A group of parents are fighting to save a Pinner school, following a consultation which has already seen vital cuts to its Specialist Resource Provisions (SRP).
Coteford Infant School (CIS) is a mainstream school that receives additional funds to support up to seven students with physical disabilities. The school offers SRPs that provides trained staff members for students with disabilities who are on the mainstream curriculum but need extra support.
In September this year, Hillingdon Council launched a public consultation after it revealed that it is “intending to stop commissioning places at the Physical Disabilities SRP”.
According to the council’s FAQs on its proposal: “There will not be any impact on the children currently accessing the SRP as they already spend the entire school day in mainstream lessons, and the school is therefore already supporting an inclusive education model.”
Speaking to Pinner News, the Friends of CIS said: “The school has been this way for 40 years. It is known locally as a place where if you need support, you are able to get it.
“The school is incredibly supportive of parents and students, but it seems as if [Hillingdon Council] continually shows a lack of support for the school and children with disabilities.”
Stacy has been campaigning along with the Friends of CIS to change the council’s decision. The group has launched petitions that has received thousands of signatures, corresponded with the council to no avail, and spoken directly with councillors who have offered little advice.
Supporting the campaign is 10-time medal-winning Paralympian Natasha Baker OBE, a former CIS student who used SRP.
She said: “I benefited tremendously from the specialist treatment I received. I was supported in the best way to enable me to succeed whilst working alongside my able-bodied peers. There are no other schools like this, and I fear children growing up like me will suffer.
“In a world where it’s not easy being disabled, ableism is rife and disabled people have to fight to be heard. Please do not add schooling to the list.”
Also supporting the campaign is Hillingdon Labour councillor Sital Punja.
Speaking to Pinner News, cllr Punja said: “I understand that the council needs to make financial adjustments, but if you’re going to do the consultation what seems to be after a decision has already been made, the consultation is irrelevant.
“CIS is the perfect example of a mainstream school that uses extra funding to provide a thriving educational environment. My children attended CIS and didn’t need these resources, but sitting in classrooms with other students with physical disabilities taught them compassion, how to communicate, and not to isolate children.”
Cllr Punja explained how important schools like CIS are to the overstretched NHS, by offering therapies and support within the school. She also praised the teachers, explaining that they were “brilliant at building a community, with physically disabled and non-physically disabled children”.
The councillor also suggested that the council’s promise that nothing will change for the students is “naïve and gaslighting”, and that she is tired of the council “attacking the most vulnerable people in the community”.
She continued: “If you can’t be honest about what will change and how you will make provision for that change, then you’re not fit for purpose. I do believe that the parents have a case for a judicial review; they have evidence that the decision had been made before the consultation even happened.
“These parents have an uphill struggle.”
Single mum-of-three Emily Hopla applied for CIS with SRP earlier this year, which would have been part of her four-year-old daughter Ivy’s Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). Ivy lives with cerebral palsy.
However, earlier this year, Emily was told they were not accepting admissions ahead of the council’s plan.
Emily said: “This is devastating for me; I feel like I’m failing her. She’s such a happy little girl and you wouldn’t think this is affecting her. It’s hard to put into words how heart-breaking this is. It’s a fight I shouldn’t be fighting. It’s basic education rights.”
Despite the council promising that the changes would see “no change to the plan for the child”, Emily revealed that Ivy has not received any speech or language therapy, despite this being on her EHCP and a non-negotiable for her development. Emily has lodged a formal complaint to the council.
Emily continued: “The council should have implemented a plan for Ivy and the other students if they knew they were getting rid of SRP.
“I’m out of my comfort zone. I’m not a confident person, but I find it in me because of Ivy; I have to be her voice.
“I’m not the only parent going through this, I’m just brave and have support from Stacy and the other girls to push through this. I want the school to get what they deserve because they have been amazing, and always been incredible with Ivy. The school hasn’t neglected her, the council has.”
A spokesperson for Hillingdon Council said: “Pupils at the school with EHCPs are already attending mainstream lessons full time. Unlike a traditional SRP where a specific area of the school is required to be reserved, the provision at Coteford is not a separate learning space and therefore the proposal is not a closure of a specific unit or classroom.
“The proposed changes are purely technical and will not have any impact on the children currently attending the school or ones that wish to attend in the future. The same level of support will be provided and no funding is proposed to be withdrawn. The council will continue to work with the school to ensure there will be no change to the support outlined in each child’s EHCP, and therapeutic support for children who require it will still be available.
“We regularly review the needs of the population, and evidence shows that the school has seen a decline in its overall pupil numbers which resulted in a consultation being carried out in the autumn term 2022 to reduce its published admission numbers from 81 to 60 from September 2024. Its data also showed that there had been a significant decline in demand for places within the physical disabilities SRP and the school approached the council to request that numbers for the SRP be reduced.
“The consultation has now closed, and responses will be reviewed carefully before a decision is made.”
To find out more about the campaign, head to www.instagram.com/savecotefordssrp or www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566899738405
Photo credit: Coteford Infant School and Google Street View
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