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Baylie Fennelly, 9, centre, with his mother Lisa and older brother Connor, 11 |
‘My child is being denied an education’
Nine-year-old Baylie just wants to go to school – instead he’s stuck at home illiterate
BAYLIE Fennelly’s family are the first to admit the nine-year old from Parliament Hill is a handful.
But, even at his worst, he deserves to be educated insists his mother.
Instead Baylie, who has the little-understood behavioural condition attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, has been passed around the education system.
He was excluded from St Dominic’s primary school, Gospel Oak, after two weeks when he was five for being abusive to teachers and fellow students.
He then went to Camden’s pupil referral unit in Euston for children with behavioural needs but he was moved on to a school in Brent after three years because the unit is set up as a temporary stop-gap.
Seven months ago, he was excluded again, and since then he hasn’t been to school.
With little more than four hours of home tutoring a week, his five-year-old cousin can read and write better than him. In fact, Baylie cannot read.
Camden Council said it is “actively looking” to find Baylie a new school, but his mother says otherwise. According to Lisa Fennelly, who lives in Highgate Road with Baylie and his siblings Connor, 11, and Olivia, 1, the council has not been in touch since Christmas. She said the only reason Baylie has home tutoring is because she fought for it.
“Camden are depriving him of an education and he is entitled to it,” she said.
Ms Fennelly, who admits she is struggling with a one-year old baby and a full-time job looking after Baylie at home, said he needs to be in mainstream education.
She also has to endure the heartbreak of listening to him ask “can I go to that school?” each time they pass a set of school gates.
His aunt Michelle Fennelly said: “It’s just so sad – he just wants to go to school. He sees all his cousins with their lunch boxes.
“He needs routine. He needs to get up, go to school, have his lunch, play with his friends in the playground. Just silly little things that are important – when you’re an adult you remember them.”
She added: “It’s not doing his behaviour any good, or even Lisa. “When I look after him it can be stressful and that’s just for one night – Lisa’s got him all day plus a baby.”
But Baylie is not the only unresolved case on the council’s books: there are five other primary school pupils who have been out of school for between four and 10 months – a year in academic terms.
Ms Fennelly said the council needed to introduce a system – a safety net – for such children, and wants them to train more teachers who can handle children with behaviour problems.
A council press officer said the council is trying to find Baylie a school. She said: “Following the exclusions for disruptive behaviour noted by his parent we are actively looking to find this child a new school.
“We know that no school takes the decision to exclude a student lightly but sometimes this difficult decision has to be taken to ensure one student’s disruptive behaviour doesn’t affect the education or safety of the rest of a class.”
She added: “Camden policy, in line with national guidelines, is to include children with special educational needs in mainstream education wherever possible. The needs of almost all primary-aged children with behavioural difficulties can be met within our mainstream primary schools with appropriate support.”
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