“I had no friends and I felt lonely – it was very tough on me.”
That is what 12-year-old Aurelia – who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair – told politicians at Stormont about her fight to get a place in a post-primary school.
She now attends St Genevieve’s in west Belfast, but, like hundreds of other children with special educational needs (SEN), she faced a significant delay getting a place confirmed in 2023.
“I was stuck in my room,” she said.
“I was without a school for four months. Last summer at about August I was supposed to go to school and yet they never gave me a school.”
While Aurelia is now happy in school, the scars of the fight to get a place, where an accessible toilet could be provided, remain.
“I like the classes, I like the teachers,” she said.
“But I just feel very isolated and nervous because at school I missed four months and I needed to catch up.
“The school is great but it’s very impossible to catch up.”
Aurelia was invited to Stormont to tell MLAs on the Education Committee about her experiences.