LEFT IN LIMBO
Anxious parents claim their children with additional support needs (ASN) are being failed by North Lanarkshire Council.
Pupils transitioning to high school this year have been “left in limbo” as they wait to discover which school they will attend after the summer holidays, according to stressed parents who have set up an online petition.
While P7 pupils attending mainstream schools were notified of the school they will attend — some as far back as P5 — the parents of pupils at ASN schools still haven’t been told where they will spend their high school years.
Parents raised a number of issues with council education bosses following the publishing of a recent ASN review report, with concerns over high school placings being singled out as the “straw that broke the camel’s back”.
The Change.org online petition which aims to put pressure on the local authority’s education bosses to update its policies has gathered almost 3000 signatures.
The petition’s organisers have accused the council of “paying lip service” to their children’s needs.
Fiona Graham from Overtown set up the petition on behalf of the parent council at Firpark School.
Her daughter Peyton is a P2 pupil at the Motherwell school.
Fiona also attends a parent support group at Orchard Primary.
She said: “The petition has drawn hundreds of comments with some people saying their children went through this seven years ago for high school, and in that time nothing has