Worried Harrogate mum's 'heartbreaking' battle to get son Noah, 11, the specialist school of his choice

Former teacher Catherine Maguire is being backed in her battle with local authorities over her son's future by a bishop, a headteacher and an MP after she learned last month that Noah would not be allowed to attend St John’s Catholic Specialist School in Boston Spa.

As a family schooled in the Catholic faith, the Maguires believe St John’s is the only school locally that can meet her son’s educational, health and religious needs.

"Noah was diagnosed with Cerebellar Hypoplasia when he was just two,” said Catherine Maguire.

"It’s a rare neurological condition which means his cerebellum is underdeveloped.

"This means that Noah finds balancing and coordinating his movements challenging.

"He uses a walker to mobilise, has significant speech and language difficulties and intention tremors.

"As a family our Catholic faith is at the centre of how we live our lives, we are active parishioners at St Aelred’s Catholic church in Harrogate, and have been for the past 14 years.

"St John's in Boston Spa is the nearest Catholic Specialist provision to where we live in Harrogate.

"We were shocked to discover on February 13, 2025 that the Local Authority had named another local specialist school on his final EHC plan, and had completely ignored Noah’s and our parental preference for a Catholic setting.”

Noah's older brother went to St John Fishers Catholic High School in Harrogate and also attended the sixth form, only leaving last year to go to university.

His older sister is currently in Year 10 at St John Fisher’s in Harrogate.

Both went to St Roberts Catholic Primary School where Noah is in Year 6.

The Maguire family have now registered an appeal against the local education to go to a tribunal.

The challenge is based on Section B, F and I of the Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan, a legal document for children and young people up to 25 with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

The Bishop of Leeds, the Right Reverend Marcus Stock is supporting the family’s wishes for Noah’s future,

He said: “I am surprised to learn the Local Authority appears reluctant to fund this specialist school place, especially as St John’s will meet your parental preference for your son to receive a Catholic education and this specialist provision doesn’t exist within North Yorkshire.”

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Tom Gordon is also a supporter.

He said: “I am dedicated to supporting constituents, including Noah and his family.

"It’s disappointing that the process at North Yorkshire Council is a mess and I want to understand exactly what has happened here.

"We need to see all our young people properly supported.”

With a date for the hearing date set for February 24, 2026, Noah’s mum says she is worried the wrangle will not be sorted out in time to avoid disrupting Noah’s wellbeing.

Catherine Maguire said: "Noah might miss transition time, as a tribunal decision, could be as late as August for Phase Transfer schools, which is unsettling to him, considering that all his peers already know their next destinations.

"With Noah’s communication difficulties in being understood, this will create additional anxiety for him, which would be lessened if he transitioned to St John’s as he already knows half of his classmates, who can understand him already.”

Kevin Harrington, Headteacher at St John’s Catholic Specialist School in Boston Spa said he felt “desperately sorry for Noah and his family” and was ready to offer Noah a place.

"The whole ordeal is heartbreaking,” said Mr Harrington.

"Noah was assessed at our school last year. We can meet his needs and we have a place available for him in September.

"While I understand that local authorities like North Yorkshire Council have limited resources, they are wasting significant amounts of time and money by pushing cases like Noah’s all the way to a Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal.”

The Harrogate Advertiser has approached North Yorkshire Council to allow them to comment.