WORRIED mum Debbie Sawyer says she fears that the loss of one of York's special schools could leave children like her daughter without the extra help they need.

The City of York Council has just finished its latest consultation on York's special needs education and various options are to be published in the autumn, including when any changes could happen.

Its original proposals would see all four special schools close over the next ten years, and two new "resourced" special schools open, one for primary age children and one for secondary.

These would cater for the pupils with the most complex learning difficulties, while more children with moderate learning difficulties would go to mainstream schools.

Debbie's daughter Hannah, nine, is a pupil at Fulford Cross School, which caters for children with moderate learning difficulties. Despite winning national acclaim for its teaching, the school has seen falling pupil numbers.

Hannah has verbal dyspraxia and also a rare neuronal migration, which mean she has difficulty in speaking and is between 18 months and two years behind the expected levels for her age group.

Debbie, of Yearsley Grove, Huntington, said Fulford Cross had smaller classes, specialised teachers and additional support staff in class, as well as a speech therapist.

"If she was in a mainstream school, for a start she would be with children of her own age and she won't be at that level. I'm also concerned about the class size.

"The LEA is saying that other children are sympathetic to children with special needs, but children like Hannah haven't got anything visibly wrong with them and I'm worried about bullying.

"I'm sure every parent ideally would want their child to fit into mainstream school but you have to think of them as individuals and their happiness as well. I really do want this to work, as do other parents, governors and staff, but if it doesn't work, no matter how hard we try, it's going to be at the expense of these children."

Chris Edwards, deputy education director, said staff realised many of the younger children at Fulford Cross and Northfield had more complex special educational needs.

"It is likely that if the rationalisation of special schools went ahead, the assessment of their individual needs would result in a placement for many of these children in the new 'resourced' special schools and not into a mainstream school.

"The prime consideration would be to find the educational provision which is best suited to the needs of the individual child and we would work with parents to ensure that their preferences were taken into account."

Everyone accepted those children with most complex learning difficulties would still need places in special schools.

He said: "I am grateful to all the parents who have written to us and attended meetings to help us get this right."

janet.hewison@ycp.co.uk

PICTURE: WORRIED: Debbie Sawyer and her daughter, Hannah, nine Picture: Paul Baker