Ross-shire family ask where autistic son will go to school after a year out of class
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
THE family of an eight-year-old schoolboy want to know where their son will be taught when schools return after spending a year out of class.
Concerns about the quality of school provision for James Evans, from Strathpeffer, are being raised by his dad, Aaron, after he claimed meetings had been held without including the family in decisions affecting their child.
James has attended Dingwall Primary School, having been earlier diagnosed with autism.
His family say he is not suitable for education at a specialist school, but after more than a year of no class teaching for the youngster, they are now asking for solutions to get their son, who loves maths and sports, a foundation education.
Mr Evans (38), who is a full-time carer for his child, said: “James is classed as high functioning autistic which means he probably would not be challenged enough at a specialist school, but he finds the noise and distractions of a mainstream classroom very difficult to cope with.
“We want the best for James, and the school and educational management say they want the best for him as well, but to date there is no solution. We do not know where he will be going to school in August.”
Mr Evans, who has two other children who attend St Clement’s School in Dingwall, said: “In his first three years of school in Dingwall things have got more and more difficult. In primary three he spent all of his time out of the classroom with support staff and we feel he is not benefiting as much as he could from the classroom. We were shocked to learn that no decisions for James have been found for him starting primary four. We know there was a meeting about him last week, but we were not invited to attend, which seems wrong in my book.”
He continued: “If we had been asked, we would have said that James should go to school in the village here in Strathpeffer and he should have a full-time teaching support worker - that would change his life, and it would make him much happier. But really we just want to know what is happening.”
A Highland Council spokeswoman said she was unable to comment on individual cases. She said “Highland Council works with parents and partner services to meet the needs of young people in education.
“Through planning and review of children’s needs with partners to plans, all are aware of key action points to help them have the most appropriate learning experience based on those needs.”
