Karen May, a partner and head of Bindmans’ Education Law team had provided a statement in response to the BBC’s article concerning recent allegations of abuse in a school for children with SEND:

We are extremely concerned to read again of allegations of abuse in a school for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). We commented recently on accusations in Whitefield’s School. Just two months later, the BBC now reveals the results of its investigation into Life Wirral School including staff using headlocks on students, and talking about wanting to drown another.

This news comes on the same day that local authorities announce a near £1 billion shortfall in SEND funding. As education specialist legal practitioners, we see the desperate scramble parents face to get their children into a special school at all, with demand rapidly outstripping supply. Now, parents have to worry about whether they can trust their schools to keep their children safe. This is going to make the situation that much more complicated, and leave some families vulnerable to schools that will not safeguard their children, and may actively harm them.

This should not happen at any school, but to have a number of schools facing allegations so rapidly raises critical concerns about endemic problems in the system. It is up to the government to properly fund the system and ensure that children have safe, reliable school places available. It’s also up to the regulators to protect our most vulnerable children from abuse in SEND schools.”