A Huyton mum has accused a local primary school of failing to properly investigate teachers who restrained her son, bruising him on his back.
She said staff at St Joseph’s Primary School had failed to inform her about restraint being used on the five-year-old, who has special educational needs, contrary to its policies on restraining pupils.
The mum, who asked not to be named, also claimed she had not been told the outcome of an investigation into the incident, or even if any investigation had been completed, and felt her son was being discriminated against on account of his special needs.
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St Joseph’s, based on Edenfield Crescent, Huyton, has strongly denied her allegations, claiming it had “thoroughly investigated” the mum’s complaint and provided her with all relevant information.
The mum said she only found out about the incident, which took place last year, when her son told her what had happened the next day.
The school’s “positive handling” policy says the headteacher or a senior member of staff should inform parents when force is used to restrain their child.
Two days after the incident, the mum said, the headteacher confirmed restraint had been used against her son but was unable to say exactly what happened or why physical intervention had been necessary.
A week later, she said, she was told that her son had touched a hot pipe in the boys’ toilets, prompting the use of restraint, and that a full investigation would take place.
However, more than a year later she says she has still not been told the outcome of that investigation.
Frustrated with what she regarded as a lack of action from the school and a deteriorating relationship with the headteacher, the mum complained to the board of governors earlier this year, but she claims this complaint has also not been dealt with after more than four months other than having a preliminary Zoom call with the governors to discuss her complaint.
She claims she was told the governors would contact her last week about the outcome of her complaint, but this did not happen.
When she escalated her complaint to the school governors, she said she felt staff at St Joseph’s had been “extremely condescending and dismissive”, adding that she believed the school’s ultimate aim was to have her son taken off the roll and moved to a special school as they were unable to deal with his needs.
She said: “I’m now at the point where I feel St Joseph’s have abandoned their efforts regarding any attempts to try and meet his needs; rather they no longer wish to.”
Describing the effect on herself of dealing with the school, the mum said: “I had a panic attack in the playground through all the stress.
“I’m OK now but back in December I was like a zombie. I would be scared for other parents and children to go through what I have.”
Her son has now been temporarily moved to a special school in the area, where she says he is doing much better, but could return to St Joseph’s in future as she wants him to have a chance at a mainstream school.
In a statement, chair of governors Marion Hughes said: “St Joseph's is a happy and inclusive school and we pride ourselves on the strong and positive relationships we have with our children and families – something our latest Ofsted inspection highlighted and rated us as outstanding in this area.
“We work with a range of professionals and services to ensure our children’s needs are met and our latest parent / carer survey highlights high levels of satisfaction with the support that we provide.
“We do refute the allegations made and strongly believe that the way in which the incident has been represented in the article does not reflect what actually happened or the way that the school dealt with it.
“All complaints received to school are taken extremely seriously and thoroughly investigated in line with archdiocese and council policies.
“In this case, extensive time has been taken to work with the parent to address concerns raised and provide the assurances needed - including sharing all relevant information.
“We have offered to meet with the parent to once again discuss the issues raised.”
St Joseph’s was last inspected by Ofsted in 2013, when it received an “outstanding” rating.
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