By Zarina Ahmed
A residential department in a Leicester-based school for special needs children is under threat of closure after the city council began a consultation last month on a proposal to withdraw funding.
Ash Field Academy’s residential programme is an extension of its curriculum, in which students can attend after school and even spend the night.
It had been funded by Leicester City Council’s Higher Needs Block but due to an overspend in their allocated budget, the council are looking for areas to save money.
Tom Barker, a teaching assistant at the school and a workplace representative for Unison – the trade union which is helping organise the campaign to prevent the closure – said: “They’ve [the council] got this idea that education is just Maths and English – which, it is, but, in some settings, it also independent living, physical development and communication – that is certainly the case in our school.
“Leicester City Council needs to stop cutting services; people already can’t afford to live and disabled people are often the most vulnerable in our society.
“If the Labour-run council represents something different from the Conservative government, then why do they keep cutting services?”
The programme had been rated as ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted for its ability to increase the pupils’ outcomes.
Mr Barker said: “For some students, access to the residential service can mean the difference between remaining at home for the rest of your life or living independently.”
As well as pupils losing the chance to gain independent skills, staff who have worked there for as long as 30 years are at risk of losing their stable livelihood.
“It is a tragedy to lose that amount of experience. The people that have worked there are incredible,” Mr Barker added.
Previously, there had been a protest in Leicester led by the campaign group ‘Enough is Enough’, in which around 600 people attended the demonstration, including Barker as a speaker.
Nationally, Enough is Enough, which had been initiated by Mick Lynch, secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, wants to coordinate a fight back against the cost of living crisis, and more than half a million people signed up to the campaign in the first 24 hours.
More protests and campaigns have been planned in the future for people to take a stand against the changes that will affect Ash Field’s residential programme.
The proposal to start winding down the funding for Ash Field’s residential services will begin in 2024.
If you would like to get involved, sign the Hands Off Ash Field Academy campaign link and read the website for more information.
