Autistic school cuts protest

3:42pm Thursday 31st March 2005

Angry parents turned out to protest against cuts to the borough's only specialist secondary school for autistic children.

Around 25 parents of children at Oak Lodge School in Heath View, East Finchley, went to Hendon Town Hall on Tuesday evening for a meeting on the future of the school's specialist autism spectrum disorder (ASD) unit, where funding has been cut by £100,000.

They claim that Barnet Council is hitting the most vulnerable with the cuts and has failed to consult them properly. They are also concerned that the cuts may endanger the future of the school, forcing children with ASD into mainstream schools.

Kishor Pagarani, of Wykeham Road, Hendon, whose 13-year-old daughter has been at Oak Lodge School for three years, said: "My daughter looks and has the body of an adult woman, but has no awareness of her sexuality.

"I'm really concerned that if she is forced into a mainstream school, not only is she very likely to become a victim of bullying, but she could easily be sexually abused and not be aware of it or know how to communicate it to her parents and teachers."

Tracy Kallend, of Brunswick Park Gardens, New Southgate, says her 13-year-old son, who additionally suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, also benefits from specialist care.

"He needs to be in a small class to help him, where they teach him life and communication skills," she said. "If this unit closed, we would need to look outside the borough again, as there is nothing else here that would suit him."

Christine Haugh, chairwoman of The National Autistic Society's Barnet branch, said that at least four teaching posts and three learning support assistant roles will be lost in the cuts, despite demand by parents outside the borough for places at Oak Lodge.

A council spokeswoman said: "There was full consultation with schools, and Oak Lodge was enabled to influence some of the outcomes.

"As with any school, it is true that Oak Lodge will have to make choices about its funding priorities for 2005/06. There is no policy for the council to reduce the quality of its provision for youngsters with the autism spectrum at Oak Lodge."