Nairn Academy student (13) with ADHD and dyslexia calls Highland Council to reinstate additional support need (ASN) resources as he is left ‘struggling’ after losing one-to-one support
A13-year-old pupil who lives near Forres is urging Highland Council to reinstate support staff at his school, as he found himself struggling after losing one-to-one support.
Tom Rhind, who is an S2 pupil at Nairn Academy and diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia, has written a letter to the local authority in January after finding himself without the support for reading and writing he was given in key lessons during his first year.
This comes after Highland Council changed the way it allocates resources for additional support needs (ASN) — whereas in the past this was based on pupils individual needs, it is now based on an algorithm based on school rolls, rurality, whether a child receives a clothing or footwear grant, and the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation.
Although the new allocation system was passed in February 2023, its effects have started being felt at the start of this academic year, with students and parent councils raising concerns on the effectiveness — and fairness — of the system.
Tom, whose letter was backed by the Parent Council at Nairn Academy, said: “I have written to Highland Council to ask them to bring back the people who were supporting me.
“I don’t understand why they will only give help depending on how many pupils have a free school meal or uniform. I have two conditions which I have had to see doctors, nurses and specialists for and they are not linked to needing a school uniform or where I live.
“When I started at Nairn I was given help in some lessons. I cannot read or write quickly enough to keep up. With their help, I was doing well.”
However, at the end of June 2024 Tom learned that his help was being pulled and three PSA posts at Nairn were axed.
Tom added: “I felt sad for them, and I was worried about how I would manage.
“Since August, having had no one to help, I have not been sleeping very well, I have felt angry and I don’t think I am learning very much.
“Sometimes I have had to leave the classroom because I cannot manage. My confidence has dropped, and I am struggling.
“My teachers are doing a good a job at trying to help, but they cannot give me the full attention I need to do well, as the classes have so many other pupils.”
Tom’s mother, Claire Doughty, said: “To us, as parents of a child who has got a dyslexia and ADHD diagnosis, the new criteria doesn’t make any sense.
“Tom has returned to school in August 2024 and found himself with no support, because he does not fit within the new criteria that Highland Council has put in place. It doesn’t make any sense that you ca create a criteria like that - if you’ve got a child that has got two diagnosis, they should be allocated some kind of support.
“It has been a bit of a slow burner. He has been managing as best as he can, and the school have absolutely been amazing in putting in place what they can - changing things, delivering material to Tom in a different way to try and help with that. They are doing it with little resource, but they are doing a tremendous job. “
She said that towards the end of last year, she and her husband noticed that Tom was starting to “unravel”, having difficulties with sleep and stress, and they are concerned that this will continue if support isn’t brought back.
“Other parents are feeling the same as we are, there’s frustration across the board, and we’d really like for someone to come and explain to us how this new model was come up with. Maybe we’ll understand it, but I don’t think we will.
“Schools are struggling with lack of resources, less teachers, and removing away support has compounded it and teachers have to do more within the classroom. I dare to say that’s the same for staff at school as well.”
Tom’s plea was backed by Nairn Academy’s Parent Council, who also wrote to the council calling for the support to be reinstated.
A spokesperson for the Nairn Parent Council explained: “We cannot just sit back and watch as our children are left to fend for themselves.
“We are deeply concerned regarding the recent changes and have written to Highland Council to ask them to explain to us how this decision was reached.
“It is ludicrous to think that additional support will be decided on school roll, clothing/footwear grant and rurality as opposed to the actual needs of the children. Living in poverty has no causal link to diagnosable additional needs and disabilities.
“To ignore this fact and set the formula for ASN funding and staffing on a criteria that has zero link to the number of actual ASN pupils in a school can only be detrimental to the education of some of our most vulnerable pupils. How can this be acceptable, and how could this happen without any consultation with pupils’ parents or carers for schools?”
The spokesperson added: “Funding should be based on the reality of their actual needs and abilities. Tom is just one young person at the school who has had his in person support withdrawn and it’s put him and others in a position where they are not being included in classwork and are being discriminated against because of their additional need.”
One of the parents, Katie Kennedy, whose 14-year-old son is in S3 at the Academy added: “My son has recently done some assessments at the school which he has no one-to-one support for.
“He used to have a scribe and would sit the tests in a separate room which is quiet and when that was happening, he was perfectly capable. However, this is not happening due to the lack of ASN support and his confidence is taking a knock.”
She added: “The staff and the teachers have been great and they are communicating with me, but ultimately there is no one-to-one support for him. He will be sitting his National 5 exams, and I really worry that if things do not change with the Highland Council ASN provision, he will fail, but only because he has been failed by a ridiculous system.”
Parents in the region voiced their concerns at the start of this academic year, fearing of the impact of the new system on vulnerable children.
This follows the backlash at staffing cuts that preceded the changes to the allocation model.
This is part of an ongoing struggle to fund services for neurodivergent children across the Highlands and Scotland.
According to a report published in February by Audit Scotland, 40 per cent of pupils across the country were recorded as receiving additional support for learning (ASL) in 2024.
Since the ASL Act was introduced in 2004, the number of pupils receiving support has grown by 768 per cent.
A Highland Council spokesperson said that they are unable to comment on individual matters, and that Nairn Academy staff “will follow up on the concerns raised with families”.
They said: “The ASL allocation process has been in use since February 2023 when it was agreed by the Education Committee. The total allocation to Associate Schools Group is calculated using a staffing standard which involves a weighting based on the school roll, clothing/footwear grant, Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) 1-3 and rurality.
“Head Teachers have the ability to make adjustments at individual school level to enable the opportunity for professional flexibility and local circumstances to be addressed. There are no plans to change the staffing standard in the coming session, but additional resource has been identified in this year’s Council budget to further enhance ASL staffing across the Local Authority.”
If you want to share your views or experience about this topic, you can get in touch at federica.stefani@hnmedia.co.uk.
