Education bosses have drafted in external consultants to review a school at the centre of an investigation into its handling of special needs pupils.
Sharon Gardner complained earlier this year after her eight-year-old autistic son had been carried “kicking and screaming” from a classroom at Strathburn School, Inverurie, and locked in a “quiet” room on his own.
She complained to Aberdeenshire Council, but unsatisifed with their response, contacted the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) who subsequently launched an investigation in April.
Robert Lee has also raised concerns about the way his six-year-old daughter, Evelyn, has been treated at the school.
Now the local authority has announced it has hired external consultants to review procedures the school has in place to deal with children with additional support needs (ASN).
A review into its approach across its entire schools estate will also be carried out.
Ms Gardner, who now teaches her son at home in Huntly, said she hoped the process was transparent.
She said: “If it makes things better then that’s good, because something has got to change.
“The policy Aberdeenshire Council had in place wasn’t being followed by schools.
“It’s not the council’s policy to put children in isolation rooms and lock them in but that’s what they were doing.”
As well as living with autism, Fraser also sensory issues but was deemed too high functioning to attend an ASN school.
He told his mother that he was locked in a “quiet room” at the school with no toilet, and left kicking and screaming.
Ms Gardner also claimed staff refused to give her son a small box of toys which helped to calm him down because they believed they would be rewarding bad behaviour.
She also said there had been a number of occasions when she had collected Fraser from the room and he had wet himself.
Mr Lee last night also claimed the authority had failed to ensure the correct proceudres were being followed.
He said: “If the council had robust processes and procedures in place then why would they be no need to be reviewed. Could the money that is being spent on a consultancy if it actually does exist be better spent on increased staffing within the enhanced provision unit?”
The SPSO said it was unable to confirm whether its investigation had concluded.
The council has said both reviews will ensure schools are following “best practice” for behaviour support.
A spokeswoman said: “Following an investigation at Strathburn Primary, Aberdeenshire Council Education service is undertaking an internal, authority wide review of behaviour support policy, process and practice.
“Furthermore to ensure that Strathburn School is performing to its very best we are commissioning a consultancy service to review whole school approaches to behaviour support. Both of these reviews will ensure that our schools are following best practice for behaviour support and following our already robust policies and procedures.”
