WHY WE MUST SPEAK UP FOR ALL THE KIDS LEFT BEHIND BY OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM

BY DANNY C.

I know most people won’t care about what I am about to share. And honestly I get it. We’re not in crisis. We’re not in the worst position. But I’m still going to say this because it matters, not just for me, but for so many families quietly going through the same thing often with far fewer options and often with far greater need.

A while back I shared that our daughter didn’t get our first choice of secondary school place. We appealed, like so many others do. And this week we found out the appeal has been turned down. That’s it. No recourse. No conversation. No space to ask why or say “this doesn’t feel right.”

Some of the people I shared this with were kind. Some were dismissive. And look - if I wasn’t in this myself maybe I’d think the same. It’s easy to assume this is just about someone being overly entitled.

But that’s not the point. This isn’t about preference. This is about process and what that process says about who gets heard, who gets what they need and who gets left behind.

What’s quietly devastating is how often this happens to families with children who have special educational needs or disabilities. I’ve heard from parents in absolute despair. Families who have children with autism, ADHD, sensory processing disorders or physical access needs and who are being sent to schools that simply can’t meet those needs. Or won’t. Or haven’t been resourced to try.

For many of these kids, the wrong school isn’t just a bad fit. It’s trauma. It’s exclusion. It’s regression. It’s being labelled difficult, disruptive or less than when the truth is they’ve been failed by the system long before they set foot in the building.

My family is lucky. We have backup school options. Yes it’s frustrating but we’ll work something out. That privilege doesn’t make the system any less broken. If anything it shows how badly it’s failing those who don’t have the time, money or capacity to fight back.

And what’s worse is how normalised it’s all become. Thousands of families told the same thing, that the forms they filled out, the careful planning they did, the specific needs they outlined don’t really matter. That their child will just have to make do. That this is just the way it is.

But it shouldn’t be. Children with additional needs shouldn’t be seen as logistical problems or budget burdens. Their education isn’t optional. Their wellbeing isn’t a luxury. And their futures shouldn’t depend on postcode lotteries or admin algorithms.

I get that there’s no magic fix. I understand school places are limited. But if this many children are being placed in unsuitable schools, if appeals are routinely rejected without meaningful transparency or engagement, then the system isn’t doing what it’s meant to do. It’s not about demanding special treatment, it’s about demanding basic fairness, dignity and care.

The truth is, this is about more than schools. It’s about how public services are being stretched to the point of breaking and how children with the highest needs are often the first to fall through the cracks. Underfunding. Understaffing. Overwhelmed systems and exhausted families. And we’re all meant to just accept it.

Well, I won’t. Because this doesn’t just hurt one group - it hurts all of us. But it hurts the vulnerable the most and we need to start telling the truth about that. We need to stop pretending that silence is neutrality. It’s not.

So yes, I’ll say it plainly - it’s sh*t. But that doesn’t mean we stop talking. It means we keep raising our voices for our kids and for every child who has to fight just to be included.

Because right now, it’s not working. And saying that doesn’t make you ungrateful. It makes you a parent who gives a damn.