Get information and support Your stories Christina and Jackson’s story Jackson was seven years old and in a mainstream school when Christina first contacted IPSEA’s helplines. Jackson is diagnosed with Apert syndrome (a genetic condition), ADHD, hearing loss, asthma, and fused fingers for which he has had five surgeries. The family was living in Hertfordshire and Jackson was attending pre-school. Although it was not easy, Jackson adapted with support. He moved to reception in a mainstream school where he was happy and confident and had a supportive teacher. It was in year one that Jackson started to find school challenging. It was clear he needed one-to-one support. He started to put his hands over his ears, run away and avoid going to school by locking himself in the toilet at home. Jackson was becoming more and more frustrated at school. He needed more support, and this resulted in him refusing to go to school. Jackson had an Education Health and Care (EHC) plan, but it had not been updated. At the annual review of the EHC plan in January 2021, Jackson’s parents asked the local authority (LA) to amend the EHC plan to name a specialist school. The LA issued an amended plan, but it continued to name the mainstream school, so in April 2021 Jackson’s parents decided to appeal to the SEND Tribunal. Fortunately, IPSEA was able to allocate a volunteer to help soon after the appeal was lodged. Cristina decided to get independent Educational Psychologist and Occupational Therapist reports. It was only on the receipt of these reports that Cristina realised just how hard it was for Jackson to manage at school. She said, “It was a huge shock to us. We realised at this point mainstream school was never going to work for Jackson, but the LA and the school were still insisting it was a suitable environment. The SENCo from the mainstream school was even at our Tribunal saying it was okay when Jackson was having to sit outside the class at a table by the toilet to do his work!” Cristina knew Jackson needed a specialist school but then the next battle began to find an appropriate placement. Eventually after much searching a potential school was found in Bromley, Kent and the family had to make the huge decision to relocate from Hertfordshire to Kent. In August 2022, the family moved to Bromley in Kent and the parents’ appeal to the SEND Tribunal was paused so that Jackson’s EHC plan could be transferred the new LA. By now, it was now so out of date it was no longer relevant. The process of finding suitable schools commenced again. Jackson did not receive any education or support during September and October 2022. Two complaints were filed about the LA’s failure to arrange suitable alternative education under section 19 of the Education Act to the Director of Children Services at Bromley and one to the Department for Education. Cristina said, “This situation was extremely harmful to Jackson. His education suffered significantly due to the lack of appropriate support and interventions from both Hertfordshire and Bromley. He was in a new area without access to education, friends, or family which further exacerbated the challenges he faced." Bromley LA took eight weeks to allocate a tutor, but the support from an Occupational Therapist and Speech and Language Therapist in section F from the EHC plan was not provided. Following the allocation of a tutor Jackson only received 8 hours of education a week. Cristina was unable to work, and once again things were critical for the whole family. IPSEA’s TSS volunteer continued to support Cristina as they appealed to the SEND Tribunal. This was one of the longest cases IPSEA has been involved in, as we had been supporting the Hart family for two years. The outcome In January 2023 a Telephone Case Management Hearing took place where the LA explained none of the schools they had consulted with could meet Jackson’s needs, and the only school left was the school the family had moved from Hertfordshire to Kent for originally. This school still had a place for Jackson, and with the help of active case management from the Tribunal the LA agreed to name the school. Jackson started school after Easter in 2023: “There are still some parts of Jackson’s support to finalise, but I don’t have the words to explain what a different child is since Jackson started at his new school." “He has lots of speech problems and is uncomfortable speaking publicly but this year he took part in the Christmas play speaking in front of the other parents with so much confidence. He has joined the music club and is learning to play a trombone. He also sang with the other children on the stage in front of everyone. I have never heard Jackson sing.” “He got his first swimming certificate and now asks to go to school. The difference is amazing. He believes in himself and it's absolutely being in the right school with the right support. He is also making academic progress. He is now in year 4 but was always a year behind in mainstream." “IPSEA was my constant saviour for two years while we battled with two LAs. I am very grateful and always will be for IPSEA. I know my son would not be where he is today without IPSEA." “We had to move house and pay for independent reports, and there was no way we could have afforded to pay for legal advice too." Manage Cookie Preferences