A mum has claimed that her 13-year-old son was excluded after his school refused to let him wear trainers following foot surgery.
Crystal Smith, 34, claims her son Joshua, who is a pupil at West Derby School in Liverpool, was forced to sit in the school corridor.
During last month’s half-term, the teenager underwent surgery on his toe which causes him discomfort and pain and could take up to 12 weeks to fully heal.
Despite having a letter from his doctor saying he can’t wear normal school shoes until his foot is healed, Crystal claims the school is refusing to let him wear trainers.
She told the Liverpool Echo: "I don't think that's fair as he's had this operation on his foot and the teacher's like, 'he's walking around comfortably'. But that's not the point – even if he's walking around comfortably it still takes 12 weeks to heal.
"He's got to sit outside the office as I said I don't want him in isolation as isolation is a punishment and he's done nothing wrong.
"They said to me, 'well he can't be in class, so we'll sit him outside one of our classrooms'."
She added: "He's still in pain because it's not healed. And he's in pain with his other foot because he's waiting to get his other foot done.
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"They wanted to do both at the same time, but I said no because he wouldn't be able to walk.
"The trainers are soft so it's not pressing on his toe and I'm not asking for him to wear them all the time.
"He's wearing black trainers – he's not wearing luminous coloured trainers."
Crystal claims she told the school that she would keep her son off school for 12 weeks if they wouldn't allow him to wear trainers, but said Joshua wanted to go to school as he "didn't want to get his mum and dad into trouble".
The mum, who has three boys at West Derby School, claims she told the school she has a letter from her son's doctor saying he can't wear normal shoes while his foot is healing.
Crystal said: "They said the doctor's letters don't mean nothing because the doctors don't know the school rules."
The Daily Star has approached West Derby School for comment.
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