EDUCATION bosses have spoken of their determination to offer the families of vulnerable children the support they need during the latest lockdown after a report concluded they had been failed during earlier stages of the pandemic. A Darlington Borough Council meeting heard numerous families “slipped through the net” with very poor or no support being offered to those who had been previously identified as being in need of more help than is available through special educational needs support. The Darlington Parent Carer Forum report highlighted how all children with an Educational, Health and Care Plan should have been offered school places, but schools offered a range of excuses as to why they could not offer anything other than home learning sessions.