The mother of a seven-year-old boy has been forced to quit her carer job after her son was expelled from school.
Kellie Lees, 35, says her son Nicholas, was expelled from the Co-op academy Clarice Cliff, in Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent, for behavioural reasons more than three weeks before schools broke up for the summer holidays. He still does not have a school place ten weeks later - despite children returning to education this month, StaffordshireLive reports.
Kellie says Nicholas has been missing regular education since he started Year Two as he was reduced to half-days at the school, and then one-hour days, before being permanently excluded. She has also been calling for her son to be tested for ADHD for years, which is finally happening.
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Kellie says the lack of classroom time for Nicholas has left him unable to write his own name. She has also been forced to quit her job to look after him during the day, and is struggling more now that he doesn't receive free school meals.
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."
StaffordshireLive has contacted the local council, who are understood to be trying to get a place for Nicholas at Kaleidoscope, in Wolstanton, for children with complex needs.
Kellie 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 headteacher 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."
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