CITY of York Council is to lobby the Government for the siblings of children with special educational needs to be exempt from restrictions on infant class sizes.

Councillors voted unanimously to support a motion by Coun Janet Hopton to allow these children to join classes which already have 30 pupils because of the emotional impact separating siblings can have. Coun Carol Runciman, executive member for education, said ensuring siblings could attend the same school helped children with special educational needs to integrate into the school community and reduced the stress on parents.

She said that such a move would only affect three or four children in the city but would be of great benefit to the families concerned.

Updated: 09:20 Wednesday, September 24, 2003