‘He will never get this time back’ – Sheffield mum wins £20,000 compensation over council’s failure to find school for son

The mum of a Sheffield boy who has missed almost his entire secondary education after the council failed to find him an appropriate school place has urged parents to challenge decisions made by local education authorities after he was awarded £20,000 in compensation by a Government watchdog.
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The 16-year-old was awarded the cash last month after his mother fought Sheffield Council for more than four years over their failure to find him another school place when he left his specialist secondary in December 2015 after just 12 weeks.

He has autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and pathological demand avoidance, and now attends the Robert Ogden School near Barnsley, a specialist school run by the National Autistic Society which caters for children with complex additional needs.

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But for more than two and a half years he had no formal schooling whatsoever, leading to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman last month recommending Sheffield Council pay compensation to him for the education he has missed.

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The mum, who we are calling Samantha to protect her identity, is now calling for all parents of children with special educational needs in Sheffield to complain to the local authority if they feel they are not getting what they are entitled to.

She said: “I understand the council didn’t have much money because of austerity but that is not my son’s or any child in this city’s issue. That is up to the council to work out when it comes to fighting central Government for money.

“I always knew it was too late for my son so I didn’t do it for money or anything like that, I did it because it needs changing. Parents of children with special educational needs need to know they can go to the ombudsman to get what they deserve.”

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Samantha said the problems began when her son went to a specialist secondary school in Sheffield in September 2015 after spending six very successful years at The Rowan Centre in Rawmarsh.

However, after he was excluded just before Christmas at the end of his first term there, he never went back and had to rely on out-of-school provision for the next two and a half years.

This was first provided by a teacher from his school, but the 11 hours teaching time he was due to receive a week was often only a few hours and he would sometimes get nothing at all.

After that came to an end in July 2016, he was placed with a worker from a company which normally supplies PAs and carers to adults for three and a half days a week.

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But during this time he had no base to use, meaning they would often be forced to walk the streets - or have to go home if it rained.

In the end, and only after Samantha repeatedly complained about the situation, Sheffield Council did find him a place to use - a disused chip shop with no central heating.

She said: “It was only meant to be temporary for six weeks but this went on for another 20 months. There was no curriculum or resources but it just kept going because they didn’t come up with any alternative.

“On paper he had a school place and they received £20,000 every year for three years - but they even rigged it to give him 90 per cent attendance when he wasn’t even going.

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“The education they were providing involved taking him to car showrooms and a pet shop. They said he got basic science lessons but it was just making rockets from bottles of Coke.”

The ombudsman’s report says they are concerned this kind of alternative provision from non-educational, unregistered providers may be more widespread in Sheffield and have asked the council to review their systems.

All in all, Samantha’s son has missed 43 months of schooling or more than three and a half years of his secondary education.

However, because he missed so much, his time at Robert Ogden has had to be built up slowly, meaning that from December 2015 he didn’t complete a full week’s schooling again until March 2020, just weeks before the coronavirus lockdown began.

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Samantha fears this could have lifelong consequences not only to her son’s employment prospects but also to his mental health, something that has already manifested itself in problems with self-harm and a suicide attempt.

She said: “I try not to get upset but it honestly breaks my heart. It is not just the education side it is the peers and friendships and all the experiences he has missed out on.

“It is that kind of damage that they have done that is really hard to get across. This isn’t just going to be sorted out by a bit of money this is going to take some serious input.

“When he applies for jobs, what is he going to put for his high school? Does he put the chip shop or car showroom? My son doesn’t understand the consequences but I can’t imagine what his life is going to be like. He will never get this time back.”

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While Samantha accepts that over the last 10 years, the impact of austerity made Sheffield Council’s task in providing appropriate education for children with special educational needs much harder, she can’t accept that it is right that her son and others like him should have paid the price.

She said: “If they were struggling for funds then come out and say it and let’s get together and come up with a plan. Don’t push him off into a chip shop and give £60,000 to a school that he wasn’t attending.

“Why did they do it? Because if the council took him off roll at his secondary school it would have meant they had responsibility for providing him with a full-time education so it was cheaper to pay them £20,000 than it was to do that. It is disgusting.”

Councillor Abtisam Mohamed, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills at Sheffield City Council said they fully accepted the findings from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and took full responsibility for what had happened.

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She said: “This situation is unacceptable and we are very sorry that her son was ever put in this situation where he did not receive the right education provision and that it took so long for him to be placed in the right school, in order to meet his needs.

“Over the past couple of years we have worked hard to make sure this will not happen again, and that all children in Sheffield receive the support they need. Our aim is that all the SEND services we provide, meet the needs of our children.

“Every child deserves an education that meets their needs, and we are working hard to make sure that this is a reality across the city.”

In these confusing and worrying times, local journalism is more vital than ever. Thanks to everyone who helps us ask the questions that matter by taking out a digital subscription or buying a paper. We stand together. Nancy Fielder, editor.