this is bbc news. we will have all news and headlines at the top of the hour after this programme. which contains upsetting scenes. families across the country are being pushed to breaking point, failed by a system that's meant to offer support. these are some of the families at the centre of a crisis in special educational needs and disabilities. if i'm honest, it'sjust unbearable.

you're literally you're broken. he's starting to suffer now, his mental health deteriorating. ifeel like i'm begging. it's made out to be a monster and all these things. and that's not the case. he's just a little boy with additional needs that needs help and support. it's that simple. you think, you know, where it's coming from? you know, what else are you going to get? it's like hitting your head against a brick wall. i feel like i'm failing my children because i don't even know- what i'm asking for any more. ijust want somebody to help me. i don't eat. i take medication. you eat, sleep, breathe, live, special needs. this is about getting the right school for children with special educational needs and disabilities and the families that need help.

her dress now. it's the same battle every morning for mum charlotte. six—year—old harper is at a mainstream primary, but she's refusing to go. i don't have my boots on! she is predominantly a tiptoe walker. so she likes to walk on a tours. i've got to find harper again. harper is autistic. she finds school challenging, even down to wearing shoes. school is actually the only place that she wears shoes, which is why shoes is a huge battle. we don't normally wear shoes for any other event, really. we're at the point where we make herself vomit or we're intentionally urinate in so that we have to get redress. her family want her to go

to a specialist school in the area and the process has been mentally exhausting. as quick as i can get something on, she takes it back off again as we've we've definitely seen this morning kind can ijust have a minute? you know that by sending it to school in the state she's going to come home in the state and there's never any. there's no respite. the council is refusing to give harper an education and health care plan a legal document outlining the support she needs. without one, she has little chance of getting a place at a specialist school. not good shoes. the council says each case is reviewed to determine whether a child's needs are currently being met. for some children, mainstream might be the best place. and for the children, it's not. harper needs a play based curriculum. she needs to be able to play. she needs to have time off because she's not taking anything in. she's too busy trying to hide how

she feels and how she normally acts, that she's actually not learning at the level that she should be able to learn at. and that's difficult to watch. this family has had to spend thousands of pounds getting harper privately assessed by an educational psychologist to get her a diagnosis of autism. i brought harper in care. oh, thank you. but they're worried. there are fewer than ten spare specialist places across the whole of sheffield. we're kind of in a battle. we get nothing from them. the bbc has learnt that more than half of special educational needs schools in england are full. there are 32,000 more children in the uk attending specialist schools than there were five years ago. stevie�*s daughter emmy hasn't attended her mainstream school for six months. she's autistic, has adhd and is struggling to cope. like an increasing number of parents across the country,

stevie will face the local authority in a tribunal. i think mainstream is the easy option for the local authority. i think it's just throw them in and see how they go. and when they struggle, then we'll tackle it. you've got your stars in it now. there is no need for them to be wasting this much money. i'm taking parents to tribunals. if they put as much money into building your schools as they are to take in tribunals, i think there'll be a lot less tribunals. oh, gosh, you got me. stevie will represent herself. it's a daunting prospect with emmy�*s future at stake. she's got a meeting with chrissie mccready, who runs equalities and human rights uk, which advocates for children who face discrimination to help them. stevie has received paperwork from the council and must get to grips with all the information in the files. and it's off to a bad start. is a date of birth is wrong.

okay. well, no, it isn't, really. the bundle is not running the way it's paginated and there are more errors. adding to the anxiety of what she will face in the tribunal, the bundle from the local authority is it has things in it that shouldn't be in it really that belong to the children. so that's deeply concerning. and some of the pages don't correlate. so they've been mixed up. so if the bundle is messed up, there's nothing worse than walking into a tribunal. so now a few days to go beforehand, stevie is going to have to work through and rearrange this bundle. that's much just to do this mine without that, that's took me 14 hours. it's not been easy. we having both kids at home and my husband works and it's just been trying to fit it round when i can. i don't own a computer, so i've been using my mum's computer. it's a lot. over the coming days, there will be sleepless nights for stevie as she prepares to take on sheffield city council. ijust want her to be happy and then somebody that can support. that's all i want.

