00:00ÂŁ65,000 from, well, it's probably more now, because that was added a good few years ago,
00:05just for Hugo to reach his full potential.
00:08That's Rachel, Hugo's mum, and a parent that has been pushing for years
00:13to ensure her son gets the support he needs to thrive at school.
00:17But she's not alone.
00:19Parents of children with special educational needs and or difficulties,
00:24often known as SEND, seem to be struggling in a system
00:28they say they don't feel heard in,
00:31while Kent County Council acknowledge they're making improvements where they can.
00:35At the end of the day, that's all that matters, is the children's experience
00:40and everything else needs to actually come behind that to improve that.
00:45This comes just after Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission
00:49conducted an inspection to send provision across the Kent local area.
00:54They found that young people interacting with these services
00:57had an inconsistent and varied experience.
01:00That means that while some might have got the support they need in good time,
01:04other children might have faced significant delays in assessment,
01:07as well as having to overcome several barriers to get the support they need.
01:12But what do parents of SEND children think about this report?
01:16Matt lives just outside of Whitstable,
01:19and his daughter Matilda is 11 years old
01:21and has been out of school for over a year.
01:24He made the difficult decision to take her out of mainstream school due to her complex needs
01:29and has since been waiting for a place at a local special school.
01:33It's been difficult.
01:36I mean, obviously, she's my daughter.
01:39I want her to do well.
01:42And there are days where it is difficult.
01:46It is really difficult because, I mean, I found what I can for her.
01:51I found different things for her to be doing and stuff like that.
01:54But at the end of the day, she needs to be spending more time outdoors.
01:59She needs to be spending more time out of her home with her peers.
02:02Over in Dover, Rachel's adult son with Down syndrome attends a special school in Ashford,
02:09but feels this isn't quite the right fit for him.
02:12You know, he wants to be an adult, and now I'm taking him to school because transport's taken away.
02:18And, you know, it's just a knock-on effect.
02:22You know, our people, you know, our little people, they want to be independent.
02:28They want to go out to work.
02:30They want to get married.
02:32They want to have boyfriends, girlfriends live by themselves.
02:34But we're stopping that.
02:36We're stopping that because we're stopping them, you know, reaching their full potential.
02:42Rachel arranged for me to meet Hugo another time, who told me what he sees in his future.
02:48Make films.
02:51And I've got my wife.
02:53And my children.
02:56And, you know, just have one.
02:58But what both of these parents have in common, despite their children experiencing different
03:03challenges in the education system, is the profound effect it has on them.
03:09I mean, in my case, yeah.
03:11I mean, I've not been in a good place at several points throughout the year.
03:14It's not been easy.
03:16It's, yeah, it's stressful.
03:19It's exhausting.
03:20Absolutely exhausting.
03:21And things are changed all the time.
03:25The report found six areas that required improvement, from geographical disparities in provision, to poor
03:32communication, to delays, to the administrative toll needed to get a child the correct support.
03:39When I met with the cabinet member for education and skills at KCC, she didn't push back on these
03:45findings.
03:46This is a fair reflection of the experiences of many children's families within the centre system in Kent.
03:56I think it reflects nationally.
03:59But for me, it's now an opportunity to move forward and actually start addressing them challenges,
04:08making sure that the children, their voices are heard.
04:13But Bill Barrett, a Conservative councillor, feels the current system is actively harming those within it.
04:19I don't think it's completely fit for purpose.
04:21I think the current administration at KCC have tried to deal with a problem by using a sledgehammer to crack
04:28a nut.
04:28And I think there's a lot of societal damage that's occurring.
04:31That's occurring because the policy itself is too rigid, too simplistic, and not devised around the needs of individual disabled
04:39children.
04:4030,000 children in Kent receive special educational needs support in school, making it the highest in the country.
04:48While KCC seem motivated to reform the system to relieve that strain on parents and children,
04:54many still feel sceptical and that they've been locked out of their quality support.
04:59Megan Shaw in Kent.
