Boy, 6, out of school for 18 months in SEND row

A non-verbal boy with severe autism has been out of school for 18 months due to disputes between his family and a local authority.

Reeve, six, from near Ipswich, started a mainstream school with a specialist provision for additional needs but his parents Kayleigh and Max felt his needs were not being met and they removed him from the school.

Kayleigh says she has been fighting with Suffolk County Council to find him a suitable, alternative school, but has often been ignored.

The county council said it was working to improve its special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) service.

A spokesperson said that occasionally it could be difficult to provide the most suitable placement for a child.

Reeve also has sensory processing disorder, a neurological condition in children that can affect the way the brain processes information.

Before starting school, Reeve was given an education, health and care plan (EHCP), from the county council - a legally binding document for children and young people with additional needs - which sets out the support they need throughout their education.

Reeve started at SET Felix Primary School but Kayleigh felt his needs were not being met, saying he was often put in a room away from others.

She also asked if he could walk in through a quieter entrance at the start of the school day, which was agreed, but, after a few weeks, the school said it was a health and safety risk.

She says at this point she felt she had to remove him from the school as he was "traumatised".

"I even sent videos of how he... would shake and cry. This is a vulnerable, non-verbal, disabled child.

"He shows us through his behaviour and I sent those videos to the local authority and school, and I said 'how can you think that this school is meeting his needs?'"

Throughout 2025, Kayleigh says the family struggled with communication from the council and the parents felt they had to find an alternative school themselves.

They found one specialist Essex school of which admission requires a referral from local authorities, but there also needs to be a place available.

Kayleigh says the council agreed to help but weeks passed with no updates. She says the council then told them it had heard nothing from the school, but when she went to the school directly, they told her they had not heard from the council in six weeks.

She now feels Reeve potentially missed out on a place at the school, but she came to learn last week the school also did not want to accept Reeve for reasons surrounding his safety.

Reeve is currently attending a forest school in Mildenhall two days a week, but it is more than an hour's drive which impacts his parents' jobs and their other child.

Kayleigh says he needs to be back in school, but also suspects he will struggle with separation anxiety after being at home so long.

The family is due to look at another school in Essex which the county council has agreed to consult with them on.

"There's this ongoing battle of just trying to get my child to a school that can meet his needs which shouldn't be a battle," she continues.

"It's hard enough looking after a child who is disabled, it's a 24/7 job... then I've got a daughter as well, but I'm having to pull myself in every direction while also trying to hold down my job."

In July 2024, the family applied to go to a tribunal over the issues which will take place in September.

Earlier this year, the council said it had 11,580 children with an EHCP and was heading for a £250m deficit by 2028 in its education budget due to increased spending on special education.

Several new SEND schools have also been agreed to in recent months and the council has created 1,223 new specialist SEND places in the past six years.

A spokesperson said it was working to make improvements including a focus on strengthening casework practice, improving communication with families.

"It is accepted across the country that changes to the SEND system at a national level are urgently required if we are to see a sustainable future for support services," they added.

"We want to see a system that works with families and ensures all children receive the support they need to achieve their full potential."

The government recently announced changes to the SEND system as part of a white paper, saying it would spend £4bn to make mainstream schools more inclusive for children with SEND over the next three years.

A spokesperson for SET Felix said the school served a higher percentage of SEND students compared to the national average.

"We are unable to comment on individual pupil cases and we are sorry to hear that the child remains without a specialist school placement," they added.

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