 
Freddie Buckner at Freddies school with his headteacher. Photograph: Frank Baron
Chine Mbubaegbu and Joe Stubbs
The Guardian, Tuesday 21 July 2009Â
As the summer term draws to a close, we revisit some of the people whose stories we told this year, to find out where they are now and what happened next …
The mother who set up a new school for her son
Eighteen months ago, Freddie Buckner’s schooldays were often spent washing up mugs in the staff room after being excluded from mainstream lessons for lashing out at teachers and his fellow pupils. The eight-year-old’s complex behavioural needs, including autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and dyslexia, meant that teaching him alongside other children in mainstream schools was deemed impossible. So the search began to find him a suitable school.
At one point, it was suggested Freddie attend the Mulberry Bush school in Oxfordshire, which provides treatment and education for severely emotionally troubled and traumatised children and young people. But Freddie’s determined mother, Suzanne, did not want this for her son. So she built her own £600,000 school in Reading. When we reported the story in November, Buckner was battling with her local authority, which had refused to send Freddie to Freddies school and had instead picked another for him to attend – 30 miles from his home.
But following a U-turn by Wokingham borough council in January, Freddie is now being taught at the innovative special educational needs (SEN) school his mum set up. And what a difference it has made.
Read Article in Full:Â http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/jul/21/schools-higher-education
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