Hertfordshire Council has rejected an application for a Jewish boy with learning difficulties to go to Gesher, a Jewish primary school for children with special educational needs.
Joshua, 10, who has only ever known a Jewish educational setting, has been accepted by Gesher, an independent school in Pinner.
But Hertfordshire Council is refusing to fund the Gesher place and has instead offered Joshua a place at Colnbrook, a state-aided mainstream primary in the borough. Colnbrook also supports children with special educational needs.
Speaking to the JC, Joshua’s mother said that the council had “completely disregarded my religious rights” and that Gesher was “the only Jewish school that meets his needs”.
Joshua is currently a pupil at state-aided Jewish primary Wolfson Hillel in Enfield, but staff at Wolfson Hillel also believe that Gesher is the best place for him.
Wolfs Hillel's special educational needs co-ordinator Hannah Bunt said that while Joshua was “loved at our school, but we are just not the right school for him”.
Joshua’s mother said that after applying for support from the council several months ago, a council official called her last week to say that Hertfordshire wanted Joshua to move to Colnbrook in September, an offer which she rejected.
“I went mad. I freaked out,” she told the JC. She said that going to a non-Jewish school would cause him “a lot of anxiety”, explaining: “To take away the routine of a Jewish school and everything they do would confuse him.”
Gesher, which expanded into secondary education two years ago, would be able to cater for Joshua up to 16, whereas Colnbrook only goes up to age 11. Additional benefits of Gesher include “occupational therapy, physio and specialist therapy,” Joshua’s mother said.
Earlier this week, she was told that he could remain at Wolfson Hillel pending an appeal against the council decision at a tribunal, which could take many months to be heard.
But explaining why Gesher would be better able to support Joshua than Wolfson Hillel, Bunt told the JC: “[Joshua] has severe speech and language needs. He has always had one-to one-support. He is highly, highly anxious.
“He won’t go on school trips. He doesn’t go to swimming lessons because he is terrified. It is too much for him.
Ms Bunt said that he was “becoming more isolated at school because he has to do so much by himself.”
His mother said that because of his anxiety, Joshua will not go on a bus, and she has to drive him to school. But going to Colnbrook would have involved a bus trip of 35 minutes. “If there had not been a Jewish school, I would understand,” she said.
If the council was prepared to accept Gesher as part of Joshua’s Educational, Care and Health plan (EHCP), it would cover the fees, which are currently £35,400 for primary pupils and £41,400 for secondary. According to Gesher, which caters for children with autism, ADHD, dyslexia and Downs syndrome, 95 per cent of pupils’ places are covered by local authority funding.
A spokesperson for Hertfordshire County Council said: “Children and young people are placed in schools and settings in line with SEND [special educational needs and disability] legislation which outlines that a school should be appropriate to age, ability, aptitude and SEN; compatible with the education of others; and an efficient use of local authority resources. The legislation does not include a specific right to be admitted to faith schools.
“In this case, we have a maintained school that can meet the child’s needs and which is therefore a more efficient use of local authority resources than an independent faith school.”
