Maitland Christian School has apologised for not inviting a student with autism to its year six graduation ceremony.
Twelve-year-old Ollie Baldwin and another student completed their primary education at its sister school, Arise Christian College, which caters for students with intellectual disabilities.
Ollie's mother, Amy Goel, said her son had been looking forward to celebrating his graduation milestone at the school earlier this month.
Despite having previously enquired about the details, Ms Goel said she only learned the event had been held via Facebook.
"It was obvious that there was going to be something but because I hadn't heard anything I posted on the parents' Facebook page. I said 'is there something coming up? That's when I found out that it already happened," a devastated Ms Goel said.
Ms Goel, who has been inundated with support from the school and wider community, said she plans to take the matter to the Attorney General's Department, which administers Australia's federal anti-discrimination legislation.
"I'm disgusted, I'm hurt. My son missed out on celebrating this milestone. It's been much harder for him to get through school with Autism. And he still did it but he doesn't get celebrated like everyone else does," she said.
Maitland Christian School principal Geoff Peet apologised to Ollie and his mother for failing to meet their expectations.
"Arise Christian College is a school in its infancy that endeavours to provide the best care for all members of our community," he said.
"We always try to make decisions based on each child's complex learning and social needs. As a relatively new school, we are still refining these practices and are sorry that we did not meet expectations this time.
We are reviewing our approach in this case and will share the learnings across our leadership team. MCC and ACC are two of the most integrated schools in this space. Our mission in starting Arise was to include ACC and MCC students in as many activities as is appropriate so that all students can benefit from the opportunities that their interaction brings."
Meanwhile, the Newcastle Jets have invited Ollie to be their guest at Hunter stadium on Friday.
'The Jets were made aware of the great achievements that Ollie has made at school this year and we wanted to do something special for him. We're providing him with the honour of presenting the offical match ball at Friday's match and we're inviting him and his family into our Chairman's Lounge function with the Port of Newcastle," a spokesman said.
The club had also worked with Greater Bank and Autism Spectrum Australia to create a sensory room which provides a quite safe space for kids on the Autism spectrum to enjoy all our men's home games.
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