A mum has slammed a school after a teacher told her daughter with a tic to “stop twitching like a RABBIT”.
Lynn Clements said her 13 year-old Hannah walked out of class in tears after a supply teacher made the nasty remark.
The teen makes involuntary movements in her face and fingers which are caused by trapped nerves in her neck from a childhood fall.
She said she explained her condition to the stand-in teacher who refused to believe her and continued to make derogatory remarks.
Lynn, 51, said: “She came out of the class crying with her heart broken.
“I came up the school and she told me she had been jerking about and that the supply teacher had said ‘Stop twitching – you look like a rabbit’.
“Hannah told her she had a medical condition and the teacher said, ‘Yeah, yeah I’ve heard this all before’.
“Hannah walked out the class crying and a friend went with her.
“When I arrived at school I was taken into a side room and told it was unacceptable and that Hannah would get all the support she needs.”
Hannah, who is in Year 8 at Brislington Enterprise College, in Bristol, walked out of the classroom shortly after lunch time on January 15.
Following the incident she texted her mum who went to the school and has now made an official complaint.
Lynn added: “I’ve asked them how they will deal with my complaint. All I get back is that it will be dealt with but I haven’t got answers to my questions.”
Hannah develop the tic following a fall from a height when she was just three-years-old.
Her condition is documented on her medical records, which the school has a copy of.
Lynn added: “Any teacher, whether support or otherwise, going into a classroom needs to be made aware of any medical concerns of the pupils.
“No teacher has the right to talk to a child like that. If a child spoke to a teacher as she did they would be kicked out of school immediately.
“Hannah is so stressed now, her eyes are like a rollercoaster.
“She had been completely calm and starting to get a handle on her movements before this, now they’re all over the place.”
The school is set to become an academy and renamed the Oasis Academy from Monday.
Lynn, who lives with her family in St Anne’s, Bristol, is worried support for her daughter will be reduced as a result of 22 jobs being axed at the school.
“I believe a lot of support staff will be going,” she said.
“If they are taking away most of the special educational needs co-ordinators and support people, how will the children get the support they need?”
School spokesman Gareth Streeter said: “We consider inclusion to be one of our most important values.
“As such, we will ensure that the academy is adequately resourced and structured to ensure that the needs of each and every one of our students is provided for.
“We take very seriously any concerns parents have that their child has not been treated within our values.
“As we enter a new chapter by becoming an academy, we encourage any parents or carers to come to us directly with any concerns they have.”
