Somerset children's school support comes from two directions: EHCP catch-up and £18k anxiety counselling

Two separate funding stories reported in Somerset highlight different but related pressures on schoolchildren. Somerset Council promised in July to invest £5.3m over the next two years to reduce backlogs regarding education, health and care plans (EHCPs), the Somerset County Gazette and Bridgwater Mercury reported [1][2]. In a separate award, Weston-super-Mare CIC Wanted Not Wasted has received £18,000 to provide free counselling for children struggling with school anxiety, according to the Weston Mercury [3]. Taken together, the two developments show pupils may be helped both by faster statutory plans for those with SEND moving to new schools and by community-based mental-health support for those who are anxious about attending school.