A mother has had to quit her job to look after her seven-year-old son who has been left without a school place after he was kicked out of the classroom. Kellie Lees, 35, says her son Nicholas Bailey was expelled for behavioural reasons weeks before school finished for the summer, but he still hasn't been given a new place, even though pupils returned to education this month.
The mum-of-four says she has had to quit her job as a carer so she can be at home for Nicholas and has slammed Stoke-on-Trent City Council for not yet finding a place for her youngest boy, who has not been in regular education since he was in year two. The lack of classroom time for Nicholas means he cannot even write his full name yet, StokeonTrentLive reports.
Kellie says she has been asking for help for years to get Nicholas tested for ADHD, which is now finally happening. The youngster, who went to the Co-op Academy Clarice Cliff in Fenton, Staffordshire, has been missing regular classroom time since he started year two as he was reduced to half days at the school, then just one-hour days, before being permanently excluded.
The exasperated mother, from Longton, said her son deserves better, and he's at least a year behind compared to other children his age now because of all the teaching time he has missed out on. She has urged the council to do something to help Nicholas before he falls behind even further.
Stoke-on-Trent City Council is reportedly trying to get Nicholas into Kaleidoscope in Wolstanton, for children with complex needs, although the council did not respond to request for comment from StokeonTrentLive.
Kellie said: "I have been asking for help and for him to be tested for ADHD ever since he started in nursery. The school kept telling me that he couldn't get tested until he turned seven.
"But he just got worse and worse at school. While he was in year two he was suspended. Then he went back and they put him on half-days, but then he was suspended again.
"He was then in school for one hour a day and after that he was permanently excluded from the school. He hasn't learnt anything at school for the past year, he can't even write his full name properly or read properly.
He's being tested for ADHD now and a plan is going to be put in place to help him. I always said there was something wrong but it wasn't picked up.
"I have four children, Nicholas is the youngest, and I can see the differences in him compared to my other children. He doesn't sit still, he's constantly on the move, and the only time he's quiet is when he's asleep.
"He doesn't like being told 'no', but the school kept telling him 'no'. Now he's permanently excluded."
Kellie said as well as a "disruptive" year for Nicholas, before that was Covid and various lockdowns, which also affected his learning. She said: "He's at least a year behind and now he's missing out on the start of year three. He deserves better.
"He needs to be in education, he's had more than 10 weeks off school and hasn't learnt anything after a disruptive year. We were also in lockdown the year before that.
"I've had to stop working as I've got nobody to have him while he's not been in school. Now he just thinks he doesn't have to go to school because he hasn't been for so long and his siblings are thinking if he doesn't go to school why should they.
"He needs to be in school. The council should have found a place for him before the school holidays, but nothing has been found.
"They've had more than 10 weeks to find him a place, but nothing has been sorted. The council just say they are behind, that's all I get.
"They told me they were looking at Kaleidoscope, but I'm still waiting. He can't go to normal school as his exclusion has been upheld so he's got to go to a special school.
"I've been on the phone to the council all day, but I can't get an answer from anybody. I think more should be done to help him."
Co-op Academy Clarice Cliff head teacher Diane Broadhurst said: "Excluding a student is a very rare and heart-breaking decision for any school to make, especially in this case where a child has been with us since nursery. However, after a long process of trying to give him the support that he needs and consulting with multiple external agencies, specialists, professionals and the local authority, and implementing their advice, it was decided that Clarice Cliff could not meet his learning needs, nor could we ensure his safety at school.
"We appreciate that this has been a really difficult and frustrating process, and the family have been keen for him to be assessed. We therefore referred him for the appropriate tests with in addition to completing our own assessments to support his learning.
"His family have been involved throughout the entire process, engaging with all agencies. It was important for us to make sure the family were fully involved in the decisions made throughout this difficult time, and ensure that they understood why Clarice Cliff could not meet their child's needs.
"This is not a decision that any of us wanted to make, and Nicholas deserves an education that meets his individual needs. Knowing that the local authority has not been able to find him a place is understandably very frustrating for him and his parents, and really upsetting for us as we wanted to help him find a setting in which he could thrive. We are doing everything we can to support the family, and advocate for them with the local authority to find him a place."
