Parents 'scared to put kids back to ASN school' as safety concerns are raised

A mum at an Inverness school for young people with special needs says parents fear for their children going back after the holidays.

Serious concerns have been raised regarding the lack of an onsite full-time nurse at Drummond as well as the staff to pupil ratio.

There are fears current teaching stuff, who parents are full of praise for, don't have the necessary medical training to deal with certain incidents which occur at the school.

Teacher numbers have also fallen, meaning some classes are oversized and others have had to close.

Treasurer of the Parent Council, Lindsay Fulton, says she fears the school is unsafe and concerns aren't being listened to.

Highland Council have outlined how an initiative will provide a family link worker and a health professional to work full time.

"There has got to be funding out there"

It's claimed the school is currently 46 pupils over the original capacity, with some not receiving the 1-1 attention they require.

Lindsay's 13-year-old son Chase has attended the school since he was three, and says for several years it was happy place to be.

However, Lindsay feels staffing issues have become a major problem.

She said: "It's ridiculous, unsafe, unsustainable and unacceptable. It's like hitting your head off a brick wall with the Highland Council.

"There has got to be funding out there, there has got to be something they can do to make Drummond safe, because at present Drummond is not safe.

"Parents are relieved it's the summer holidays because they know their child is at home and they're safe.

"Parents are scared to put their children back to school in August."

Lindsay also outlined why parents have to "fight" for their children

She added: "The Highland Council, I would say they're an embarrassment.

"They're not listening to us.

"We feel like everything is deflected, delayed and we feel they're braking key policies.

"We just want to fight for them.

"The children have to fight every day and we have to fight for them every day because some of them haven't got any voice.

"We just want what's right for them, we want them to have a full and dignified education.

"What has got to happen? Does a child have to die before action is taken or simply for us to be listened to? We just feel completely invisible."

'Staff to be provided for Drummond school'

In a statement, Highland Council have highlighted how a meeting between Council Officers and parent/carers of pupils attending Drummond School was held earlier this month.

A spokesperson said: "Officers listened to concerns raised by parents/carers and taking these into consideration were able to provide information relating to school nurse provision and staffing allocation at the school.

“The Highland Council has carefully considered Drummond School within the national, local and professional context and in line with the Highland health support model for other special schools.

"Working to the national Getting it right approach, the Learning Disability Nursing Team continues to have an ongoing presence in Drummond School providing individual support to children and young people in Drummond School, as part of the Child’s Plan, alongside Allied Health Professionals, including physio, occupational and speech and language therapists.

“We have recognised there are additional considerations for Drummond School as a result of the complexity of the medical need.

"To this end, an initiative funded through the Whole Family Wellbeing Programme will provide for a family link worker from ‘Thriving Families’ and a qualified health professional to work full time in Drummond School, to support the families and the school.”

“The staffing allocation for Drummond School for the 2025/26 school year was finalised before the end of the summer term.

"This allocation is based on the national Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) staffing regulations for special schools. This is a different model to how we support and resource provision in mainstream schools.

“The Council is aware that higher than normal levels of staff absence had an impact on staffing in the school last session.

"We do appreciate the difficulty that our schools can sometimes face in being able to get backfill for staff absence and Officers link in with schools to support with this.

"We also regularly review our supply lists to ensure they are as up to date as possible, so that head teachers can access cover as required.”