The Special Schools Protection League has branded Gloucestershire County Council as ‘time wasters intent on pedalling a non-existent utopia’. It follows a meeting to discuss the closing of the first of the county’s four special schools. Graham Barton, Chairman of the League, claimed that the wishes of parents at the special school had been ignored and that retention of Bownham Park was not even a real consideration. Steve Huggett, Head of Special Educational Needs, said: ‘The meeting wasn’t about whether the plan was going ahead. It was always about how it was going ahead.’
Gloucestershire Echo, April 1, 2000.

The mother of a five-year-old boy with special educational needs has criticised a Jewish School for excluding her son because of ‘unpredictable’ and ‘aggressive’ behaviour. The boy, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, joined Moriah Jewish Day School in Pinner, London, last September and was permanently excluded last month. The mother maintained the school had not given her son enough extra support, particularly in the playground. ‘We have been told by medical professionals to send him through mainstream education,’ said the mother. ‘Moriah sounded ideal because of the small class sizes and the safe security-conscious surroundings. But there was not enough support available for him and he wasn’t given a chance. ‘In a letter informing the parents of the exclusion, the school’s governing disciplinary committee cited ‘serious breaches of the schools discipline policy’. Moriah head teacher, Alan Shaw, said that he could not comment on individual cases but the general situation was that the school had a number of pupils on the special needs register who were provided with additional support.
Jewish Chronicle, April 7, 2000.

A mother who struggled to get her disabled daughter into a mainstream school has won her fight in the High Court. Barnet’s Whitefield School, London, backed down minutes before a judicial hearing was due on March 14 and is now admitting 12-year-old Zahrah Manuel. Her mother, Preethi Manuel of Iverson Road, West Hampstead, said: ‘I just wanted her to have an ordinary, good life and not to be isolated or over-protected’.
Ham and High (Hampstead and Highgate Express), April 7, 2000.

Thousand of teachers stood to net a £1,000 pay boost yesterday following a court victory by the National Union of Teachers for three of its members. Durham County Council ruled that Ann Mawson, Catherine Haddon and Denise Hardy were entitled to be paid more because of their skills as special needs teachers. School governors have used the Government’s policy of including special needs pupils in mainstream classes to underpay thousands of teachers by ignoring their skills in assessing salaries. Deerness Valley Comprehensive and Durham County Council were ordered to cough up back pay of £35,000.
Morning Star, April 8, 2000.

All parents of children with special needs in Bolton will be able to demand their child is taught in a mainstream school within five years. Education chiefs are set to make the pledge in a new action plan currently being drawn up to promote the inclusion of children with special needs. Councillors were told that Bolton already has the third best record in the North West and Merseyside for educating special needs children in mainstream schools and just 1 per cent. of pupils attend special schools. But a report to the education and arts committee says that going below 1 per cent. will require a major drive and changes to the school curriculum, buildings, attitudes, images and role models.
Bolton Evening News, April 17, 2000.

Hopes are high among a group of campaigners battling to save Riverside Special School in Goole, East Riding. Outraged parents formed the action group, Parents Against Riverside Closure (PARC) and enlisted the help of governors and local councillors, as well as local MP Ian Cawsey in their fight. Jackie Hammond, who helped set up PARC, said parents knew the set up had to change at the school which was the only one in the county designated for childen with moderate learning difficulties. They wanted to see an expansion of services at the school which has places for a total of 70 childen but has only 48 pupils on roll at the moment. The school received a glowing OFSTED report in January. Mrs Hammond said that a letter from East Riding Education Committee Head of Education Resources, Duncan Nicholson, asked for parents’ responses to the DfEE suggestion that the school could be redesignated to include pupils who have moderate learning difficulties with other complex needs. ‘This is just what we wanted and we are really grateful that the Council seems to have listened to us’.
Goole Howden and Thorne Courier, April 20, 2000.

A Belfast mother has vowed to take her battle to have her disabled son educated in a mainstream school to the Equality Commission. Gail McKibbon was responding to the announcement that the rights of disabled people are to be officially protected by the commission. Northern Ireland Office Minister, George Howarth, described the move as ‘marking an historic development for people with disabilities’. David McKibbon has not attended school since 1996. Mrs McGibbon blames the education authorities for deciding he can no longer remain in a mainstream school.
Irish News (Belfast), April 20, 2000.

A massive overhaul of specialist teaching could give Surrey the lead in educating disturbed children. Experts working with the County Council have come up with a model system for integrating children with emotional and behavioural difficulties into mainstream schools. The plan addresses a review by former top school inspector, John Woodhouse, which found spiralling costs, poor staff recruitment, and high levels of expulsions in Surrey’s special schools. Mr Woodhouse’s model for Surrey proposes an early warning system to identify children with problems, better training and support for specialist teachers, more strategic and sensitive use of pupil referral units and nurture centres and an integrated approach between education, health and social services to create a support network for children, their families and schools. Councillors raised concerns about the impact of some aspects of the scheme but approved it in principle. Education officers will now consult with Surrey schools with the aim of presenting a further report in September.
Surrey Advertiser, April 28, 2000.