A MUM who feels school bosses have “played God” with her son’s education wants the school system reformed so other children do not slip through the net.

Laura Wingar, 32, of St Johns, Colchester, sends her nine-year-old son to Stoke-by-Nayland Primary School, in School Street.

Her young boy Freddie has reportedly been diagnosed with ADHD and is currently undergoing assessment to see whether or not he has autism.

According to Mrs Wingar, school bosses were previously in agreement that her son would need an educational health care plan to accommodate his needs.

But more than a year after the date by which the school promised to have the plan in place, she has now found out the school never forwarded her application.

“The school informed me they would get an application in April 2020, so I was sent the documents I needed to complete and returned them,” added Mrs Wingar.

“I knew getting the health care plan would take time, but throughout the year I asked the school on numerous occasions about if there was an update on the application.

“I managed to find a number to chase the council myself to find out and when I got through I found out the school had never even submitted the application.

“I then got a phone call back from the council to inform me the application was submitted on April 26 this year.”

Fuming Mrs Wingar has now blasted the school’s bosses for how they handled the situation and says she has still not received an apology.

“The school has let myself and my son down, they have failed us and it is a whole year wasted, they strung me on for 12 months,” she added.

“They have played God with my son’s education, which is not acceptable, and they have lied to my face and it is absolutely disgusting behaviour.

“I feel it’s important to raise this story and get it out there because so many children are being failed by the system and something needs to change.

“They have as much right in life as anyone to live a full and happy life but they just need that little extra help and understanding.”

Sarah Smith, headteacher of Stoke by Nayland C of E Primary School, said the coronavirus pandemic had resulted in the gathering of evidence to support the application eing not as straight forward as usual.

She said: “As a school, we take the educational and welfare needs of our pupils incredibly seriously and appropriate support is always provided to every child.

"This includes one-to-one and small group learning support, social care and special educational provision and disability support.

“An Education, Health and Care plan formalises this support in a legal document. It is therefore vital that an Educational Heath Care Plan application is as strong as possible.

“To do this, it is imperative to gather as much evidence about the child and their needs as we can.

"We sympathise and understand the frustrations with the delays involved in this case.

“However, Covid-19 and lockdown has made the collation of evidence more difficult. We can confirm an application has now been submitted.

“Pupil welfare and support is at the heart of everything we do here at Stoke by Nayland C of E School and we pride ourselves on our ability to provide excellent support to all children.”