Parents are slamming a schools "double standard" after a boy missed out on a year of school after being expelled due to "behavioural issues".
Riley Roberts was kicked out of school last October after multiple warnings and temporary exclusions. The 12-year-old Liverpool fan has spent the last year kicking footballs and studying at home - but his family say he needs to return to school and "be around people again".
Mum Katey Cowans and step-dad Dan Walker, 31, believe Riley needs more one-to-one support in lessons - something which they say Haywood Academy, in Burslem, Staffordshire wasn’t able to provide, Stoke-on-Trent Live reports. Medical tests have concluded that Riley does not have ADHD.
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Now Stoke-on-Trent City Council is being urged to find a school place for Riley.
Dan, from Burslem, said: "He was always wanting attention and pushing teachers to the limit. They couldn't handle him.
"My partner was constantly called in to talk about his behaviour. Their answer appeared to be to always exclude him - and that didn’t help his behaviour.
“They recognised straight away that mainstream school isn’t for him but nothing was done about it. Due to his behaviour, and how he was, I was expecting it.
“I have always said that he needs one-to-one work and a special school. It’s a joke and this should have been dealt with by now but no-one is doing anything.
“There should have been a school board review where we sat down and talked about what’s best for Riley. This should have been done last year when he was expelled.”
Dan added: “I am convinced that he has got something. I’ve been giving him work at home and sometimes he kicks off, he is a troubled child.
“We waited eight months for a tutor to come out and they only spend an hour a day with him which is pointless. He is very immature and needs to be around people his age. He is not growing up as he is spending a lot of time with his younger brother.
“He needs to go back to school and be around people again. If he puts his head to it then he can do it.
“They can fine me for keeping him off school for a week - but they can keep him off for a year. I think it’s disgusting.
“He is always fidgeting and never sitting down in class. He needs to be in another place where it is more one-to-one with him.
“He struggles to understand so if you give him something to read he can’t understand it. They keep palming him off in mainstream schools.”
Stoke-on-Trent City Council is aware of Riley's plight.
Councillor Janine Bridges, cabinet member for education, said: “We want all young people in the city to have the best possible start in life, the best education and the best life chances. We are aware of this situation and have been working with the family to help support Riley so he can re-engage with education.”
Haywood Academy has defended its decision.
A school spokesman said: "We can confirm that, in the few weeks that this young person was physically on site at the academy, all agencies and support services were engaged with which far exceeded the limits of the support plan that accompanied him. There are no records of parents not being satisfied by the extensive support offered to this young person. Indeed since the final incident which led to the young person no longer being able to attend, academy staff have remained in contact with the family and the agencies to support further."
ECHO readers took to the comments section to slam the "double standard" allowing a child to stay off school for a year, while fining parents for taking their children on holiday. Others shared their own struggles.
Kayleigh Gray said: "This child sounds like he needs help, not being kicked out of school how is that going to help him. It sounds like he needs a special school, smaller classes and one to one. Him being at home isn't doing him any good at all. He needs to be mixing with kids his own age as well.
"I think it's wrong of schools to just kick them out because of bad behaviour. Every child should be in school and just because it's hard they kick them out, it's wrong. A lot of children have struggles and need to be helped not punished. Hope you get him into a good school."
Amelia Lomax said: "Literally like my son, I put him in mainstream school they kept excluding him ended up putting him in a pupil referral unit. They couldn't meet his needs and was being sent home a lot. He finally started a special school earlier this year and is still being sent home all the time, so is now not in as I cannot get from Huyton to Walton without a car."
Gary Robbo said: "I agree that really disruptive or abusive kids should be sent home, but they should also get referred to the right specialists and schools, not left like this. As they say- a parent or carer can get charged for every day that they keep their child off school without good reason - but it's ok for the school to deny him education for a year. Double standards."
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