Four-year-old girl won't join twin brother at school this week in funding row

Four-year-old girl won't join twin brother at school this week in funding row Lillie will have to stay home and could be the subject of a two-year legal battle A four-year-old girl who should be joining her twin brother at school this week will instead be stuck at home because of a 'bureaucratic nightmare. Lillie Ward should be joining her twin brother Charlie at school this week. But while Charlie waves goodbye in his brand new uniform, sister Lillie will stay home. Parents Glenn Ward and Mea Bower have spent most of this year embroiled in a complex row over the cost of their daughter's special educational needs. Four-year-old Lillie has communication, developmental, sensory, personal care and safety needs and has been issued an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). She needs one-to-one support. Having overcome their first hurdle to get Medway Council to agree to her being assessed, her parents were then faced with a conflict between themselves and the authority over the level and cost of her needs at school. Staff at St John’s Infants, a mainstream school in Chatham which has offered her a place, said she needs specialist tuition costing £29,900 a year. But the council says that a package costing £9,000 would be enough to suit Lillie’s complex needs. Glenn, 34, a former bank employee who now works as an electrician, and his partner Mea, 31, an accountant, have described the ordeal of getting their daughter into school as “a tiring nightmare”. And if matters are not resolved, it could land in a tribunal some two years away. Legally, Lillie will have to go to school in January after her fifth birthday. In the meantime she will be taught at the family home in Purbeck Road, Chatham. Glenn said: “It’s been a nightmare and would appear to be financially led. We are not saying that a council must simply pay whatever amount a school asks for. Our question is more fundamental. If the school expected to educate Lillie has identified a package approaching £30,000, but the council awards £9,000, what evidence shows that everything in her EHCP can still be delivered safely and properly? “St John’s appears to have done exactly what we would expect a responsible school to do. Its planning identified approximately 32.5 hours a week of dedicated one-to-one support, additional staffing and a costed package of £29,949.51. We have told Medway we are prepared to make St John’s work, if the council secures the staffing, funding and resources necessary for the school to deliver Lillie’s provision properly. “We would much rather spend our time preparing our daughter for school than preparing a tribunal case." Mea added: “All we are asking is what every child deserves, an education. It’s been draining. It’s easy to see how people give up. The couple, who fell pregnant with twins after IVF treatment, noticed that Lillie was not progressing as fast as her brother from the age of eight months At first they were refused an assessment, a decision which was overturned on appeal. They applied to Bradfields Academy in Chatham, but were unsuccessful because Lillie was not officially diagnosed until a few weeks later. Meanwhile, Charlie is settling into his new school, Balfour Infant School in Rochester. Glenn added: “At the centre of this is Lillie. She is four years old and should be getting ready for her first day of school, not sitting at the centre of her parents’ second tribunal battle with the council in less than a year. We will fight on.” Ben Hulme, chief executive of Medway Anglican Schools Trust, which oversees St John’s said: ”We have looked carefully at the support that would be needed for Lillie to attend school safely and successfully. This has included considering staffing, specialist support and the wider provision needed to meet her needs alongside those of the other children in school. “The figure [£29,000] reflects the school’s assessment of the cost of putting that provision in place. The funding currently available does not cover the full cost of that support, which is why further discussions are taking place. “This is not about the school being unwilling to welcome Lillie. We want her to be able to start school as soon as possible, and we know that is what her family wants too. We are continuing to work positively with Lillie’s parents and Medway Council to agree the right provision and funding so that she can attend St John’s with the support she needs. “Our focus is on reaching a solution that is right for Lillie, her family, the other children in the school and the staff supporting them.” A Medway Council spokesperson said: “Like local authorities across the country, Medway is seeing increasing demand for SEND support. Funding decisions are based on an assessment of a child's needs, and we continue to work with families and schools to ensure children receive appropriate support. “We support the idea that children and young people's education needs are best met in local mainstream settings. Nevertheless, we will remain in discussion with the school and family in this case, and will assess the situation to ensure appropriate support and funding is available. As this concerns an individual child, we cannot comment further.”