BRIMMING with confidence, nine-year-old Blake grins at the camera and declares, “If I could go to school… I could discover some hidden talents.”
But the chirpy youngster, who dreams of being a sound engineer, is one of thousands of kids with special educational needs who are not getting a proper education – with many having no school place at all.
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Now Lord David Blunkett has teamed up with Blake and other children for a heart-warming video that begs the Government to get them back into the classroom.
The moving film shows kids sharing their future dreams as a new survey reveals that almost eight in ten parents of youngsters with special educational needs and disabilities don’t believe their kids get the support they need at school.
The figures, released by the Disabled Children’s Partnership and SEND Reform England, also found that 39 percent of parents have had to give up work because they don’t get enough help for their offspring.
More than one in four said they had to spend savings on solicitors or private reports to help their kids while almost 60 per cent said their relationship had suffered as a result of the stress.
And 86 percent said the fight for support had caused their mental health to suffer.
Former Labour Education Secretary Lord David Blunkett said: “Everyone who is concerned with providing the right support in the right way to young people with special educational needs will be painfully aware of the extraordinary difficulties in getting the assistance they need.
“Parents are often in despair and more investment in special schools does not deliver the hands-on support required on a daily basis in mainstream schooling or special units.”
He said local government is “in meltdown” and, with less cash from the Government, access to EHCPs – education health and care plans which legally set out what help kids need – is even more restricted.
Lord Blunkett, blind from birth, said: “Urgent action is needed.”
Around 1.5 million school pupils in England have special educational needs.
Research by ITV last month found that 8,660 SEN children in England, Wales and Scotland who have an EHCP are still not accessing any formal education.
School denial
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Mum Victoria Feneley has struggled to get both her son Blake and 10-year-old stepson Ruben the help they need.
Victoria, 30, of Surrey, was forced to give up her career as a professional Latin and American dancer when Blake first showed signs of learning problems.
He was diagnosed with Global Development Delay aged two and autism at three.
Victoria had to go to a tribunal to gain one-to-one support for Blake so he could spent 15 hours a week in a mainstream part of school to help him develop further.
His school is fighting for a laptop so he can write more quickly.
Victoria wants him to go to a secondary school with an autism unit that enables students to transition to mainstream – but there are just FOUR places.
Her stepson Ruben has been diagnosed with autism and ADHD but she and his mechanic dad Pedro are still fighting for an EHCP.
She says the school SENCo (special education needs coordinator) repeatedly said Ruben is not autistic – despite a diagnosis in 2022.
Lack of self-esteem
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She said: “We felt so frustrated. It was there in black and white from a doctor but we were made to feel like we were making it up.
“The process to get Ruben an EHCP has started but we’ve had to wait seven months for an educational psychology assessment.
“He needs one-to-one support but since the start of year four he’s had to share another pupil’s one-to-one. In his class there are two teaching assistants supporting seven SEND children.
“Ruben’s self-esteem dropped as a result of lack of support, he knows he doesn’t fit in.
“He falls between groups, he’s verbal enough to socialise but not destructive enough to the classroom to attract support. He struggles in silence.
Our boys know we are fighting for them – it’s exhausting
Mum Victoria Feneley
“He’s a lovely boy but is flat in his mood. If he had the right support he could be a better version of himself. He could gain qualifications and eventually get a job. The move to secondary is going to be really difficult for him without an EHCP in place. We are really worried about his future.
“Our boys know we are fighting for them. They see there’s no head space for anything else. Meetings and doctors appointments and therapists. It’s exhausting but we will keep fighting.”
Read more on the Scottish Sun
Both Blake and Ruben feature in the heart-wrenching film in which SEND kids talk about what they want to do when they grow up.
The Sun’s Give It Back campaign, with the Disabled Children’s Partnership (DCP), calls for the return of £573million of axed health and social care funding for Special Educational Needs kids.