i just want something for her. we have good practice across the uk but we also have horrendous experiences and practice that we've witnessed. there will also be sleepless nights for chrissy too. as night falls, she's working on more cases. there's nights when i don't even go to bed, you know, i'm to three nights at a time. it's sad really, because once you're looking through those documents, you see that they've been failed not just now, but from their early childhood all the way through, you know, one of them's 19 and another one is 15. and this other one here is a 13—year—old. so right up to that age they have battled and battled and still haven't got the resources they need. chrissy�*s organisation offers free support and advice. last year she helped advocate for more than 400 children. the issues for us is that the families can't afford to secure legal representation through a law firm or through paid advocates because there'sjust so much for them. you know, every letter that's written costs a fortune. and we have so many parents who are just crumbling across the uk at the moment as a result of the additional

pressures upon them. leanne got in touch with chrissy a few months ago. she was desperate for help. he points himself terribly. he actually beats himself. and to watch that, it's horrendous. you can't stop him. the more you try and stop him, the worse you make him. harry has been diagnosed with autism. he also has violent meltdowns. he wanted a mainstream nursery with a place funded for 15 hours a week, but the nursery was struggling to keep harry and the other children safe. he's now at home and leeann has had to give up work. it's hard. it's just because the lack of. the promises are made that nothing

ever follows through. harry is nearly four. there is a special educational needs school not far from leon's home, which takes children from the age of two until 19. i do look at him and think, if it had been in a special school from last year, where would we be now with that full on support? maybe his communication would have come on. over the year, his frustrations would be less. he's not getting an education. he's not getting any help with his communications or any of his needs. leann is waiting for an education and health care plan for harry. a legal document outlining the support he will get if a special school is named he must be given a place. but there's a big question mark over when he'll be able to start because of waiting lists. if tt�*s a four year wait and it is going to be nine. before he starts getting any kind of education, he's got to be able to live in this world, in a society that he's not normal.

he's got a fitting today. ——fit into. and that starts from the very bottom of his education. this is just last year's diary. gosh. appointments. it's just... i've got to speak to chase or chase up every day. it's just constant. you never get a day off. some pictures. i think as a parent, you give your all. anything i can give him, he needs. i do, but i can't give him everything he needs. so it's down to me to fight to get him what he needs. no one else is going to do it for him. what are the frustrating parts for you as a mum? trying to be the best mom i can and being left to the point where you get suicidal.

specialist schools across the country are facing pressure on places. this is maltby hilltop school in rotherham. ten years ago they had 82 pupils. now they have 134 and there is a waiting list. so what's causing pressure on places? there is increasing diagnosis of special educational needs and children with education and health care plans. we're going to watch that tennis game. some mainstream schools are struggling to cope. funding is an issue. localauthorities, high needs budgets are tight, and new specialist schools aren't being built quick enough to cope with the rising demand for places. hello. freya, doing some fantastic walking.

how much of your time do you spend looking for space? i mean, it's continual. i mean, mentally and physically. i go round the school time and time again to try and find available space. and this is a case in point. what i'm about to show you, this was a form of resource cupboard. but now we have members of the visual impairment therapy team conducting therapy with our children in this space. in a resource cupboard. afternoon. good afternoon. i'm ashamed. you know, as the headteacher of this school, i genuinely do feel it is shameful that this is what we are providing for our children. and also, i know it could be so much better for them. they deserve so much better. but through lack of investment, lack of foresight from external people, this is what we have to do. and it's wrong. this is a school which prides itself on giving pupils the best chance to succeed. so this isjohn. member of staff, former pupil, but now works with us through the work fit initiative. and you do three hours a week for us, don't you? yeah. brilliant. being able to break out into a space

is so important for our kids, and we just don't have that capacity. we don't have, you know, the designated break—out space. so you have a number of children upon the yard enjoying time outside, but then some people in crisis, they need access to a break—out space. we don't have those spaces. having the space and a calm and quiet area for staff to connect with pupils like henley makes all the difference. but there are few places for pupils to go when they need to take a moment. back inside, mackenzie is having a therapy session. mackenzie, can go on to the next one, please. it helps him to relax and focus. and we go again. the school wants to offer so much more, but feels limited in what it's able to achieve. despite the best efforts of the staff. he will do all of the sensory room.

it frustrates me so much in this room because ijust know that we need to get more students in like mackenzie. he needs to be in three, four or five times a week, not just one session. they really need to be able we need to be consistent. and it's frustrating because i can't be consistent a lot of the time. we've just got so many children. is there enough recognition of what happens in schools like yours? no, because we shut up and get on with it. that's the problem. and we put up with it and we do the best that we can for the good of the kids. but there comes a point. there comes a breaking point, and we are at capacity. so something has to be done. some pupils have had to leave the school because they can't cope with the overcrowding. sarah was hoping this day wouldn't come. she's in school to collect her son cohen's belongings. he's no longer able to learn in the noisy, cramped, porta cabins and is now at home.

