01 February 2023 , 03:01
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A nursery has apologised after parents said their daughter with Down's syndrome was 'treated less favourably' than other children.
The parents of Amelie Cummins brought a disability discrimination case on behalf of their daughter against Trinity Nursery School in Bangor, Northern Ireland, which they lodged with the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal.
Their daughter entered Trinity Nursery School in September 2020 with a statement of special educational needs, which provided for her to attend mainstream nursery school with 22.5 hours of classroom support each week.
But her family said Amelie had been made to start school 15 minutes later each day than all the other children in her class, even though she had a dedicated classroom assistant.
They also say that the school wanted Amelie to finish 15 minutes earlier too, but they refused to accept this.
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The parents of Amelie Cummins brought a disability discrimination case against Trinity Nursery School in Bangor (PA)Her mother Michelle removed her from the nursery school three months later in December 2020, and said she felt she had no option but to remove her.
She added that she has since "had a very positive experience in another nursery school" and is now "thriving" in primary school”.
“We hope that by challenging this behaviour no other disabled child would face a similar situation”, she said.
The case - supported by the Equality Commission - was settled with Trinity Nursery, who accepted that they treated Amelie less favourably as a result of her disability and that they failed to make reasonable adjustments for her.
The school has apologised to Amelie and her parents for any upset caused (PA)The school has apologised to Amelie and her parents for any upset caused.
Mary Kitson, senior legal officer from the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, said it is unacceptable that any pupil would be given less favourable compared to others because of their disability.
She said: “Amelie’s parents wanted her to have the same educational experience as all the other children but felt that they were met with barriers because of her disability.
“All children must be provided with opportunities to flourish at school, regardless of whether or not they have a disability.
“We welcome, as part of the settlement terms, Trinity Nursery School’s agreement to work with the Commission in respect of its duties under the disability discrimination legislation and good practice in education.”