A 24-year-old woman who successfully sued her former schools for failing to diagnose that she was dyslexic had her £45,650 damages award taken away by the Court of Appeal today. Pamela Phelps became the focus of a test case which her lawyers said would bring hundreds of other claims from people who believe their schools failed them because of similar difficulties. But today the appeal judges said it was up to Ms. Phelps to prove her learning difficulties had affected her earning capacity and she had not done so. Hillingdon Borough Council’s education authority had not been negligent.
Evening Standard London, November 4, 1998.

A £60 million Government boost for special needs children has been given a cautious welcome. The package is designed to reduce the number of pupils needing statements of special need. The Government says there will always be a need for special schools, but ministers want to see closer links between the two sectors. School standards minister Estelle Morris said: ‘Over time we expect more parents to feel confident that their children’s needs can be met without a statement. But we will not remove parents’ rights to request a statutory assessment or statement. Nor will we remove the legal protection offered by statements’. As part of the package, funds to improve access to schools for disabled people will increase four-fold to £20 million. Malcolm Craddock, Sunderland Council’s assistant director welcomed the cash. He said: ‘This is fully in line with what we have been doing for the last two years. We can only tap into this money if we have an inclusion policy and we will be left behind if we don’t.’
Sunderland Echo, November 6, 1998.

Cromwell Secondary Special School could be axed as part of a major shake-up in special needs education. The 68 pupils will be moving to Dukinfield Astley High School if sufficient funding is made available by Government. A Council report slammed Cromwell saying it was not suitable for the delivery of a secondary curriculum. The move is part of a long-term plan to integrate every pupil with severe learning difficulties into mainstream school and college life. Tameside Education Chair, Cllr. Alan Whitehead said: ‘What these children need is particularly skilled teaching. We think we can provide that by having them at Dukinfield Astley. We will be looking for additional resources in due course to give the children the opportunities they need and deserve.’
Ashton Advertiser (Tameside), November 12 1998.

Councillors have acted to reassure parents whose children attend Gloucestershire’s special schools. In a unanimous vote across party lines, the County Council’s education committee refused to adopt policies and recommendations set out in a working party report. The committee told officers they want much more detail of how reform of special schools will be carried out and where the money is coming from. After a two-hour debate councillors decided not to approve immediately proposals to move children to mainstream and offered parents a guarantee. Director of Education Roger Crouch was instructed to tell parents and teachers that no child would be moved from a special school to a mainstream school ‘without the full provision of the required skills, resources and finance to support and enhance the child’s education in mainstream school with the consent of the parents.’
Gloucester Citizen, November 17, 1998.

Parents and teachers are to be given extra time to have their say on a major shake-up of special education facilities in Walsall. Education chiefs have extended the consultation period on its plan for special schools until the end of February. The proposals being put forward by Walsall Council include relocating some of the seven special schools and the integration into mainstream education of others. Coun. Tom Perrett, vice-chair of Walsall’s education committee, said: ‘We are trying to give parents and schools more time to have an input into the re-organisation plans and obtain some kind of consensus. We are not trying to save money but to provide better special education’.
Walsall Express and Star, November 18, 1998.

Jack Rabinowicz, the lawyer in the Pamela Phelps dyslexia case has said he will take the case to the House of Lords after the Court of Appeal Ruling cancelling damages previously awarded. Many of his cases remain on hold pending the final outcome of the dyslexia issue. However, he remains upbeat that there will be other successes. ‘You have schools labelled as seriously failing with incompetent heads, teachers with no motivation, pupils out of control, children who are difficult to handle being dumped there and other children who can’t go anywhere else failing miserably as a result. There are bound to be successful cases and before very long’.
Evening Standard (London) November 25, 1998.

The campaign to keep Barbara Priestman School open has been slammed as ‘evil’ and ‘selfish’ by Sunderland’s education committee chairman. In an astonishing attack on the campaign to save the special needs school, Coun. Ron Hunter told a full Council meeting he was sick of what he called ‘lies and distortions’. He accused campaigners of bullying those who disagree with them, abusing council officers, and frightening and misleading other parents of special needs children. He told councillors: ‘Our plan is about children, providing the best for them. But this evil campaign has blinded the public into thinking it is about bureaucrats in the Civic Centre. Why is a small group of campaigners doing this? Mostly they are people who want to preserve Barbara Priestman for their children alone. It is a selfish campaign from a small group who do not want to share with the majority’.
Sunderland Echo, November 30, 1998.