Mum hits out after daughter can’t get place at preschool

Mum hits out after daughter can’t get place at preschool

20 April 2016

A DOWNPATRICK mum has warned she might be forced to leave work to secure a preschool place for her special needs daughter.

Thirty three year-old mother Amanda Weatherall is devastated by news that three year-old Ella Grace is one of 159 local children not yet granted a place for September.

Amanda, who is a single mother of three girls under three, said her daughter, who is currently being assessed for autism, desperately needs the structure provided in a preschool setting.

She believes Ella Grace would best thrive within the structure of a professional preschool setting and fears she will fall behind her peers if she has to stay at home next year.

Amanda said she is particularly angry that Ella Grace did not qualify for a place in any of Downpatrick’s facilities because Amanda continues to work.

Amanda said she is trying to set a good example for her children by working as a classroom assistant for special needs children and was therefore horrified to hear that Ella Grace would have been granted a place if she was unemployed and receiving Job Seekers’ Allowance. 

She said she is so worried about her child not being offered a place that she will now consider leaving work to push her up the priority list.

“I have three children under three and each of them has additional needs,” she said.

“I have worked as a special needs classroom assistant for 15 years and I know what Ella Grace needs.

“She needs structure, boundaries and routine. Something she cannot get at home.

“She attends a Sure Start programme at the moment and she is happy to get up and get going when school is on, but on her days off it is hard to get her ready.

“I have been in tears all weekend. It looks like I will have to come out of work so Ella Grace qualifies for a place.”

Amanda says she believes she may be offered a place in Crossgar or Killough in the next allocation of places but says she will not be able to accept these offers as she does not drive.

“I have worked for the education authority for 15 years and yet when it comes to my first child they have not shown me any loyalty,” she said.

“You are supposed to be out working, that is what the government wants us to do. Yet parents like me who work are not entitled to places for their children in comparison to people who stay at home on benefits and are guaranteed to be at top of the list.

“I could leave work and be paid as carer for my children but I go to work because I want to lead by example and show them this is how to be. Yet I am kicked I the teeth for doing that.

“The whole system seems wrong. It seems that you are better off coming out of work to guarantee your child a preschool place near home.

“I am determined to fight her corner.”

Downpatrick mum Karen McFall is also annoyed her daughter Jenna has not been given a preschool place because she is a working mum.

“Jenna didn’t get into any of the four schools that I selected,” she said.

“I just feel that people that are working get discriminated against. This is the second time that this has happened to me.

“My first child also didn’t get into a school in Downpatrick and my parents had to drive every day to take her to a school in Crossgar. I think it’s an absolute disgrace, it’s just so unfair.”

However the Department for Education has defended its policy of giving children from disadvantaged circumstances priority in pre-school admissions.

“Research has shown that children from socially disadvantaged circumstances tend to experience more difficulty at school than other children, so they are given priority in the pre-school admissions process as part of wider efforts to tackle educational underachievement,” a spokesman said.

“Parents who have not got a place for their child so far can now apply again to providers who still have vacancies.”

Letters on the outcome of the second stage of the application process will be issued to parents on June 3.

South Down MP Margaret Ritchie said she had been contacted by a number of distraught parents who have not received a place in their four Downpatrick preschools of choice.

She said she had contacted education chiefs to highlight the particular dearth of places in Downpatrick.

“It is understandable that parents want their child enrolled in their community often to assist with home life and childminding,” she said.

“Year after year many parents are left worried when they have received confirmation their child has not received a nursery place. This status quo cannot continue. 

“The stress parents face must not be underestimated by the Education Authority or the Minister. 

“The Department must intervene to allow children who live in Downpatrick access to nursery education in their home town.”