EastEnders Actress Kellie Bright Speaks Out on her Challenges of Raising a Send Child

For a long time, I was eager to produce a documentary about special educational needs and disabilities.

You might know me as Linda Carter, but I am equally a mum to an neurodivergent child diagnosed with dyslexic traits and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

It took months of determination and hard work from both of us to secure the right education for him. At times, it felt like a battle.

This is the reason I decided to create this film, so I could connect with other parents experiencing the similar situation, and discuss with teachers, councils, and the government about how Send children are supported in England.

Understanding Send in the UK

Currently, there are over 1.7 million children in the country with special educational needs. It is a wide-ranging group, including autistic children and people who struggle with communication, have attention disorders, and physical disabilities, along with other needs.

Educational institutions in the UK do offer assistance to these students, but if parents believe their son or daughter requires additional support, they can apply to their council for an EHCP.

An EHCP is a crucial document because it is legally binding, specifies where a child should go to school, and details how much extra support they should get.

My husband and I spent hours completing the forms to apply for an plan, and numerous parents find the procedure extremely challenging.

Buddy and Tunde

Not long after I meet 15-year-old Buddy, he presents his favourite cuddly toy, his comfort object.

He is on the autism spectrum, which means his brain processes and reacts to the environment in a unique manner from many people's. He struggles with socializing his own age, understanding his emotions, and nervousness. He likes to keep Reindeer Dog nearby.

Following their move to London from north of the border in last autumn, his mother, Tunde, began searching for educational placements. She says she tried at least 11 schools, but many of them didn't get back to her, and those that did indicated they were at capacity or were unable to give her son extra support without an EHCP.

At the start of this year, more than 638,000 EHCPs had been granted to children and young people in the country, a 10.8% rise on the previous year and an 80% increase in half a decade.

This rise is in part because parents and schools have got better at recognizing children who have Send, especially autism spectrum disorder, as opposed to there being an increase with Send.

It is the repeat Buddy and Tunde have sought an EHCP. Their first application was turned down before Buddy was evaluated. Local authorities decline about a 25% of EHCP applications at the evaluation phase, as per official figures.

When they lived in the Scottish system, Tunde says they were not required to apply for the equivalent of an Education, Health and Care Plan. Buddy's secondary school provided support for his learning, although not for his well-being.

Scotland has a different system for supporting children with Send; educational institutions strive to offer greater assistance without the need for parents to apply for the similar of an plan.

"It's chaotic," she says. "[Securing help] was straightforward, and it could be simple to repeat."

Although Buddy is unable to go to school, the local authority is providing him with 19 hours of lessons per week in the community library.

Tunde tells me the procedure of seeking an EHCP has been so time consuming she had to pause her career as a birth attendant and health visitor for a time.

"I can't manage my duties. I can't get him to these sessions, and work at the same time… I couldn't get my son seen in the right amount of time and attend to other people's babies in the necessary period. And it was a difficult choice - and my son prevailed," she says.

I reconnect with the youth after a lengthy speech and language evaluation.

"Exhausting… that is the only word I have for you," he says as he leans against a fence, his toy tucked under his arm.

A School for the Teenager

It's September and as millions children start term, Buddy is continuing to be taught in the library. 60 days after I initially encountered him, he's receiving an EHCP but his education is still not settled.

The local council agreed to the mother's request that he attend an independently run institution that works with children who have difficulties in mainstream schools.

Prior to Buddy can start there, the school has assumed responsibility for the lessons he receives in the library. But Tunde's currently uncertain the place will be able to provide what she thinks her son needs to improve his interpersonal abilities and confidence with children his own age.

"We had been fully ready for the start of term… and he remains not at school, he continues to receive individual instruction," she stated.

"In my view … preparing to be with other kids and then still only having solo with instructors has set him back and caused him to not want to go to school."

Southwark Council states it takes the family's worries very seriously and it will continue to assist her household to ensure they receive the provision they need without further delay.

Officials note it knows how difficult it can be for parents to manage the process, and how upsetting delays in securing support can be.

It says it has invested in a dedicated information and advice service, and currently guarantees pupils are evaluated by expert educators at the initial phase, and it is willing to reviewing the situation when families are concerned about education placements.

The Current System is Failing

I know there is another side to this issue.

The huge rise in the quantity of EHCPs is placing councils under severe financial pressure. It is estimated that UK local governments are set to run up a total accumulated special needs shortfall of £4.3bn and £4.9bn by March 2026.

The government states it has invested a significant sum to assist authorities fund EHCPs and further investment on special educational needs placements.

I went to West Sussex County Council to interview one of few officials in public service prepared to talk to me publicly about Send funding.

Jacquie Russell is a elected representative and cabinet member for children, young people and learning.

"The current system is in fact very adversarial. Families are more and more exhausted and anxious and fed up of fighting… Employee absence rates are extremely elevated at the moment," she says.

"This system is ineffective. It is broken. It's not delivering the best outcomes for children."

The need for EHCPs is now outstripping funding in the region. In 2015, the authority had about 3,400 pupils with an Education, Health and Care Plan. Today there are more than 10,000.

Consequently the Send deficit has been growing annually, so that at the conclusion of the fiscal year it reaches more than £123m.

"That [money] is primarily meant to be for community resources. {That would have|