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Nottingham Post
Nottingham Post
National
Daniela Loffreda

Parents fear sending autistic son to Long Eaton school over 'safety concerns'

Parents say they have been left scared to send their autistic son to school after a number of safety incidents. Dean and Victoria Johnson say their son Tyrion, 6, has come home from his Long Eaton school with a large number of injuries, which they believe are due to a lack of supervision.

The parents claim the youngster, from Long Eaton, now in year one at Brooklands Primary School, has escaped over a fence and into the car park on two occasions, one of which left him concussed. They also claim Tyrion had fallen off a piece of apparatus in the playground, known as the pirate ship, on May 12, leaving him with a black eye.

Now Dean, 29 and Victoria, 44, feel unsafe sending their son to school and want the youngster to be able to complete work at home until he can move to an educational establishment that can attend to his needs in the next academic year. But the pair claim the school has not supported their decision, and has chosen to mark Tyrion's absence as unauthorised and not send him any work.

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Dean said: “They're refusing to give him work at home. Obviously, we’re worried, we don’t want him to get hit by a car. It’s just shocking.

"He [Tyrion] is so vulnerable, he walks up to strangers and grabs their hands and cuddles them, he doesn’t know danger. We’ve got genuine safety concerns and they’re not listening.”

Dean added that the pair also has concerns about Tyrion’s treatment in the classroom. The dad claimed that the six-year-old is being placed in a corner of the classroom facing the wall during lesson time.

He noted that the school has since offered to move Tyrion to a smaller playground, but felt that due to Tryion’s autism, the youngster would find the move difficult. He added: "The amount of notes he's come home with from injury is substantial. Putting him in another playground is just another change to his routine - he's going to think he's done something wrong."

Mr Tom Daniel, head teacher at Brooklands Primary School said: “Although we are unable to comment on the details of an individual case or its circumstances, we would like to clarify we make it a priority to find a resolution to any concerns raised with us by our families. We do this by working in partnership with parents and carers, and always in the best interests of the child.

“The care and welfare of every child is central to our decision-making, and as such we seek to overcome any barriers to children’s learning and development. We routinely seek and act upon the advice of professionals, both internally and externally, and where appropriate, are willing to fund extra support for a child or children at cost to the school, even where no funded care package is present.

“This is because we strongly believe every child should have equal and un-hampered access to the best education on offer and we will continue to work to ensure all of our children are given the support and opportunities they need and deserve.”

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