Special classes for disruptive schoolboy

The expelled 13-year-old: Strike-threat teachers to consider package agreed by parents, head and authority

Richard Wilding, 13, was yesterday receiving individual tuition at his school in Nottingham where teachers have threatened to strike from Friday over his violent and disruptive behaviour if he is not removed.

The row has escalated since a local authority panel ordered that Richard, who was expelled from Glaisdale School after a history of violent incidents which led four times to temporary exclusion, should be returned to the school. Staff claimed that he was unteachable, a threat both to them and to other pupils, and members of the National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers voted to strike indefinitely rather than have him in the classroom.

Since the beginning of term, Richard has been taught on his own by the head and one other teacher. Last night, in a statement agreed between his parents, Rita and Philip Wilding, the local education authority and the school's head, Mr and Mrs Wilding's solicitor Hilary Freeman said: "Following a very constructive meeting ... agreement has been reached for Richard's future education to take place partly at Glaisdale School which will eventually lead to reintegration into classes."

An education authority spokesman said the special arrangements proposed for Richard Wilding would not involve him being taught by any of the school's existing teachers, or in a mainstream class. He would spend one day being taught at home by a special tutor, and one at school by the head teacher. For another day and a half, he would be taught in school by a teacher from a special referral unit for disruptive children, and the remaining day and a half he would spend at at the referral unit.

Nigel de Gruchy, the union's general secretary, said: "His reintegration would expose our members to obvious risks. That may well be a sticking point." But he said the union needed to study the agreement in detail before taking a decision and he did not want to prejudice what his members might decide.

The headteacher, David Higgins, said he was hopeful that the teachers' unions would accept the deal, made in a two-hour meeting with the boy's parents and local authority officials.

"I hope this will avert the strike. I am reasonably confident that it will," he said. Local officials will meet the NASUWT, which represents 20 of the school's 38 staff, today to discuss the details of the agreement.

Mr Wilding said: "We are quite happy with the arrangement. It is now up to the union - if it is unacceptable to them then it is tough luck." Richard and his mother said that they were happy with the agreement.

Staff at the school had objected to proposals that Richard should return to lessons, saying he had both learning difficulties and emotional problems and that he should be in a special unit.

On Monday the Secretary of State for Education, Gillian Shephard, criticised the local authority for the dispute, and said that the right place had obviously not been found for Richard. However, she also criticised teachers for putting children's education at risk by threatening to strike.

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