SEND childcare campaign launched after girl's death

A campaign has been launched to address "systemic issues" with specialist childcare provision for children with complex needs following the death of a girl with autism.

Nyla May Bradshaw, seven, went missing in Skellow, Doncaster, on Monday morning while in the care of a new childminder, and died after being found in a pond on a golf course.

Family friend Charlotte Cooper said the youngster, who was non-verbal, required constant one-to-one supervision to keep her safe and said that gaps in support outside of school hours left families struggling to access suitable care.

"For disabled children's parents to be able to go to work, there needs to be safety," she said.

Cooper said Nyla had gone missing while in the care of an Ofsted-registered childminder, who had been recommended to the family via someone in the community on Facebook.

Cooper said the childminder had been told Nyla was a "flight risk", describing the little girl as an "escape artist" who would see running off "as a game".

She said to keep her safe, her parents would usually keep her on reins while out in public and never let her walk on her own.

Cooper said by about 9:45 BST Nyla's parents received a phone call saying she had gone missing and her body was later found by helicopter in the pond "some distance" from the park they had been at.

Cooper said the family of Nyla, who has two brothers, were heartbroken and her mother Hayley Beardsley was "not in a good place".

"She blames herself a lot because she thinks because she decided to work, this is her fault - and it's just not," said Cooper.

Cooper is now campaigning alongside Little Rainbows Doncaster, a children's autism charity, for improvements to special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) care provision beyond school hours.

She argued that not enough suitably trained childcare providers were available, leaving families often with little choice but to rely on care arrangements that may not be fully equipped to meet their child's needs.

"There needs to be somewhere that's like a school setting that they can go to rather than going to somebody's home and being with all of these other children and the attention being divided between so many children," she said.

"If they've got an ECHP (Education, Health and Care Plan) and one-to-one support is needed throughout 38 weeks of the year, how can we say that it's not needed for the whole 52 weeks of the year?"

City of Doncaster Council said it delivered a comprehensive training offer to early years and childcare providers covering SEND and safeguarding.

It said all prospective childminders were offered a pre‑registration programme which includes SEND awareness and safeguarding expectations.

Riana Nelson, executive director of children, young people and families, said: "Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with Nyla's family and all who knew and loved her.

"This is an incredibly sad incident, and a multi‑agency review process is under way. It would be inappropriate to comment on the circumstances while those formal processes are ongoing."

The Department for Education has been approached for comment.

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