A MOTHER has been threatened with prison after pulling her child out of school eight months ago in a row over her human rights.

Pam Allen says St Helena School’s isolation room, where pupils are sent as a punishment, contravenes her 16-year-old daughter’s human rights.

Ms Allen, called the room – which pupils stay in for six hours with only a 20-minute lunch break if they misbehave – an abuse.

Her daughter, who she does not want named for fear of reprisals, was taken out of the Colchester school in March after she was accused of truancy and put in the isolation room.

She has not attended school since.

Ms Allen, of Maidenburgh Street, Colchester, who owns her own catering business, said: “I don’t want my daughter to go to a school with an isolation unit. It is abuse.”

Ms Allen said she was told her daughter would have to complete her isolation punishment before being readmitted to school. “I was really very angry,” added Ms Allen.

“They said she was truanting, but she was ill.”

She has since asked for Essex County Council to give her the funding to have her daughter privately tutored during her final school year.

They are looking into study options while the girl is at home, but Ms Allen said the council’s refusal to give her the money meant her daughter was missing out on an education.

She added: “My daughter can’t do her GCSEs now because she has not done the coursework.

“I have been threatened with a court order. But I am prepared to go to jail on this.”

An Essex County Council spokesperson said the council was not able to comment on individual cases. By law, all children of compulsory school age (five to 16) must receive a suitable full-time education.

She added: “Once a child is registered at a school, parents are legally responsible for making sure the child attends regularly. If a child fails to do so, parents risk a penalty or prosecution.”

A St Helena School spokesperson said: “We always strive to ensure young people in our care maximise their potential. Our priority is to ensure all pupils attend.

“While it would not be appropriate to comment on individual cases, we have clear policies and procedures to support parents and students to resolve any issues.”