A ROSYTH mum says school catchment changes could mean splitting her son up from his friends to get the support he needs when he starts high school in the summer.

Nykoma Hamilton, of Syme Place, said her son, Andrew, has learning disabilities and the family had been looking forward to him receiving help in the pupil support unit at Dunfermline High, where elder boy Matthew is in S3.

However, she’s devastated by last week’s decision by Fife Council’s education and children’s services committee to re-zone Camdean and Kings Road primary pupils to Inverkeithing High.

“My son has special needs and, throughout primary school, we have said he will go to Dunfermline High with his big brother and there is a supported needs unit there,” Nykoma told the Press.

“The Camdean Primary teacher for special needs has been quite happy he will manage in there and now they are saying he will have to go to Inverkeithing High. 

“I have spoken to their head of pupil support and they only have two pupil support teachers for the entire school and a couple of support assistants.

"I am having to go up there next week and see if they can accommodate him.

“At Dunfermline High, they have a purpose-built pupil support base where pupils can go for certain amounts of time. Andrew has general learning disabilities as well as a few other issues and I expected him to be spending quite a bit of time in there.”

If discussions with Inverkeithing do not give Nykoma assurances that her son’s needs will be met, she then faces the prospect of attempting to get him into Dunfermline High through a placing request, meaning he will be split up from his friends.

“If we get him in as a placing request, he won’t be entitled to transport,” she said.

“He could get on the bus and pay but if it is full, he won’t get on. He will need someone to get him on the bus and possibly take him into school. I thought if his brother was on the bus, he would make sure he is going in the right direction but that might not happen now. 

“Andrew has a little support group of friends which includes two boys who are autistic and they support each other. So he may have to be split up from them.”