A Moray mum has vowed to sue the local authority over claims her son has been left traumatised from going to school in a “toxic environment”.
Nicola Nash spoke out after council investigation ruled that staff at Hythehill Primary in Lossiemouth showed a “negative approach” towards the vulnerable youngster.
Nine-year-old Kai has been diagnosed as “neurologically atypical” after being born with brain damage, which means he can be prone to extreme bouts of anxiety.
But he was shut in a room for more than an hour when he threw a tantrum because a teacher took a book away from him.
And the upset youngster ran away from Hythehill three times in the space of just three weeks.
Yesterday, Moray Council apologised to Mrs Nash for the way teachers handled Kai’s problems and vowed to retrain members of staff.
But she fears her son’s experiences at Hythehill have left him emotionally scarred, and plans to take legal action against the authority for the emotional distress Kai suffered.
She said: “An apology from Moray Council isn’t enough, I’m going to sue.
“Lessons need to be learned, and this is the only way I can make sure something like this doesn’t happen again.
“The council’s own investigation has shown that the school failed Kai, that spoke volumes to me.
“We live in Elgin, but took him to Hythehill because it was supposed to be the best school for children with additional needs.
“But now even looking at it upsets him.”
Mrs Nash said her son “couldn’t breathe because of the anxiety” when he was shut in a room following the book incident.
She added: “I question what damage his time at Hythehill has done, and if it’s something that will affect his adult life.
“It became a toxic environment for him, he might never recover from his time there.”
The mum-of-three withdrew Kai from Hythehill when his one-to-one supervision was removed.
She lodged a complaint with Moray Council about the youngster’s treatment shortly after.
The council’s education and social care department upheld Mrs Nash’s grievance about staff showing a “negative approach” towards Kai.
Quality improvement officer, Corrina Campbell, wrote in her findings: “It was clear that some staff at Hythehill struggled to work with Kai, which unfortunately resulted in a lack of positive reinforcement, especially as his behaviour deteriorated.
“It is for this reason that I uphold this element of the complaint and apologise for the upset caused.”
But the report did not uphold Mrs Nash’s complaint about Kai being shut in a room, saying he was held there “to protect him from inflicting harm upon himself”.
Mrs Nash said that, since leaving Hythehill and attending sessions at the Beechbrae education centre in Elgin, Kai had been “such a different boy”.
The youngster is slowly being integrated back into mainstream education at the town’s Seafield Primary School.
A Moray Council spokesman said the authority would give staff extra training to help them teach youngsters with difficulties.
He said: “There is agreement among the various agencies involved that the school did its best to support Kai under difficult circumstances.
“The investigation found that, despite the best efforts of the school, some staff had difficulty coping with the situation and in that regard we were content to apologise to Kai and his parents.
“To avoid a similar situation recurring, arrangements are being made to ensure that staff are fully confident in using positive behaviour strategies.”