he should have full time 1:1 support up until the end of KS3 (14 yrs old).
When I questioned this, Mark Wynn of LCC emailed me saying the school had, in fact, costed for full-time 1:1 support plus additional 1:1 support for the first three months. Sounds great, right?
Only one problem. It’s not true.
So why does this matter? Because Lancashire County Council chose the behavioural school over a fantastic ASD specialist school because it was cheaper - but it was only cheaper because of those conveniently missing costings.
When I also questioned this to the Head Teacher of Nugent House, Paul Lister, he replied "When we initially request funding from Local Authorities (LAs), we often find that they are reluctant to approve full-time 1:1 provision due to the significant costs involved. However, many LAs do agree to fund this for an initial period—typically around three months—to allow the school time to assess the individual’s needs in our setting. If, after this period, we determine that continued 1:1 support is essential for a child’s progress, we would advocate strongly for this with the LA to ensure the right support remains in place."
That's not ok, that is dishonest. My son's EHCP states that he should have 1:1 support up until the end of KS3 so they should have costed for that, not played with the costings just to look cheaper than the other school that we wanted, incidentally, the other school sent costings for 1:1 support for the full academic year. My son is NOT an asset to be bid for.
Lie #2: The ‘Quality Check’ That Never Happened
Back in December, I sat through a mediation meeting (spoiler: it was useless). A senior member of Lancashire County Council confidently told me they “quality check every school” before placing children there.
“Oh great,” I said. “Can I see the report for this school?”
Their response? No.
Suspicious, I submitted a Freedom of Information request. The result? They’ve never ever actually quality checked this school. Instead, they relied on a 2022 Ofsted report - which, doesn’t mention autism at all.
So, in summary, Lancashire County Council is placing ASD kids in a behavioural school without properly checking if it’s suitable. Why? Because they simply don't care.
Am I Losing My Mind?
I feel like I must sound like a total conspiracy theorist at this point. Every time someone casually asks me how I’m doing, I somehow end up launching into a passionate TED Talk about the SEND system. I must look like an absolute madwoman.
But I hate injustice. I can’t stand unfairness. And most of all, I refuse to let my son be treated this badly.
So I’ll keep fighting this fight. Because he deserves better. 🥊🥊🥊
Thanks for reading the ramblings of one (very frustrated) SEN mum on a mission x
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