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For a long time, I was eager to produce a film about Send.

Perhaps you know me as Linda Carter, but I'm also a mother to an neurodivergent son diagnosed with dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

It took many months of determination and effort from my husband and I to secure the appropriate schooling for him. Sometimes, it seemed like a battle.

That is why I decided to create this documentary, so I could meet other families experiencing the similar situation, and speak to educators, local authorities, and the government about how Send children are educated in England.

Understanding Send in England

Currently, there are more than 1.7 million children in the country with special educational needs. This represents a wide-ranging category, encompassing those on the autism spectrum and people who face challenges in speech and language, have attention disorders, and physical disabilities, among other conditions.

Schools in England do offer some support to these students, but if parents believe their child requires extra help, they can apply to their council for an Education, Health and Care Plan.

An EHCP is a crucial legal document because it is legally binding, states where a pupil should go to school, and outlines how much extra support they should receive.

We spent hours filling in the forms to request an EHCP, and many families find the procedure extremely challenging.

A Mother and Son's Journey

Shortly after I encounter teenage the young man, he shows me his favourite stuffed animal, Reindeer Dog.

Buddy's autistic, which means his brain experiences and reacts to the world in a different way from many people's. He struggles with socializing his own age, managing his emotions, and nervousness. He likes to keep Reindeer Dog nearby.

Following their move to London from north of the border in last autumn, Buddy's mum, the parent, began searching for schools. She says she contacted at least 11 schools, but several failed to respond, and those that did said they were full or could not give Buddy extra support without an EHCP.

By the beginning of the current year, over 638,000 plans had been issued to children and young people in England, a 10.8% rise on the year before and an substantial growth in half a decade.

The increase is in part because families and educators have got better at identifying children who have Send, especially autism spectrum disorder, as opposed to there being an increase with Send.

This marks the second time the family have sought an plan. Their initial request was turned down before Buddy was assessed. Councils decline about a quarter of EHCP applications at the assessment stage, as per official figures.

When they lived in the Scottish system, Tunde says they were not required to request the comparable of an Education, Health and Care Plan. Buddy's secondary school provided assistance for his learning, although not for his well-being.

Scotland has a alternative approach for helping children with Send; schools there aim to offer greater assistance without the need for families to seek the equivalent of an plan.

"It's a madness," Tunde says. "[Securing help] was straightforward, and it should be simple to repeat."

Although Buddy is not able to go to school, the local authority is offering him with 19 hours of lessons per week in the local library.

The mother tells me the procedure of applying for an plan has been so time consuming she had to pause her career as a midwife and community nurse for a period.

"I am unable to manage my duties. I can't get him to these appointments, and be employed at the identical time… I couldn't secure appointments for my child in the appropriate timeframe and attend to other people's babies in the necessary period. And it was a difficult choice - and he won," she says.

I reconnect with the youth after a lengthy communication evaluation.

"Exhausting… that's all I have for you," he remarks as he rests on a barrier, Reindeer Dog tucked under his arm.

A School for Buddy

As autumn begins and while countless students begin classes, Buddy is still be taught in the public library. 60 days after I initially encountered him, he's getting an EHCP but his education is still not settled.

The local council agreed to Tunde's appeal that he go to an private institution that specializes in pupils who have difficulties in standard education.

Prior to he can begin there, the school has already taken over the lessons he gets in the library. But Tunde's currently uncertain the place will be able to deliver what she thinks her child needs to improve his interpersonal abilities and self-assurance with children his own age.

"We were all prepared for the start of term… and he remains without a school place, he continues to receive one-to-one lessons," she stated.

"I think … preparing to be with fellow students and then still only having one-to-one with adults has really knocked him back and made him not want to attend school."

Southwark Council says it views Tunde's concerns very seriously and it will keep assist her household to make certain they receive the support they require without additional waiting.

Officials note it understands how difficult it can be for families to manage the system, and how upsetting delays in securing support can be.

It says it has allocated funds in a specialist support service, and now ensures children are assessed by expert educators at the initial phase, and it is open to reviewing the circumstances when families are concerned about education placements.

Existing Framework is Failing

I am aware there is another side to this story.

The huge rise in the number of EHCPs is putting councils under intense financial pressure. According to projections that English councils are set to accumulate a combined special needs shortfall between £4.3bn and £4.9bn by March 2026.

Ministers says it has committed a billion pounds to assist councils fund plans and additional funds on new Send school places.

I went to West Sussex County Council to speak with among the few officials in local government willing to talk to me on the record about Send funding.

Jacquie Russell is a elected representative and cabinet member for education and youth.

"The current system is in fact very adversarial. Our parents are more and more exhausted and worried and fed up of fighting… Employee absence rates are extremely elevated at the present time," she says.

"This system is ineffective. It is broken. It's not delivering the best outcomes for children."

Demand for EHCPs is now outstripping funding in West Sussex. In 2015, the council had about 3,400 children with an Education, Health and Care Plan. Today there are more than 10,000.

Consequently the special needs budget gap has been increasing annually, so that at the conclusion of the fiscal year it reaches more than £123m.

"That [money] is really essentially meant to be for community resources. {That would have|