The Bristol Evening Post reports that a four-year-old girl with a rare condition that causes her skin to bruise and blister easily has been stopped from attending a Patchway primary school on a full-time basis.
Staff at Callicroft Primary School in Rodway Road have said Akeelah Sorhaindo cannot attend for the whole day until they get someone to supervise her over the lunch break.
Akeelah, who lives in Larch Way, was born with epidermolysis bullosa and her skin is so fragile that any knocks or bumps can lead to painful tears in it.
But despite this, her mum Venitia says she does not need constant supervision and wants her daughter to attend school full-time.
A spokesman for South Gloucestershire Council, the education authority in charge of the school, told the Evening Post:
“South Gloucestershire has established procedures to ensure that children with challenging medical conditions are given the support necessary to enable them to access education. We are looking into this matter in consultation with the school and medical experts.”
Read more: School just can’t cope with my four-year-old’s skin condition
This story also appeared in the Daily Mail yesterday (Thu 6th Oct 2011):
Too delicate for school: Girl, 4, whose skin falls off if knocked is barred from lessons as no one to supervise her at playtime
Venitia and Akeelah are no strangers to the national tabloids – they were featured in an article in the Daily Mirror in July last year:
Meet the designer kids inspired by celeb tots like Suri Cruise
While I have a lot of sympathy for the little child’s condition, that story about the designer kids is shocking. That level of benefits isn’t paid to the Mother so she can buy that amount of expensive clothes for her child, AND STILL be 3000 pounds in debt. Irresponsible.