UK Disability Resource of Disabled Needs

School made to apologise after disciplining boy
Last Updated: 1:52am BST 07/09/2007

A school has been forced to write a letter of apology to an 11-year-old boy who was punished for being disruptive.

The boy was dropped from the football team, banned from going to a Royal Albert Hall concert and lost his lunchtime breaks.

His family complained that he was suffering from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and teachers should have taken that into account.

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They took St Philip Howard Catholic primary to a tribunal and won their case. The school in Hatfield, Herts, must now apologise and staff and governors are being put on a training course, teaching them about hyperactive children.

The boy's mother said that in one incident he ran away and locked himself in a lavatory. On another occasion, he threw pencils around in a library.

She said: "I am satisfied that justice has been done. I hope all schools will learn to be more understanding of the condition."

She said that it felt "terribly unfair" when the school started to act against her son.

"To be excluded from all these things meant that he could not be around his friends, which is a bit rough for someone of his age," she said.

"I think schools know how to deal with more well-known disabilities but don't understand when it comes to disabilities like ADHD."

Anne Ross, Hertfordshire branch chairman of the charity ADDvance, helped the family take their case to the special educational needs and disability tribunal.

She said: "It is important people recognise this as a legitimate disability that needs to be understood."

The boy has now started at secondary school.

A governors' spokesman said: "The school's governing body accepts the findings of the tribunal, which agreed with some of the claims made against the school but dismissed another.

"The governing body and the head teacher tried to act in the best interests of all of the children throughout.

"We will be undertaking refresher training for all staff and governors on disability awareness