Yeadon main dad and mom inform of ‘sleepless nights’ over faculty closure

Dad and mom and carers have stated they’re “devastated” by plans to shut a Leeds faculty, as they raised issues over the impression on youngsters with extra wants.

Queensway Major Faculty in Yeadon is ready to close on the finish of the varsity yr, after metropolis councillors backed the transfer in a vote final week.

A session was opened in January over plans to close the varsity, which has simply 72 youngsters on the roll from a capability of 210.

Vicky Lancaster, whose daughter is autistic, stated the “most weak” youngsters can be affected by the closure.

A protest by dad and mom and academics stopped Queensway Major from closing in 2022.

Ms Lancaster has two youngsters at the moment on the faculty and a 3rd who has moved on to secondary faculty.

Her youngest daughter is autistic, she stated, including she was “devastated” on the prospect of the varsity closing.

Ms Lancaster stated she was anxious “she’s not going to have the ability to settle in in addition to her brother”.

She stated: “Is she going to enter a unique setting the place she’s not going to manage and he’ll thrive, and I will must separate my youngsters?”

“It is value me sleepless nights as a result of I do not know the place the youngsters are going to go,” Ms Lancaster stated.

“They stated they’ve learn each letter and it is heartfelt, however in case you’d learn each letter and actually felt this in your coronary heart, you’ll know that is the unsuitable factor to do.”

Sibel Ansell stated she was involved about how one other faculty would meet the wants of her son, who can be autistic.

Workers at Queensway Major are specifically skilled differently of studying language, which her son makes use of, she stated.

He was “initially positioned in one other faculty along with his brother, and we shortly established it could not meet his wants, which is why we got here to Queensway”.

“We’re proof that the mainstream faculties [councillor] Helen Hayden is attempting to ship our youngsters to can’t cater for the youngsters this faculty can.

“We’re actually dissatisfied, actually annoyed and simply devastated at this outcome.”

Greater than 90% of respondents to a session strongly opposed the closure, she stated, making “the entire thing completely nugatory”.

Foster carer Nicholas Humphrey stated his personal youngsters had gone to Queensway Major, in addition to various looked-after youngsters.

One at the moment attending had extra wants and an schooling, well being and care plan (EHCP), he stated, and “there is no such thing as a plan for the place she’s going to go in the neighborhood, who can accommodate her”.

“This faculty has been an enormous a part of her household since she began faculty and it has been the one fixed in her life… now they’re asking us to place her into an unknown place, in an unknown time frame, the place there’s no provision present,” he stated.

Mr Humphrey accused the council of “smoke and mirrors”, over a forecast deficit of £1m on the faculty over three years.

“There is no means they’ll rehome all the youngsters on this faculty, 40 or extra of them with particular instructional wants, for lower than 1,000,000 kilos within the subsequent three years,” he stated.

Helen Hayden, Leeds Metropolis Council’s govt member for youngsters and households, stated closing a college was “not a choice we take calmly”.

She stated the council understood the power of feeling, and recognised the “tireless work of everybody concerned” in bettering the varsity’s place.

“As a neighborhood authority, we now have a duty to think about the viability of the varsity and as such, we at the moment are in search of to progress to the following stage of session,” she stated.

“There’ll now be additional alternative for individuals to indicate their assist or objection to the proposal throughout the brand new statutory discover interval.”

Hayden emphasised that the authority would “work intently with all affected households” and supply “complete and bespoke assist” for youngsters with extra wants or EHCPs, “to make sure their wants continued to be met.”

A closing resolution can be taken on the council’s June govt board, and if accredited, the varsity will shut on the finish of the summer season time period.