Mother claims child abuse at remedial school

The mother of the pupil, Sharynne Bayne, is not taking kindly to allegations that a teacher insulted her child as having ‘a brain that is as small as a pea’.

“A teacher telling Tristin in front of his class that he has a brain the size of a pea, this is beyond unprofessional and begs to question the qualifications of your teachers,” said Bayne in a written complaint to the school’s governing board chairman Duncan Turner.

Bayne has since withdrawn her child from the school due to a number of complaints she raised against the school.

Turner acknowledged that the pea brain size insults were uttered, but maintained that the ugly exchange was between pupils. “It has been established that the children, including Tristin, were name-calling and teasing each other [prior to the mid-term break] and that this was one of the statements made by a child. This behaviour was immediately stopped by the art teacher Ms Jaquet… We deny that any teacher was unprofessional,” Turner fired back.

“The tone of your e-mail is very unfortunate and does not appear to accept the contents of my e-mail in which I attempted to deal with after your previous e-mail in a responsible manner.”

Turner then accused Bayne of acting irresponsibly by taking the issue to social media, a development he described as ‘defamatory to the name of the school’.

Bayne also accused the school of employing teachers without an honours degree which, she said, was required for educators offering remedial teaching services. She claimed class helpers were being allowed to conduct classes. Turner dismissed Bayne’s claims as untrue and maintained that honours degrees were not a requirement.

“I do point out that an honours qualification is not a requirement for teaching children in a remedial school. Insofar as training is concerned, the majority of the additional skills that are developed by staff at Cedarwood are developed through in-service training which takes place in addition to the formal educational environment on a continuous basis throughout the year,” said Turner. He added that Bayne was free to inspect the list of teachers’ qualifications.

The mother also complained that she was never formally informed when her child was stabbed in the ear by another pupil with a pencil.

She also complained that her son used to come home with pinch marks and bruises. “Is there no supervision at all at Cedarwood?” fumed the mother.

Turner said they were unable to establish any incident where Tristin was stabbed in the ear. He added that Tristin had, at one time, been part of a group of children who engaged in a pinching game.

Bayne also took exception to the mushrooming of prefab buildings on the school premises, which she said were against the principle of small classes and individual attention. She added that the asbestos prefabs were not healthy for the children.

Turner had a different tale to share about the prefabs. He said the prefab construction was instead a reflection of the school’s growth and recognition of parents’ faith in Cedarwood School. “The need for prefabs is because of the long delays experienced in securing land and now the regulatory approvals require us to build a permanent structure,” said Turner.

The local businesswoman is also demanding a refund for her fees deposit and a R1 350 refund for a school trip that her son never went on.

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