A mother whose 10-year-old son was expelled from the English Schools Foundation (ESF) after a playground scuffle has launched legal proceedings to reverse the decision, which branded her child a 'danger'.
Anne Elaine Gately, also known as Elaine Howlett, yesterday filed a High Court writ on behalf of her son over the ESF's March 26 decision to throw the boy out of Kennedy School and bar him from all other ESF primary schools.
Ms Gately is asking the courts for a judicial review and an order to quash the decision. The writ states the boy was in his last year of primary school, which is due to end on June 30.
But on March 23 he became involved in an 'altercation' at school with another Year Six pupil. 'In response to name calling, [he] lost his temper and pushed [the other boy] against the wall, using a hand or hands on his neck,' the writ says.
'Although [the victim] slumped to the ground after [Ms Gately's son] let go of him, it is not clear that [the victim] lost consciousness and upon examination by the school nurse ... it was recorded that there were no physical marks on the neck or head.'
The writ says that despite Ms Gately's son being sent home and told he could return the next day, the boy's parents were told on March 26 he had been expelled.