Hemel Hempstead boy left out of education for over a year after being rejected from special schools

A 10-year-old boy from Hemel Hempstead has been out of education for more than a year after being declined a place at special educational schools.

Conar Condon, who has complex needs, attended Broadfield Academy until November 2021 when was told he could not return due to staffing issues after being excluded, and a panel from the Hertfordshire County Council’s SEND team decided that a SEMH (social, emotional mental health) school was required for him.

But his mum says he’s desperate to get back to school and says he “doesn’t understand” why he isn’t allowed.

A spokesperson for Broadfield Academy said: “While we can’t go into the details of a specific case, this child has extremely complex learning needs and requires specialist support that a mainstream school like ours cannot provide.

“We are working closely with the county council’s SEND team who are working hard to find a suitable specialist place.However, due to significant pressures in the system and a nationwide shortage of specialist provision, this has not been a simple process.”

They continued: “In the meantime, we are continuing to support this child to the best of our ability. We have a positive relationship with the parents, and at their request, we have set work and provided learning packs and work on Google classroom.”

Mum Lisa Davis is desperate to get him back into education, fearing he will fall further behind his peers the longer he is out of school.

She said: “He's been declined by a couple of SEMH schools because of his needs.

“I need him to go somewhere. He needs a school routine back and the structure so he's learning as well. He's so behind, they don't send us any work.”

She added: “My younger son comes home and says what he's done in school, it really upsets him [Conar]. He doesn't understand why he's not allowed to go. He doesn't see why everyone else should go and he's not allowed.”

Lisa has lodged complaints with Hertfordshire County Council over the handling of Conar’s case, citing the lengthy response time as being an issue.

A spokesperson for Hertfordshire County Council said: “While we can’t comment on individual cases, we are committed to making sure that young people and their families receive the support they need and deserve, and we work in partnership with young people, parents and schools to achieve that end.”

The council defended itself, saying: “In common with many local authorities, we are experiencing an unprecedented increase in requests for specialist provision, with a 47% increase in pupils with Education and Health Care Plans (EHCPs) since 2019, as well as the additional challenges since the pandemic.

“We are investing over £50m over the next 3 years to ensure we have the right provision in the county, creating more than 300 new special school places, to meet the future needs of all our pupils with SEND in Hertfordshire. We are also creating a network of specialist resource provisions in mainstream schools to help children with speech, language, communication and autism to reach their full potential whilst being part of their local school community, we have increased funding by more than £16m over the last three years to mainstream schools.

“We are committed to offering the right support, at the right time, in the right place, to deliver our ambitious plans for supporting children and young people with SEND in Hertfordshire.”

Lisa, who works in a SEND school, told us: ”It's not just Conar. There are a lot of other children in this situation that shouldn't be. I just think it needs to be stopped somewhere.

Conar recently started to receive tutoring two days per week at his nearby community centre. While he has not been given a place at an appropriate primary school, he will start his secondary education at a specialist school in September. By the time he starts at this new school, it will be nearly two years since he was in a classroom.

Lisa explained: “This whole situation has affected Conar and had a massive impact on his mental health and how he feels the world sees him. It’s going to take us and the school settings a long time to build his self-esteem back up and make him feel like it is ok to struggle and people are there to help not push him away.”

Broadfield Academy added: “We hope that a suitable provision can be found as soon as possible so that this child can receive the specialist support they need and deserve.”