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Parents stand up to 'school bully'

Denise Evans
25/ 9/2008

MUMS staged a protest outside a Blackley primary school after demanding that an alleged young bully should be permanently expelled.

Parents of six pupils at Crab Lane Community Primary School kept their children off school for a day last Thursday after an alleged incident where it is believed a pupil attacked classmates and verbally abused a teacher.

The pupil has since been disciplined and handed a five day suspension, but parents are calling for him to be permanently excluded as they fear for their children’s safety in the future.

One mum, Emma Poole, said: "I refuse to send my child back into school with that bully. He is a well-known trouble-maker in the neighbourhood. My son is scared to come to school because this lad is so violent. His bad behaviour has been carrying on for over a year now.

"We are angry at the school for not listening to us. Maybe they will listen now."

Lisa Palmer, another protesting mum, said she is concerned that her son’s education is suffering because of the trouble. She said: "My son enjoys school and it is a great class and they are all friends but this boy is stopping my son from learning because he demands so much of the teacher’s attention.

"Parents should not be fearing for their child’s safety when they drop them off for school in the morning."

The school disputes the parents’ claims and is keen to stress that this is an isolated incident.

David Potts, headteacher at Crab Lane, said: "An isolated incident involving two pupils who got into a fight with each other after a disagreement happened at the end of the school day on Wednesday last week. The incident was dealt with appropriately by staff in line with school procedures. The following day a handful of parents kept their children off school in support of one parent who indicated to the school that she was concerned about her child’s welfare in school. All of these children returned to school after their one day absence on Friday."

Both Emma and Lisa say they will keep their children off school and risk getting into trouble with the Local Education Authority if the five-day suspension is not turned into a permanent expulsion.

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