‘He’s scared to go back’: School denies responsibility after autistic boy burnt in lesson

The mother of a nine-year-old autistic boy says he has been left “traumatised” after he severely burnt his hand in a food-tech lesson at school.

Simone Dhana, 42, of Peak Hill, Sydenham, said she was “hysterical” when her son, Isaiah Robinson, came home from Brent Knoll School with a huge burn on his hand on October 11.

She claims she immediately phoned the school to find out what happened, but says staff told her they “were not aware” of the incident.

The school, in Perry Rise, Sydenham, is a special school for children aged four to 16 with complex social, communication and interaction difficulties, including autism.

Ms Dhana said: “My son has ADHD and autism so he doesn’t understand danger – the school knows that. He is escorted to and from school every day.

“When he came home and showed me the huge burn on his hand, he was so upset and told me he’d had a bad day – I started crying straight away.

“I called the school but they said they didn’t know about it.”

Ms Dhana said she was “disappointed” and claimed the school had not called her to inform her of the incident. She was also not aware he was taking part in food-tech lessons.

She said: “He doesn’t understand what a stove is and that it can be dangerous.

“He said he had been trying to get a closer look at the teacher’s demonstration and put his hand right on it.

“He said he had told the teacher but she told him to stop lying.

“This is a special needs school. They should know how to support him. How could they let this happen? I don’t understand.”

Ms Dhana said her son’s hand is now healing but he is “scared” to go back to school.

She said: “He’s traumatised. He talks about it each time he comes home and every day before school. It’s really affecting him and going back to school isn’t good for him.”

Ms Dhana complained to the school about the incident but the school said that there was nothing they could do.

She said: “If something like that happened at home and he turned up at school with a burn that bad they would call social services on me in two seconds.

“But when it happens under their responsibility nothing is done. It’s unfair, it’s biased. They should be taking responsibility for things like this.”

A spokeswoman for Brent Knoll school said: “Due to a concern raised following a food tech lesson at the school, a full investigation has since taken place and the family have been offered our full support.

“Brent Knoll is a well-established, popular school specialising in providing high quality support for children with SEND, we pride ourselves on following the correct procedures and policies concerning health and safety.”

Pictured top: Isaiah Robinson and his mother Simone Dhana, the burn on Isaiah’s hand after he came back from school (Picture: Simone Dhana)