A HEADTEACHER has spoken out about the Government’s overhaul of support for children with special educational needs.

Ministers yesterday unveiled plans for the biggest overhaul of support for children with special educational needs and disabilities in 30 years.

Under the proposals announced in the Green Paper, parents will be given a bigger choice of schools, and by 2014, a legal right to control the funding for their child’s support.

The current system of special educational needs, SEN statements, which are used to assess what support a child needs, will be replaced by a single SEN plan which takes in education, health and care. This will stay in place until a youngster reaches 25.

Gill Robinson, headteacher at Castle Hill School, Newsome, which has 97 pupils, welcomed some of the proposals.

But she expressed concerns that some children could “fall through the net” under the changes.

“If the Green Paper concentrates on joint working with both the educational and medical needs of the child that will be fantastic,” said Gill.

“Currently every child in my school has complex medical needs but I have no control over the number of health professionals who are based here such as physiotherapists, that is part of their medical plan.

“But I am concerned that some children may slip through the net as part of the new assessment process.”

Kate Falkingham, president of the Huddersfield Support Group for Autism said she was concerned that plans could lead to a huge reduction in follow-up services which were vital to achieve the best possible outcomes for children with special educational needs.

Ms Falkingham, who worked as a speech and language therapist in Huddersfield for 40 years said the current system was messy and an “absolute minefield” for many parents in getting statements for their children.

“If a child has a condition they have the right to know what that condition is. Over the last 20 years there has always been a reluctance to give a “label” to a child, but it is often only when they obtain that label that they are entitled to services which they need.

“I am suspicious of anything which is being proposed now, particularly in times of austerity.

“The implications for SEN children and their families if there is any reduction in services and statements is a concern. The whole thing is going to be absolutely awful,” she said.

Kirklees Council is currently undergoing a re-structuring locally of the provision for disabled children and those with special educational needs throughout the authority

The package of measures was outlined nationally by Children’s Minister Sarah Teather

She said: “The new single assessment process will mean that parents don’t feel they have to push to get the services they are entitled to.”

Autism, which may also be known as Autistic Disorder is a disorder that affects almost all areas of a child’s social and psychological development.

Children affected may have trouble communicating using language and may exhibit repetitive behaviour

It is believed that Autism affects just slightly more than 10 children in every 100,000, and that boys are three times as likely to be autistic as girls.

Autism usually appears in early childhood, prior to the age of starting school.

Huddersfield Autism Support Group helps 200 families in Kirklees who each have at least one child with the condition.