A PARENT has blasted her child’s school and the county council for ‘abandoning’ her son and stopping him from going back to school.

Veena Virahsammy says her 12-year-old son has been blocked from returning to Aureus School in Harwell now pupils have returned for the new academic year.

Miss Virahsammy said her son – who she wished to remain anonymous – was excluded in December, and that the school has failed at following his education, health and care plan (EHCP).

An EHCP is for children and young people aged up to 25 who need more support than is available through special educational needs support.

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Miss Virahsammy said: “We moved to Oxfordshire for the reason that Aureus promoted and championed mental health, and would be great for my son.

“When he first started, it was okay but the support wasn’t put in place and the school couldn’t meet his needs.

“In December, there was then a series of exclusions for him, even during lockdown.

“It’s all snowballed from there and now they don’t want him in school, even though he hasn’t been expelled.

“If his EHCP had been followed, we wouldn’t be in this situation – he didn’t get the one-to-one support he was promised in his EHCP for example.”

Miss Virahsammy added that with the EHCPs, it is not easy getting an alternative school place.

Herald Series: A parent has slammed Aureus School in Harwell for not allowing her son to return to school. Picture by Ed NixA parent has slammed Aureus School in Harwell for not allowing her son to return to school. Picture by Ed Nix

She said: “The council has been informed about the exclusions but done nothing to intervene to help the school, and is aware my son doesn’t have a place at a school this September.

“Every day, I think what I can do and at the minute, I’m going to have to educate him from home, with the council currently providing a tutor for Maths and English for two hours a day.”

Miss Virahsammy claims several other parents have had similar experiences at Aureus.

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A spokesperson for GLF Schools, of which Aureus School is a part of, said: “It would not be appropriate for us to provide any information regarding specific students, however the school takes the welfare of all students very seriously, and works closely with parents, the local authority and other agencies to ensure students receive appropriate educational provision.”

A spokesperson for Oxfordshire County Council said the local authority ‘cannot talk about an individual child or case in the public domain’.

Aureus School – which cost £19 million – opened in 2017 at the Great Western Park estate.

Plans were initially submitted in 2015 for the school, built on the site where a hoard of gold Roman coins were discovered more than 20 years ago.

The find inspired the school’s name, as the aureus was a Roman coin.

The school returned for the 2021/22 academic year on Friday.