i've just seen his tray. this is his tray. cohen's work. it's really sad to see it because this is where we should be and we should be learning. and he should be with his friends. he started to have panic attacks, hyperventilating. he wants to be here, but it's the space is not allowing it. it's hard to see him and he's not engaged in anything other than the same monotonous daily routine because of his rigid need for control. for emma, who's come to have a look around with daughter georgie. it's a different story. she's currently waiting for a place at the school after facing delays in getting her education and health care plan. it makes me well up, to be honest, because by the time she'll be coming here in september next year, i'll be two years out of education because of the hpe

process being so long. and that's double the proposed time of 20 weeks at the minute. it took us ten months to get georgie her gp, so to see her today with the other children and being somewhere where i know she really, really wants to be. it's chokes you up. for this head and others across the country, a lack of funding, the shortage of space and the high numbers of pupils is becoming increasingly urgent. the end of the academic year isjuly. that will come around incredibly quickly if we don't have any concrete plans for where we're going to house. all of those children come next academic year, we're going to be in dire straits. back in sheffield, the day of stevie�*s tribunal has arrived. it's a tense start. i feel sick. i'm nervous and ijust want it over. i just want them to know what they've put us through. and i want them to put my daughter in the right school for it. i don't want them to just bundle her anywhere that they feel that she fits in because they don't even know her. they don't know my child.

they don't know anything about. they're reading off a piece of paper. and by all accounts, i don't even think it's the right piece of paper. it wasn't open. stevie has never done anything like this before. emmy�*s place at a special educational needs school depends on today going well. i got it then. but it's not on that. i can't find it. that's the first one to register it. apparently i've got to download an app. so eventually the tribunal�*s underway. it takes place online and behind closed doors. but there's a major setback for stevie. it appears that there was a place available at a special school, but this comes as new saw stevie, who says she was never made aware of it. the place has now gone to another child. if i'd known about the place, we wouldn't be here today. and she wouldn't be at home with no education. i've cried again. i don't cry. but i have done. ijust i feel angry, i've walked out of there feeling really, really angryjust because i found

out things that should not happen to anybody. sheffield city council says there was nothing they could have shared with the family prior to the tribunal. i don't know how this is going to go. i really, really don't. i can keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best, but i don't know which way it's going to go. i can keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best, but i don't know which way it's going to go. of course, we had often covered a normal conversation with a person since it started. it's always been about what i've got going on with this, and i don't think i know how to have a normal conversation any more. but when you do now you have to have some lessons. what can i say to get back in? now, for stevie, it's a case of waiting and hoping. what are you putting on there now? which one are you putting a leash to? suzy knows all too well what families can go through when they have a child with special educational needs. her son, jayden, is autistic. he's now 18. when we were first diagnosed, they went through all the things that he wouldn't be able to do. so said he won't be able to say, i love you. he says that to me every single night before we go to bed.

we say our prayers, and then he says, i love you. that gave me a list of about ten things that you wouldn't be able to do. and he's done every single one of them and so much more. leigh set up sparkle sheffield, a charity which gives many children with special educational needs the chance to socialise, especially if they're not at school. should i bring it for you? yes. i'll go and bring it for you in a bit. 0kay? yes. with kisses, then. see you later. with the help of jayden daughter, angel and volunteers, leash has organised some outdoor adventure. but you're also going to be thinking about where to build your shelter because you have to survive the night. i love being with the kids. i love this. this is what it's all about, to be honest. but you know what? it's it's watching them use their skills. there's a lot of scouts and guides, groups and different things going on. but our children find it really difficult to get involved in all those groups. so we're going to have our own version of it with our own badges that they can they can do.

the charity has grown with more families wanting to join in with events like this, but leash is worried about funding. it's very worrying for our volunteers and for us and for our children. this could end. and or if all this ends, then what happens? charlotte and harper have come along to join in the fun. it's a chance to meet with other parents who understand the pressures. they really enjoyed it for girls. if the kids have a moment or there's anything going on. we're all in similar boats, so you don't get weird looks and you don't get people kind of frowning and and making judgement. and that's it's a community that we need. charlotte's next step is a tribunal in november, where she'll try and convince the council that harper needs an education and health care plan. and for stevie, it's a day to celebrate after the turmoil of going through a tribunal, she's got the decision she wanted.

