A DISABLED boy who was excluded from his primary school's Christmas play was unlawfully discriminated against and deserved an apology, a tribunal has ruled.
Lee Buniak, six, was not even allowed to make a Christmas card to take home to his mother by Jenny Hammond Primary School in Leytonstone, east London, and was later the only child left out of a school trip.
The Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal ruled that the school had broken the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) and ordered governors to apologise in writing to Lee and Helen, his mother.
The Disability Rights Commission (DRC), which backed the Buniaks, said it was a ''heartbreaking'' case.
It accused the school of forcing Lee to lose a year's worth of education by failing to provide him with the support to which he was entitled.
Mrs Buniak told the tribunal that her son was also left out of all the rehearsals for the school nativity play and its Christmas disco last year. He was the only pupil not to take home a Christmas card and was prevented from taking part in making scenery for the play.
Between January and February this year, Lee was left out of activities such as assemblies, cake making and ''golden time'', when pupils choose their own activities.
On March 31, he was the only child in his class not to go on a trip to Bethnal Green Museum in east London.
He was the only member of his class not to be asked to join in the school photograph.
Although his mother had been told about the trip and had forgotten about it, she told the tribunal that it was common practice for schools to remind parents about such trips in case their children missed out.
Lee had been included in activities at his nursery school and was taking part in the Christmas play at his new primary.
His disability, which meant he had no sense of danger, was a risk to himself and others without proper supervision.
It left him him with speech and co-ordination problems and was severe enough for the school to receive extra cash to provide him with a full-time qualified assistant in class.
The tribunal ruled in a judgment last month, which is published today, that the school failed to carry out its legal duty and provide him with a suitably qualified assistant. Instead, his mother was forced at one stage to go in every day for a month in the summer term of 2002 to act as his classroom assistant, while the school provided a succession of inexperienced temporary staff who could not cope with Lee.
Even when the school did appoint experienced assistants, there was still a two-hour gap in the day when his mother had to take Lee home for lack of cover.
David Ruebain, Mrs Buniak's solicitor, told the tribunal that all the incidents taken together amounted to ''substantial acts of discrimination''.
In its ruling, the tribunal, chaired by Judith Allright, said: ''We consider that some of the incidents were so blatant as to be a substantial disadvantage in their own right, but also that collectively they amount to Lee being placed at a substantial disadvantage.
''The school failed to adopt a practice of recruitment or retention of support staff which would have ensured Lee would not be placed at a substantial disadvantage without justification.
''This does amount to discrimination for the purposes of the DDA . . . Lee was unlawfully discriminated against in that the responsible body did not include Lee in the Christmas play and associated rehearsals, making Christmas artefacts, arts and crafts, normal everyday school activities, a school trip on March 31 2003 (and) did not provide Lee with the delivery of education or social services.''
The panel said the school, which offered ''no substantive evidence'' in the case, was ordered to apologise separately in writing to Lee and his mother.
It was also told to put all its staff through ''disability equality training'' by next April and revise its policy on disabled pupils by the beginning of February 2004.
Mrs Buniak said: ''It was a year of trauma for Lee. Not being in the school Christmas play was the lowest point.
''Before he started at school he was happy and chatty but he became upset and frustrated because of the lack of support.''
Liz Sayce, DRC policy director, said: ''It's heartbreaking and blatantly unfair for a six-year-old to be told that they can't join in their class Christmas festivities . . . Disabled pupils have a right to join in all school activities and the tribunal has made it clear that schools can be guilty of discrimination if they fail to recruit or retain essential support staff.''
Sally Labern, the school's chairman of governors, said in a statement: ''The governing body of Jenny Hammond Primary School is in the process of a sensitive, internal investigation and as such cannot make detailed comments at this time.
''However, as chair of the governing body it is already clear to me that there are lessons to be learned.''
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