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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
World
Maxine Denton & Aaron Curran

Schoolboy sent home from prom after phone call to dad

A schoolboy was left "absolutely devastated" after being turned away from his senior prom after he had already arrived.

His livid father claims that a teacher kicked his son out for missing one of his final exams. Stephen Lang, 54, and partner Kayleigh Richards, 35, said they were issued no prior warning that their teenager, Harrison Lang, was banned from his prom until after he got there.

It wasn't until sometime after the 15-year-old had arrived at the prom that teachers called his parents urging them to pick him up. The couple had received a call from Camborne Science and International Academy on Tuesday evening (June 28) during the senior prom.

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Stephen was allegedly told that because he missed one of his final exams and "was naughty this year" he should not have been allowed at the school prom, CornwallLive reports.

The school says neither Harrison nor his family ever tried to buy a prom ticket - but he would've been refused if he had for not adhering to school policies during the year.

Both Stephen and Harrison say they received zero communications from the school stating this, after "forking out a small fortune" for a suit, shoes and a car, so that the teen could attend his final hurrah. The school has issued a statement saying that the student never attempted to purchase a ticket for the event - and had he tried to, his wanting to attend would have been "politely declined".

Stephen said: “I bought my son his suit ready for him to go and we got a car which we had hired to take him. He came down to the prom in the car and parked outside like anybody else and the teacher even opened the door to let him out with the crowds.

"An hour later I had a phone call from another teacher who said he wasn’t welcome to the prom because he had missed an exam and had been naughty this year."

He described his teenage son as "absolutely devastated" saying it "embarrassed him in front of all his friends". He continued: "Normally a teacher would ring me if he was ever late or missed school but I hadn't heard a word from them about this. Harrison felt awful in front of his friends.

"He was broken. So upset. We spent a small fortune on his suit, shoes and getting him all nice and ready for it. If they had said a few weeks before then it’s a different matter but they’ve let him go all the way down there, greeted him out the car and said it was lovely to see him and then this. He was absolutely devastated. Me, my partner and Harry's mum were all devastated too at how you could turn away a kid like this."

Harrison Lang, 15, was told he was banned from his senior prom, one hour after arriving. (Plymouth Live)

He added that he had emailed the school to complain but had not yet heard back. He said: "Harrison says there were lots of other kids who never attend school there too.

"They’ve done it in front of hundreds of people and made him look so small. It was his last day of schooling and that prom experience will never happen again.

“The school has my phone number and they are quick enough to ring me if he was naughty at school or late but they didn’t even try to ring me about this.”

A spokesperson for Camborne Science and International Academy, said: "Whilst we do our utmost to make sure all students are able to attend school social occasions, unfortunately and rarely there are instances when this isn’t possible. Camborne Science and International Academy has very clear and high expectations about attendance and behaviour as outlined in our school policies.

"All students are fully aware that they must adhere to our school policies throughout the year and when these standards are not met, students will not be awarded the privilege to attend the prom. The prom is a ticketed event and students are required to pay in advance and pre-order food.

"In this instance, the student in question neither paid for a ticket nor pre-ordered food and therefore was not expected to attend. If he had attempted to pay for a ticket or pre-order food, he would have been politely declined at that point due to our aforementioned policies.”

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