One of Britain’s leading education authorities is facing an official complaint from a parent with a child who has Down Syndrome after a head teacher refused a school place to the child because his needs ‘were too complex’. Barbara Fenner, the mother of Simon, eight, said she had been left angry and depressed at the treatment her son had received. The family have now had to move their home in Woking, Surrey, so that their son can attend another mainstream school. This week the Down’s Syndrome Association will publish a major investigation into the treatment of children with disabilities. The report will say that schools are often discriminating against Down’s children because they are concerned they will negatively affect exam results. They will also publish a code of best practice supported by the Government, which will demand that schools make ‘every effort’ to include Down’s Syndrome children.
Observer, March 2, 2003.

The parents of an autistic child who sued their local council for refusing to fund a pioneering treatment to help his condition have won a landmark case at Scotland’s highest civil court. Christine and Malcolm Mahony fought a six-month campaign against West Lothian Council which culminated in a judicial review at the Court of Session. Only twice before in Scotland had legal aid been granted to a child to fight such an action. The legal challenge centred on their son, Lewis, six, who was undergoing a world-renowned therapy known as ABA – applied behaviour analysis developed by Professor Ivar Lovaas – which was funded by the local authority for almost two years. In August 2002, the family were told that the Council was no longer prepared to finance the £20,000 a year programme. Mrs. Mahony, a former teacher who spent almost £15,000 on her son’s education following the Council’s decision, will be reimbursed since the court ruled in her favour. Although ABA is expensive, the Mahonys claim that the alternatives, such as a residential course, would have cost the Council £100,000.
The Scotsman, March 3, 2003.

The Down’s Syndrome Association is publishing an Education Support Pack for Schools to ease the path of inclusion for children with Down’s. ‘There is absolutely no reason with commitment, support and time, why children with Down’s Syndrome can not take part in 99.9 per cent of what’s going on in a mainstream school,’ says Dr Stephanie Lorenz, an educational psychologist and inclusion consultant. The DSA’s Education Support Pack can be downloaded from the Down’s Syndrome Association website, www.downs-syndrome.org.uk.
The Guardian Education, March 4, 2003.

A six-year-old boy with severe eczema is taking a school to a tribunal after it refused to allow him to wear pure cotton trousers. Louie Valencia, from Brent, in North London, was told by the headmistress of St Eugene de Mazenod School that he must wear regulation flannels, even though the woolen material inflamed eczema on his legs so that he could hardly walk. The boy and his mother, Gabriella, are using new disability discrimination laws to take the school to a tribunal. Although Louie has moved to a neighbouring school which allowed him to wear cotton trousers, he is seeking an apology for distress and disruption caused by the affair and having to change schools. A spokesman for the school’s governing body said it would contest the claim. The school learnt of the boy’s eczema only at a photography session, he said.
The Times, March 7, 2003.

Lancashire schools will receive more than £2m to improve their disabled access. The Government has allocated £2,138,000 to Lancashire County Council to distribute to schools this year (2003/2004) as part of a national initiative to improve access for disabled pupils to mainstream schools. The Disability Discrimination Act requires every local education authority to establish an Accessibility Strategy and all schools must prepare an Accessibility Plan by April 1 of this year. The resources allocated this year will be used to complete the most urgently needed work identified in the accessibility plans.
Ormskirk Advertiser, March 13, 2003.

Special schools threatened with closure may be reprieved following a strong statement of support from the Government. Many of the proposed closures which are being fought by parents throughout the country are due to a misunderstanding of the Government’s inclusion agenda, said Lady Ashton, the education minister responsible for special needs. ‘I am very worried that somehow people believe the Government’s agenda is to close special schools when it absolutely isn’t,’ she said. Lady Ashton was speaking in advance of today’s publication of the report of the working party she set up to advise the Government on the future of schools which cater exclusively for children with special needs. The number of special schools has gone down from 1,352 in 1992 to 1,161 last year, despite a steep increase in children defined as having special needs from 160,759 in 1992 to 248, 892 last year.
Daily Telegraph, March 13, 2003.

A moratorium on special school closures has been ruled out by the Government despite Tory protests. Junior education minister, Stephen Twigg, said local communities should make the decisions provided there was full local consultation. He was responding at Commons question time to Tory spokeswoman, Eleanor Laing, who said many local education authorities were dealing with budget problems by closing special schools. ‘Will you undertake to impose a moratorium on the closure of special schools, pending an investigation into this cruel policy?’ Mr Twigg said many authorities were looking at the nature of their provision for children with special needs. Any closures of special schools must be rooted in educational evidence and educational good practice. There was no evidence that closures were driven by a desire to save money.
Birmingham Post, March 14, 2003.

Groups representing disabled people have accused the Government of breaking a promise to improve the chances of children with special needs going to mainstream schools. Ministers have approved legislation allowing parents to appeal to special tribunals if their children are denied places on the grounds of disability. But in a foreword to a new report from the Government, Baroness Ashton of Upholland, an education minister, states: ‘The special school sector enjoys the Government’s full support. Inclusion is not an agenda to close special schools. I want special schools to be centres of expertise working with mainstream schools and the wider community to support pupils with special educational needs.’ Five organizations representing disabled people claim that the Government’s new emphasis will lead to thousands of pupil being denied a place at a mainstream school. According to the group, which includes the Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education, many disabled children who have been through special schools are opposed to their continued existence.
The Independent, March 17, 2003.