WALTHAM FOREST COUNCIL has given its strongest indication yet that it is poised to close Hawkswood and Joseph Clarke special schools.

At a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Cllr Chris Robbins, lifelong learning portfolio holder, said no decision would be taken until September, but added: "Hawkswood and Joseph Clarke still face the possibility of closure."

He said Hawkswood was still in special measures, and currently has just 37 pupils, which made it "extremely vulnerable".

Joseph Clarke, which had just 20 per cent of pupils coming from Waltham Forest, will need to undergo major changes or it will "simply wither and die", said Cllr Robbins.

Around 100 parents and children packed the public gallery to hear the council's proposals, after first staging a demonstration outside the town hall.

Angry cries of 'shame' were heard during the meeting, and after the council voted to accept the preliminary report into the special education needs (SEN) restructuring, parents let loose with a torrent of criticism.

One father shouted: "Good to see the council cares about our children", and a furious mother yelled: "These children will not survive in mainstream schools. I know because I've been through it."

Cllr Robbins said: "I've won no friends recently and I'm sorry about that, but things have to be done in Waltham Forest and change has to take place.

"We have seen ourselves judged as a poor borough. The Ofsted report was frankly a damning indictment of our SEN provision."

He said too much money was being spent in special schools, and not enough in mainstream schools, and that resources were "in the wrong place".

Cllr Robbins said that 140 children were sent from Waltham Forest to schools outside the borough, which didn't make sense, and that those families should have the option of having their child tutored in one of our mainstream schools.

Cllr Graham Smith claimed the changes would affect fewer than 100 of the 10,000 special needs children in the borough, and said the proposals were necessary for the long term future of special needs education.

The special schools organisation committee, set up purely to tackle the SEN issue, will make its final announcement in September, and will continue talks with Joseph Clarke and Hawkswood schools until then to try and find a solution that is satisfactory for all, said Cllr Robbins.

Chingford MP Iain Duncan Smith accused the council of "not caring" and not listening.

He said: "Despite the thousands of signatures on the petition, the council just ignores all the opinions. It does not care about children's education or the disruption to their family life. It puts short term savings ahead of children who deserve support."