Mother of autistic Bexley boy says distant school allocation ‘makes no sense’

By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter

A Bexley mum said she is at her ‘wits’ end’ after a dispute with the council has left her son out of school for over two years.

Dare Olaifa-Oyeniyi, 43, has lived in her Erith home with her husband and three children for over three years.

The mum said she moved to the area in the hopes her six-year-old, Abdul-Quddus, would be able to attend the nearby Woodside School, which specialises in teaching children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

She claimed Abdul-Quddus has ASD and sensory processing difficulties, as well as global development delay, and has had an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) in place since November 2020.

Ms Olaifa-Oyeniyi said she considered moving Abdul-Quddus from his nursery’s specialist provision after seeing a delay in his development there. She also said her son would often become distressed during the 25 minute car journey to the nursery.

The mum said: “I couldn’t drive with him in the car because obviously he couldn’t sit in the car by himself anymore. He would try to open the window, he would try and get out of his seat or get up and come to the front. It wasn’t safe anymore for one person to drive him.”

Ms Olaifa-Oyeniyi said she felt her son would benefit from a shorter commute and with Woodside School being only a two minute walk away from her home, she enquired about him starting at the school in September 2021.

She then requested an emergency review of her son’s EHCP to have the school named as the most suitable provision for Abdul-Quddus. However, this was rejected by the council and Shenstone School in Sidcup, also aimed at teaching children with learning needs, was named as the preferred school for Abdul-Quddus to be sent to.

She said Shenstone would not be suitable for her son as it was a similar distance away from their home as his current nursery was and that transport provision offered wouldn’t work.

Ms Olaifa-Oyeniyi said: “They called us saying they would pick him up at about 8am for a school that opens at 9.15am. How does that make any sense? You’re picking up a child that you know has stress, anxiety and challenging behaviour on transportation. I asked where he would be for the hour and 15 minutes and they said they had other kids to pick up. I said no because that [long journey] is going to trigger him.”

The mum decided to take Abdul-Quddus out of his nursery in March 2022 due to the impact the daily journey was having on the family. She appealed the authority’s decision, but the SEND Tribunal decided in October 2022 that Shenstone remained an appropriate setting for the boy.

Ms Olaifa-Oyeniyi said Abdul-Quddus has had no formal education since March 2022, aside four home teachers who she claimed have been unable to tutor her son for more than a month respectively.

She said: “It’s a very simple case, but they have just made it legally complex. Twice, they have had attendance officers at my door because they have given me a Section 437, which is an attendance order to take him to the school they want him to go to. I have had that for two years now.”

Ms Olaifa-Oyeniyi added: “It’s just gone downhill. The behaviour is getting worse, he lashes out easily now because obviously he’s not getting anything that he’s meant to be getting. I’m at my wit’s end. When his sisters are going to school in the mornings, he is crying because he wants to go with them.”

Bexley council said that it could not discuss individual cases in detail. However, a spokesman said that the council’s priority was to address the best interests of each child while taking into account their particular needs.

They added: “With this statutory duty in mind, a place was made available from the point at which this child reached school age in an appropriate school, suitable for the child’s needs. The SEND Tribunal has agreed with our proposal.”

A Shenstone School spokesman said: “We do not comment on the individual circumstances of children or their families.”

Pictured top: Dare Olaifa-Oyeniyi with her son Abdul-Quddus (Picture: Facundo Arrizabalaga)