Displaying items by tag: specialist schools

Half of schools for children with special educational needs and disabilities are oversubscribed. Since 2019 children needing specialist education have increased by 1/3rd. Schools have converted portable cabins and even cupboards into teaching spaces due to lack of room, putting pressure on staff and making pupils anxious. Maltby Hilltop School is a specialist school for pupils aged two to 19 with severe learning difficulties and complex needs. Lack of space and overcrowding in the main building meant Cohen's classroom was a portable cabin, with loud floors and thin walls. The 14-year-old is autistic and has PDA, a condition which leads to a rigid need for control when he's anxious. Cohen struggles to manage his condition if he's not in a calm environment and the school simply did not have enough physical space to provide it. He started having panic attacks and hyperventilating, so he had to leave school and miss out on life-learning skills.