A Nottingham mum has expressed her frustration as her son with several health conditions was left unable to attend a school residential trip. Sally Budd, of The Meadows, claims her 9-year-old son Henry was unable to go on the trip to PGL in Caythorpe, Lincolnshire, after his school failed to make reasonable adjustments for him to attend.
The 49 year old, who works in finance at City Hospital, explained that her son suffers from Autism, ADHD, social anxiety, separation anxiety, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, a milk allergy, and he is visually impaired due to Congenital Eye Cataract and Amblyopia.
Despite his conditions, Sally claims the St Edmund Campion Catholic Primary School feels "that Henry does not need reasonable adjustments and is perfectly capable of going by himself."
Henry has not attended school this week due to being upset and having anxiety and stress over missing the trip. Sally said: "All of his friends have gone on the trip today (Wednesday, May 10) and he hasn't been to school this week as all his friends have been talking about it and are really excited.
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"He needs routine, he needs to go back to going to school at 9 o'clock and that routine to get there, but unfortunately school is not working with me and he is treated differently to other children. It's a catholic school and it's supposed to have good pastoral care for the students and it's supposed to be inclusive but it's not."
From the age of five Sally felt there was "something a bit different" about Henry, and over the years he has been to paediatricians and she has spent thousands of pounds for her son to have a full assessment done. She added: "The headmistress and the chief executive at the trust all have this medical test which clearly shows he has significant difficulties and they still would not make reasonable adjustments."
However, the school claims that they have done their best to accommodate Henry. A spokesperson for Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Multi-Academy Trust, which runs the school in West Bridgford, said: "The safety and needs of all our pupils are our priority and we are sorry that on this occasion, Henry has not been able to take part in the visit and that Ms Budd feels that Henry has been treated unfairly.
"Over the past two months, the school and the Trust have liaised directly with Ms Budd to try to ensure that reasonable adjustments and reassurances were in place for Henry to be able to attend the school’s annual activity trip this week. This included extra staff to ensure his well-being and covering the costs of a hotel and travel for parents to stay nearby to enable Henry to be part of the trip."
They continued: "Due to the time required to apply for an enhanced DBS check – a safeguarding requirement set by the providers for all adult visitors – it was not possible for Henry’s parents to stay overnight on site, which is why the Trust offered to cover the cost of accommodation locally for the parents.
"We continue to work closely with the family to ensure that Henry thrives in the safe, supportive environment that St Edmund Campion CVA has always provided him." However, Sally is frustrated with the options offered and felt they were offered "too late in the day."
She said: "They said he doesn't need the adjustments. At the last minute they told me they could do a reasonable adjustment for someone to go to the site during the day and would have to pay to stay in a separate hotel off site.
"They have had all of this time to do DBS checks and to get this all sorted but they didn't. The whole situation has caused trauma for my little boy that he didn't need."
Sally explained that she didn't want her son to have to stay off site, as it was a residential trip and he shouldn't be treated like a day visitor. The mum of three added: "It's broken me, I'm waiting for surgery as I have a stomach infection that's gone into my bowel and all this stress is making it worse."
Due to her own health conditions, Sally says she will do all she can to help her children and make sure they are treated fairly. She stated: "I really need to advocate for them and to make the world right for them and that's what I'm trying to do.
"He doesn't need a special school, he's more than capable of managing in a main stream environment. This is about changing the future for Henry and other children."
Her husband, Marc Bacon, added: "Henry has complex unseen difficulties and finds it difficult to express his emotions and feelings, emotionally and mentally he is very disadvantaged in comparison to his peer group. I have worked tirelessly to advocate for Henry but it’s very hard as people just see a normal little boy, this is very true of his school they told me that he was perfectly able to go on the residential trip unaided and the purpose of this trip was to promote independence."
Mr Bacon explained he had sought private medical assessments to show the school but feels they have been disregarded.
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