|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
    |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||
|
Disabled boy given standing detentions that left him unable to walk
Private school discriminated against 13-year-old pupil, disability tribunal rules A private school unlawfully discriminated against a disabled pupil, the Special Needs and Disability Tribunal has found. The school made the 13-year-old boy, who suffers from a connective tissue disorder, stand still in detentions lasting up to 40 minutes, rendering him unable to walk afterwards. The tribunal judged £7,000-a-year Hillcrest grammar school in Stockport to have unlawfully discriminated against the boy, who also suffers from severe attention deficit disorder (ADD). The teenager started at the school in September 2006. After being threatened with exclusion if his behaviour did not improve, he was eventually excluded in July 2007. The tribunal criticised the school for excluding the pupil, failing to support him in writing down what homework he had to do, and punishing him with the standing detentions. The boy's mother accused the school of not supporting her son. "The detentions were difficult, painful and embarrassing and he couldn't walk afterwards because he was so stiff," she told the Manchester Evening News. "It is unbelievable that a school could punish any child in such a humiliating way, let alone one they knew had physical and medical disabilities." The tribunal ordered all staff to have training on the Disability Discrimination Act and a review of the school's policies on disability discrimination and equality. The school was told to draw up guidelines on the admission of children with mental and physical conditions and write a letter of apology to the family, who wish to remain anonymous. A spokesman for the school said: "Hillcrest grammar has always taken pride in its reputation for being a socially inclusive establishment. "It is therefore a matter of regret to have been found wanting in our care."
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
