A WEE COUNTY mum has appealed to the education secretary for help in a desperate bid to secure a school place for her terminally-ill daughter.

Alva resident Lorraine Thomson, 47, was recently told that her 11-year-old child Emma can no longer attend Lochies School, because her wheelchair has been deemed a fire risk.

Emma was born with a number of medical conditions including an undiagnosed growth disorder, and contracted septicaemia twice when she was a new-born.

In 2017, her health deteriorated further when she developed an illness that "annihilated" her body.

Lorraine says she doesn't know how much time she has left with Emma.

Keen to give her daughter the best experience possible, she now wants to send her to the highly-specialised Castleview Primary School in Stirling to complete P7.

Castleview provides education for children with a range of severe and profound additional support needs.

Lorraine told the Advertiser: "It's a purpose-built school, it just would meet all Emma's needs."

However, because Lorraine and Emma live three miles outside the catchment area, their initial application to secure a placement there was rejected by Stirling Council.

The matter went to a tribunal, and in April this year it upheld Stirling Council's decision to refuse Emma a place.

Lorraine said: "They basically said that they don't have any legal responsibilities to educate Emma."

With that duty falling to Clackmannanshire Council, they offered Emma a place at Alloa Academy instead.

But Lorraine claims that while the school would meet Emma's educational needs, it would not meet her social needs.

She said: "[It's] a special needs primary school in a school that's for mainstream pupils."

She also said that it did not have any of the "extras" included at Castleview which would enhance Emma's quality of life.

Having exhausted all the options she had, Lorraine recently reached out to Scotland's education minister John Swinney and asked him to intervene.

Unfortunately, all she received was a "generic response" telling her to take the matter to a tribunal or speak to the local authority instead.

Now, Lorraine hopes that by spreading awareness of her daughter's plight she can prompt the minister into action and secure her daughter a place at Castleview.

She said: "[Emma has] a very solitary life that isn't very good for a young person at all.

"At Castleview she would be with her peers."

A spokesperson for Clackmannanshire Council said: "We are aware of Emma's circumstances, which are complex for many reasons.

"She is receiving home education and has been offered a place at Alloa Academy as an alternative."

Stirling Council and John Swinney's office did not respond when approached for comment.