5-year-old Chesterfield girl out of school for 8 months - as council unable to find suitable special school

Robyn Davies has a rare genetic condition called Tanc2 Syndrome and has been unable to get a school place since her family moved back to the Chesterfield area.

Her mother Nicole Davies, 30, informed the council of her daughter’s educational needs, hoping that they would help her find a suitable school.

Robyn has specialist provision in her Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) which requires she is provided with an educational environment conducive to a person with complex disabilities.

But eight months on Robyn is still without a suitable school place.

Nicole said: “I’m already seeing the effects on Robyn. She is extremely bored at home. You should see the back of her hands, as she engages in self-harm behaviours which is leaving her with open wounds.

"Academically-wise, I know given her disability she will probably always be behind, so that is not my immediate concern. Her mental health right now is what I am really concerned about.”

Nicole says she received a letter from the council, informing her they would be performing an assessment of Robyn’s needs, and would make a decision within six weeks.

After the deadline had passed and Nicole lodged a complaint which was upheld.

She managed to get in touch with the council’s Special Educational Needs Disabilities department and was informed that two of the preferred schools would not be willing to take on Robyn.

Nicole said the council began consulation with mainstream primary schools – which was against her wishes as she did not believe they would have the sufficient facilities or staff to deal with Robyn’s needs.

Nicole said: “One of the other schools consulted didn't even have access to an outdoor space, which is also specified as a requirement in Robyn's EHCP due to her extreme sensory needs.

"It became clear to me the council were taking a scattergun approach to consulting with schools, rather than looking at Robyn's needs and who would be best placed to help her, even if it was going to be a mainstream place in the interim."

Nicole has now become a full time carer for her daughter during the last nine months and said this is beginning to take its toll emotionally and financially.

A Derbyshire County Council spokesman said: “While we can’t comment on individual cases, Derbyshire has had a significant increase in the number of requests for Education Health Care Plans (EHCPs) and for the assessments and advice that go along with these. This is a national issue and other local authorities are facing similar increases in demand.

“As a result of this our performance in completing some ECHPs within the 20 week deadline has been impacted and has led to delays in completing some of them on time. We are extremely sorry for any children, families and schools who are being negatively affected and we are working extremely hard to improve our performance.

“Derbyshire County Council is investing significant additional staffing resources to address these challenges as well as reviewing and restructuring its services to manage the demand in the future. The additional resources are being deployed to both catch up and finalise those that have gone over the deadline and to also keep current and new plans within the 20 week timescale.

“At the same time we have had an increase in demand for special school places. We are working with the special schools to increase the places available. Where there are delays in identifying a special school place for a child we will work with the family and the existing schools or provision to look at what alternatives can be provided.”