EastEnders actress Kellie Bright, 48, has opened up about the ‘biggest learning curve of her life’ amid her ‘fight’ for her son.
The Linda Carter star has previously spoken out about the difficulties she has faced in trying to get an Educational Health Care (EHC) assessment for her son, who has special educational needs (SEN).
In a recent episode of Giovanna Fletcher’s Happy Mum Happy Baby podcast, Kellie discussed the experience, and revealed that she has learnt a lot along the way.
‘It’s so much harder because it is something you’re fighting for, for your child,’ she began. ‘And I think when you feel helpless as a parent, it’s one of the worst feelings. And for me, it was.
‘Unless you’re in that world where you have a child that doesn’t fit into the current parameters or box that we call education, you don’t understand it, you don’t see it. Why would you? I don’t begrudge people that.
‘But when you are suddenly faced with that, which I was not expecting, I didn’t see it coming,’ she explained.
‘My experience of school was very different. I loved school. I didn’t find school challenging. So to suddenly be faced with a very different experience for my son was really… It has been the biggest learning curve of my life so far.’
Kellie went on to give her thoughts on the education system, and what she thinks needs to be done to make things easier for children and parents in the same position.
‘It’s something I feel very strongly about. I still think there is so much that needs to change. We have got to start looking at education at its core and what we’re delivering and what changes need to be made at that level, because I hate to say it, but SEN isn’t going anywhere.
‘The numbers are growing exponentially year on year, and that’s partly because you have parents now who are advocating for their children and going, “no, it’s not okay”. I’m not going to let my child go through their school life, which, let’s face it, takes up their childhood. Their whole childhood is really spent at school and they’re going to come out of it feeling like they’re rubbish at everything, that they don’t like who they are, that they have nothing to offer the world.
‘And I know I’m not alone in saying this, but I’m not prepared to do that. No way. And so, we have to find a different way. I have met some incredible people who are really fighting. They’re really fighting, trying to get changes made. But it’s going to take a lot.’
After a long fight, Kellie was able to secure an EHCP for her son, which she excitedly shared with her Instagram followers at the time.
Recalling the event to Giovanna, she said: ‘When we got our EHCP, the lady was fantastic and she was the first person that I’d met from our local authority that I really felt was on his side.
‘And I was like, “oh my God. Oh, wow. I don’t have to fight you. Oh, this is amazing”. But she always said to me, the piece of paper is just a piece of paper. It’s the people who implement the piece of paper that will make the difference. It’s about the people. And if the people aren’t there, then then that poses a whole bunch of other questions.
‘I think, again, it varies hugely as to where your child is at school and what the school is able to deliver. My son is at a fantastic school. It’s a state school, secondary school, but they have a really great reputation for children with individual needs, and they are doing as much as they can.
‘Don’t get me wrong, I have thought about many, many options for my son and I have asked myself many, many questions. Is a mainstream school the right school for him? Would he be better off in a special school? Would he be better off homeschooled? So many questions, and I think it’s really hard sometimes as a parent to go, “oh, if I make that decision for them though, am I making the right one?” I don’t want to make the wrong one.’
