Kai, 13, suspended because ‘teachers can’t control him’
DAD’S FRUSTRATION AS SON, WHO HAS AUTISM, IS EXCLUDED FROM ACADEMY
A FRUSTRATED dadof-three says his teenage son, who has autism, was suspended because his teachers are unable to control him.
David Cheney, 36, was left fuming after his 13-year-old son Kai was suspended last Tuesday after shouting and screaming at Kingswood Academy.
Mr Cheney, who works as a joiner in Beverley, says a teacher from the school called him to say that Kai was described as “inconsolable” after a fellow student emptied the contents of his bag on October 16.
He had to drive the 13 miles to pick his son up during work hours – a trip he says he is forced to make “most weeks”.
Mr Cheney said: “It’s constant and I’ve just had enough to be honest – the school can’t be messing me about like this, I have to work hard for my kids.
“The school constantly ringing me to say what has happened and can I pick him up because they can’t control him.”
After receiving a call on the Tuesday to collect Kai, Mr Cheney was told his son had been excluded after an “aggressive” outburst.
But the next day, the school invited Kai and his parents to a meeting to discuss the incident with teachers.
Mr Cheney, who has three children with his ex-girlfriend Samantha Connelly, 32, attended a meeting with his former partner and Kai at the school on Wednesday.
Mr Cheney said “apologetic” teachers told him his son was being bullied, but had been suspended for half a day due to his reaction.
However, Kai returned to school as normal on Thursday.
“At the end of the day, it’s a child who needs the right education,” said Mr Cheney, of North Bransholme.
“The school ring me almost every day to see if I can calm him down and then they tell me to come collect him.
“Then I arrive at school and they say everything is fine – but it’s not good because I’m losing my work bonus as I’m not there.”
The hard-working dad now says he is now thinking about moving Kai to a special school that will best cater his needs.
He said: “An actual special school would cater better for what Kai needs, but he has been assigned to Kingswood, so we have to deal with it.”
A spokesman at the academy said: “On October 16, a pupil was fixed-term excluded for being abusive and aggressive towards a member of staff and other students.
“Despite a range of supportive strategies which have been working with this pupil since the summer, on this occasion the pupil was posing a risk to both staff and other students, thus a decision was made to fixed term exclude.
“The following day a reintegration meeting was held with the pupil, the parents, the Kids SENDIAS charity and Kingswood staff.
“This meeting was very positive and the pupil was back in the academy following the meeting.
“In the meeting further strategies were discussed to prevent the incident happening again.
“Following the positive meeting a week ago, the pupil has been attending school as normal, and parents have made no contact with the academy.
“The February 2018 Ofsted inspection and the summer 2018 results show that students with SEN needs at Kingswood Academy are very well supported and make excellent progress.”
“The school ring me almost every day to see if I can calm him down and then they tell me to come collect him David Cheney