and her daughter emmie now has a place at a special school in sheffield. the council has apologised for the stress and inconvenience and says it will focus on making improvements. the school contacted me and said like, can we come and meet you? i cried like a baby and then rang my mum and cried like a baby again. and it wasjust like, we've done it. it means she's actually going to get an education and notjust palmed around for the next three years. don't get me wrong, the school that she's been in, i've done the very best for her and they have been amazing and i can't fault them at all. but she definitely does need more now. i'm excited for her because when we took her to walk round, she was so happy and yeah, she absolutely loved it. in a statement, the government says it's providing £2.6 billion in funding between now and 2025 to help deliver new places and support for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. this is in addition to increasing high needs funding to over £10 billion. there are calls for major change.

for too many families, the fight for their child's education is long and daunting. but this is what keeps them fighting. it's moments like this. celebrating success. congratulations, we are proud of mckenzie. the joy of learning and thriving. and the recognition ofjust how special their children are. well done, freddie. this is for you.

good evening. it's been a very mild first few days of the working week. 17 degrees on monday. we've seen 15 in the sunshine on tuesday. by the time we get to thursday and friday temperatures will be back down into single figures for the back down to close to average. that's because we change our wind direction and it turns colder. with the change of direction we will see much needed rain, some parts of eastern england seen fairly a few millimetres this month. after that little appreciable reign on the card. this weather system moving through, a brief

incursion with low pressure towards the north and east. the high pressure dominates through the latter part of the weekend into the weekend for much of the rest of february. there will be some rain, heavy rain moves through northern ireland and scotland through the night tuesday into wednesday. turning to snow on its northern edge, some showers following could be falling sleet and snow even if the night tuesday into wednesday. turning to snow on its northern edge, some showers following could be falling sleet and snow even into northern england and ireland. it drags its heels to clear in the southeast with the temperatures are considerably lower. we change our wind direction from the southwest, tuesday to the north, it does me also that by thursday morning we could have a return to frost, particularly the north but close by in the south. the difference in the south as we could have this line of showers turning to sleet and snow over the hills of wales. the moors in the south and west. we need to keep an eye on that one for details. what it does clear more sunshine for england and wales but the approach

of low pressure system i showed you earlier will increase the cloud for northern island, most certainly scotland and also here bringing rain with him. temperaturesjust lift a little with the onset of the atlantic air, in the south closer to average. the highjust relink its grip temporarily as we move into friday. here's a system, it moves its way south with the system, it moves its way so quick to thursday into friday by friday no more than a band of clackamas patchy rain, just introducing cloudy skies again. temperatures are a little higher because it won't be quite so cold to start friday morning. 0nce because it won't be quite so cold to start friday morning. once that clears out of the way the high pressure reestablishes it self and settles his grip across the uk. and we're back to a few isobars and a few weather fronts which means for the weekend and the centre of that high pressure there be some chilly nights. indeed some mist and fog for that may well just a bit nights. indeed some mist and fog for that may welljust a bit of nights. indeed some mist and fog for that may well just a bit of a nights. indeed some mist and fog for that may welljust a bit of a breeze coming down from the north onto the east coast, just exacerbating the chill. mulling around after the culture could be a bit patchy mist and fog to clear but good smells of

sunshine. some chilly night this coming weekend. again with the return of frost. 0n coming weekend. again with the return of frost. on sunday a very similar picture, perhaps we will see clear skies migrating northwards under that ridge of pressure. perhaps less of a breeze blowing in eastern areas, temperatures around about average perhaps above after the chilly start with patchy fog. for many is looking dry and settles. that high pressure is staying with us into the beginning of next week, the starters barge as well. perhaps a few more isobars across urban areas as that high does drift a little bit further northwards. again, very little rain on the cards right away through into the middle part of next week. temperatures around about the average for this time of year but tumbling low enough for some frosty nights and some patchy fog to form for travel in the morning rush.

hello, i'm christian fraser. you're watching the context on bbc news. the alternate realities — president biden and president putin give opposing views of the war in ukraine within hours of each other. addressing parliament, the russian leader blamed the west for the conflict and suspended moscow's involvement in a key nuclear arms treaty. meanwhile, president biden, in a speech in poland, said the west's support for ukraine "will not waiver". coinciding with vladimir putin's speech, china's top diplomat lands in moscow in what is the first visit to russia by a chinese official since the invasion began. tonight with the context: the deputy political editor of the guardian, jessica elgot, and ron christie former advisor to george w bush.,