Bury St Edmunds SEND parents stage protest after 'failings'

On Wednesday, campaigners staged peaceful protests at both West Suffolk House in Bury St Edmunds and the Cornhill in Ipswich, while a protest for nationwide SEND reform also took place in London.

The average wait time for an education, health and care plan in Suffolk is almost nine months while, nationally, 50.7% of new plans were issued within 20 weeks in 2022 – with parents frustrated at the waiting times.

More than £78,000 was paid out to families making educational complaints in Suffolk in 2022/23, with the majority of cases relating to special educational needs provision.

Ellen Kirkby, a Beyton parent who took part in the protest outside West Suffolk House, said: "It is just exhausting. I have had to put my life on hold to be able to give my son the life he needs. 

Ellen and Sharon have both called for change after what they have described as failings (Image: Newsquest)

"We want and need our voices to be heard and parents in Bury St Edmunds are pleading for change." 

Ellen’s son Joe is autistic and has just finished his GCSEs at SET Ixworth, where she said he received a brilliant education and will now go on to study at sixth form and possibly apply for an Oxbridge university.

This is, she said, despite long and ongoing delays and a variety issues with his education, health and care plan from Suffolk County Council. 

The parents held placards outside the council offices (Image: Newsquest)

Of the delays, Ellen said: "It is so important that something is done. There are families that are sat at home suffering and they shouldn't be sat at home suffering.

"There is such a disparity between schools and areas and there really shouldn't be. Suffolk County Council need to do more to support us." 

Sharon, who lives in Bury St Edmunds and also attended the rally, said her son Oliver, who is autistic and has other sensory issues, was failed by his school. 

"It is the same systematic failures we are constantly seeing," she said.

"There are so many parents going through it who may not know how to argue their case or don't have the money for legal aid. We are here to represent them." 

A protest also took place in the Cornhill in Ipswich today and Abigail Gilby, who has three SEN children and lives in Mildenhall, was a supporter.

She said: "The government is failing all children with their fixation on archaic, Victorian, rigid and inflexible values.

"The current one-size-fits-all education system is literally causing unnecessary mental health crisis and SEN crisis.

"If your car leaked three quarters of the petrol you put in it, you wouldn’t keep putting fuel in, you’d fix the problem. Possibly even scrap the car and get a new one that is fit for purpose."

She added: "Suffolk County Council need to stand up and tell the government that putting a sticking plaster over a severed limb is not going to save the patient. They need to fix the system. This is why we’re protesting.”

A spokesperson for Suffolk County Council said of the protests: “We understand the frustrations that some families feel about SEND provision.

“This is an issue across the country, but we accept all public bodies in Suffolk should do better.  

“We continue to put extra effort and resource into making improvement on a significant scale, especially improvements to the day-to-day experiences of children and young people.”