Mum says her 'miracle twins' are thriving at school

"They were just smiling, it was just so heart-warming to see that they are in the right place for them – thriving and coming home ready to do it again."

Jade, mum to "miracle twins" Harry and Harley, now aged four, has said she is relieved they have started at a special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) school after their places were put on hold.

The brother and sister are thought to be the most premature to survive in the UK. They were born in October 2021 at 22 weeks and five days and weighed 520g (1.14lb) and 500g (1.10lb) respectively.

Jade, of Heanor in Derbyshire, said: "To any other parents that are stuck in system – keep fighting it will work out in the end."

Jade said a building control firm, which was due to sign off on a new modular classroom went into insolvency, meaning the twins, who are non-verbal autistic, could not start term in September last year.

But the issue has since been resolved, and the twins had their first day on 7 January.

Jade said the school had sent her pictures of the activities the twins were up to throughout the day. Their day-to-day learning includes speech and language therapy, rebound therapy, hydrotherapy and outdoor learning.

"They needed a bath when they got home, it was dirty work," she added.

Things nearly went wrong on their first day when Jade's car would not start.

"My battery had gone," she said.

"So I had a mad panic of trying to get an engineer to the house to fix the battery. We were an hour and a half late for school but they were absolutely fine with that.

"There was a time where I couldn't even imagine getting to this point where they are even able to go to school – especially back in hospital when they were so tiny.

"And then obviously the battle with EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan) and getting the placement.

"They deserve an education and they haven't been getting one up until now - just knowing they are learning and being around other children. It is a massive relief."

Jade said she could now get stuck into her "to-do list" while the children were at school.

"People said to me 'I hope you have had a well-deserved break'. There is a lot of admin that I can get stuck into now."

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