I HOPE that when deciding the fate of our special schools, county councillors will use their knowledge of the true facts, common sense, their hearts and lastly their wallets!

Thornton House nursery has just received an excellent Ofsted report. If something is working so well why on earth change it? Thornton house nursery has all the facilities needed under one roof.

To move all this to "mainstream settings" will cost an awful lot of money. When the County is so short of cash, why waste taxpayers' money in such an unnecessary way?

More than 50 per cent of the children attending there go on to a mainstream school. When they arrive at school they are said to be better prepared than their peers who have not had the "Thornton experience."

Many children arrive at TH already failing in a mainstream setting, perhaps unable to speak and at loggerheads with the world. Often, after receiving the expert teaching Thornton House has to offer, they begin to talk and pick up the pieces enough to rejoin the system again.

Early intervention being the order of the day! To deny a child this service could have a serious detrimental effect on the rest of their lives.

The favoured words for education is inclusion, inclusion, and inclusion. Great, for those children it actually will work for but I hope that the councillors will bear in mind that for many special needs children, mainstream school is just not an option. My own son sadly falls into that category.

My worst case scenario will be that my son, who is severely autistic will be in the same class as a child suffering from Downs Syndrome and a child suffering from cerebral palsy, just because they share one thing in common - their age.

Each of these children has very diverse needs and need expert, specialist teaching. Please don't short-change them!

Finally, are the councillors putting much thought into just where they are going to put the children who can't go on to mainstream senior school?

A new Cliffey House is no longer planned and all children will go on to Rose Hill school. I guess the county will house them in "temporary" portable buildings on the edge of the school grounds. That is a very detrimental step. This is the 21st Century not the 1970s!

Please don't put our children out to rot! Life is difficult enough for them facing the world with their problems. Don't short-change them just because they are disabled.

MARY DHONAU, Worcester.