‘People need to know the system is a joke’ - says Norwich mum fighting to get help for son with ADHD

Kayleigh Gray's son Lewis Drew has been out of school for a year after being excluded from mainstream education.

The 12-year old from Earlham, who has ADHD, then had to wait almost 12 months to get a document called an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) which outlines what support he needed.

But his mum accused Norfolk County Council of then ignoring the EHCP by not following its advice. It stated he needed support in a specialist setting.

But instead he is being given six hours home tuition a week.

Kayleigh Gray from Earlham has been fighting to get an education for her son after he was excluded from school in Norwich. Photo: Kayleigh Gray (Image: Archant)

She said she only found out the decision had been made by a Norfolk County Council panel in May when the home tuition company contacted her.

Mrs Gray, 31, said: 'He is not in a very good frame of mind. He is very wary of strangers. If not asleep he is playing on his Playstation.'

Her experience of getting help is one beset by delays and frustration.

She said a draft copy of the plan had another boy's name on it, she is unsure if the home tutor is a permanent or temporary solution and the council had appeared to disregard the EHCP advice.

Kayleigh Gray has been fighting for a year to get an education for her son Lewis (pictured) after he was excluded from school in Norwich. Photo: Kayleigh Gray (Image: Archant)

'People need to know the system is a joke,' she said. 'It is failing kids, not just mine.'

Norfolk County Council badly missed the target of issuing when EHCPs within 20 weeks when they were introduced in September 2014, replacing statements of special needs.

In 2015 - the latest year figures are available for - just 10pc of children were getting EHCPs within the target time in Norfolk.

Since then the council has bought in an extra 12 staff, on top of its existing 10 casework staff, to deal with the caseloads.

A spokesman for the council said: 'We know that we need to improve our work to complete EHCPs on time and have recruited additional staff to address this.

'We also expect schools and health partners to be providing support to children with special educational needs, who do not require a formal EHCP but still need additional help or support to access their learning.

'We have historically had a high proportion of children with statements of special educational need in the county, which creates challenges in moving children onto the newer style plans.'

•Waits for help

Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) replaced statements of special needs in 2014 and brought teams from across the education, health and social care systems together.

The reforms resulted in the numbers of children classed as special education needs (SEN) collapsing as children with less complex needs didn't qualify for support.

A survey from teaching union the ATL last year found 43pc of its members said children with SEN were not eligible for Government funding and support after the reforms.

In Norfolk numbers of children classed as SEN fell from almost 23,000 in 2013 to 18,250 last year. While in Suffolk they fell from 20,425 to 13,523 over the same period.

But despite fewer pupils getting help, the changes have led to long waits for children like Lewis to get that support.

•Read more here from our Fighting For Their Futures campaign

•What is your experience of the SEN reforms and EHCPs? Contact our education reporter Lauren Cope at lauren.cope@archant.co.uk