‘We need something better for our kids’: Parents of Moray’s Additional Support Needs (ASN) children say lack of support may force them to move
PARENTS of children with additional support needs in Moray say they have considered moving, due to the lack of support available in the area.
With further changes planned for the Additional Support Needs (ASN) provision in Moray schools, parents took to Moray Council headquarters this week to protest the changes.
The protest took place as members of the Education, Children’s and Leisure Services Committee met to discuss the ASN Change Management Plan on Tuesday (May 14).
The plan, which is understood to have been approved by the committee, could result in significant job losses among school staff and a reduction in support for some children requiring ASN assistance.
Moray Council have stated that the new allocations will provide further ASN support to 10 primary schools, seven secondary schools and three playgroups in the area, while other schools will remain the same or may experience staff cuts.
The decisions have been made following a review in which schools were visited by the education team to assess their needs.
The council have confirmed that head teachers will be able to allocate staff, and request additional hours where needed. They have also reassured parents that children with the highest level of need will continue to be supported and that “where targeted additional support is necessary this will be provided.”
Parents at the protest, however, argue that mainstream schools in Moray are struggling to support ASN children effectively, and shared their worry about the impact any reduction of support staff will have on their children.
Chelsea Findlay’s four-year-old son Arran has been attending Ladybird Nursery for a year. The mum, who recently met with politicians in Downing Street to advocate for better services for Moray’s ASN children, says she is worried for her son who is set to start primary school in August.
Chelsea said: “Ladybird is such a vital service, but the lack of support from Moray Council is absolutely shocking. It is cutback upon cutback and it is always the most vulnerable who are targeted. It’s really important these vital services get support so that our children can continue to get that education.”
Chelsea’s son will only be assessed for access to extra support once he begins school, and she said the uncertainty of Arran receiving consistent access to services has prompted her to seriously consider moving elsewhere.
She said: “There are no specialist services in the Moray district, compared to Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire which both have schools for children with additional needs – there is nothing here. We need something better for our kids, we’ll end up moving and leaving.”
June Cameron, echoed these sentiments. She is a kinship carer for her great-nephew Jackson, who has complex medical needs and requires round the clock care. June said: “It is such a worry knowing that there aren’t going to be services for Jackson. He would benefit from an ASN school, he needs one-to-one care and people there to support him.
“I am willing to move so that Jackson can have a better outcome in life compared to what he will get here in Moray. It’s hard. It is already such an isolating experience being a parent or carer to an ASN child, it will isolate us further by moving, but it would be better for him. That is the measures we’re being pushed to just to get our kids a better education.”
Parents at the protest also emphasised that the issues in Moray extend beyond education, with parents struggling to in accessing other vital services for their children. One Moray mum said: “My son is almost eight and we are still waiting for diagnoses for him. We’ve been waiting three years to see a paediatrician at Dr. Gray's and over a year for a Speech and Language Therapist because Moray is so short-staffed. It took us two years to get involvement from an educational psychologist.
“The wait times are so long to see other specialist departments that we really rely heavily on support in school. Without them, I don’t know what we’d do.”
In a statement, Councillor Bridget Mustard, Deputy Chair of the Education, Children’s and Leisure Services Committee, who met with protestors on Tuesday ahead of the meeting, said members were aware of the strength of feeling and understood that providing the appropriate level of care and education was very important to parents and carers.
She added: “It’s a complex support service that we’re required to deliver and in a challenging financial backdrop it is important that we make the best investment for the future. Despite the difficult financial position, the proposals represent an ongoing budget commitment and set out a future service to reflect the need to create nurturing, inclusive environments for our young people.
“We are confident that the investment in training and learning from other local authorities will enhance the provision for our young folk at a time when challenges are increasing.”
The staff consultation process is ongoing until the end of June, and further information on the ASN service delivery Moray will to be released after its completion.
