A stay-at-home mum says her son hasn’t been to school in nearly a year because the special educational needs (SEN) provision isn’t good enough.

Chelsea Anderson, 34, enrolled her two sons into Southwold Primary School in Bicester in January 2022, having been reassured by her then SEN officer that the school would be able to manage her children.

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Miss Anderson’s sons both have autism.

She said: “I pulled my youngest son out of the school in February for a temporary break because he said he wasn’t enjoying it, but when I made contact with the school and asked for him to come back, they said they couldn’t meet his needs.

“I paid £6,000 for him to be there, and now all I’ve had from the school is the offer of alternatives like home schooling or part-time teaching.

“But my son needs to be around other children; he needs to interact.

“I’m going to put in a formal complaint against the SEN north Oxfordshire team because they offered me this school in Bicester reassuring me it could handle my sons – clearly it can’t”

A spokesperson for Oxfordshire County Council said: “The county council does not comment on individual cases.

“We are aware of the situation regarding this family and are committed to working with the school and family in order to seek a resolution at the earliest opportunity.”

 

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This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.

Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1