'It is heartbreaking': Parents in poignant Shrewsbury protest over education for children with special educational needs
Shropshire parents have taken part in a poignant gesture as they campaign for improvements to education for children with special needs and disabilities.
Families from across Shropshire placed shoes outside the headquarters of Shropshire Council at Guildhall in Shrewsbury.
The gestures were part of the 'Every Pair Tells a Story' campaign, a national movement organised by The SEND Sanctuary UK in partnership with Let Us Learn Too and Let’s Make a Difference.
The shoes were placed by parents who feel their child has been failed by the education system and their local authority.
Nicola Noel, 29, from Craven Arms, was one of the parents helping volunteer at the event.
She spoke of her child's own difficulties with accessing appropriate support and education, saying she has been unable to attend school for around 16 months.
She said: "It meant a lot to volunteer because my daughter has been failed for 16 months so far, with no education whatsoever."
She added: "I am fighting for what she needs, and trying to make them aware it is not healthy for any child to be left with nowhere to go.
"I think the Government needs to have a serious think about where the education system is and how they move it forward."
She added: "People think 'it is not going to happen to me', but it can happen to you and it is a long and hard fight, it is heartbreaking."
The campaign organisers said they wanted to highlight the frustrations for parents and children who want to secure effective and inclusive education.
Aimee Bradley, founder of The SEND Sanctuary UK, said: “These shoes tell the stories of children who want to learn, play and be included. No child should be left behind because the system decided their needs were too complex or too inconvenient. This is about every child failed by broken promises and endless red tape.”
She added: “The Government must listen to parents. We are not the problem. We are the evidence of the problem. Our children deserve more than words. They deserve real change, and they deserve it now.”
Emotional notes were added to some of the shoes placed outside Guildhall, telling of individual experiences.
One said: "Leo, failed since nursery. Now Year Six."
Others told harrowing stories of youngsters who cannot function in mainstream education but are not able to access alternate provision.
One detailed a nine-year-old who speaks about not wanting to be alive.
Another note explains: "Not in school for over a year. No educational support. Too little too late."
SEND Sanctuary has called for major improvements in the provision for SEND children, saying there are more than 3,500 children in the county with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) - and countless more waiting for the plans to be completed.
The organisation said Shropshire has seen a 70 per cent increase in the number of children with an EHCP, reflecting increases across the country.
SEND Sanctuary said: "This movement is not only for children missing from education. It stands for every child whose needs have been ignored, misunderstood or dismissed. It is for those isolated in classrooms without the right support, pushed into unsuitable mainstream schools, or waiting months and years for Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) that are delayed, denied or disregarded.
"Every pair tells a story of exhaustion, heartbreak and families forced to fight for the very basics that every child deserves: education, inclusion and respect."
The Government's plan to reform SEND provision was due to be presented in the autumn, but that has been put back until next year.
The Shrewsbury protest was replicated across the country with families calling for urgent action from both local authorities and central government.
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