Pip and Skyla

‘When your family has been persistently let down, punished and belittled for having a child with complex needs, you lose faith in society and social inclusion.’

Pip is mum to 13-year-old Skyla, who has autism. She told the Royal Commission that Skyla has been subjected to neglect and discrimination by teaching staff, management and the governing body of the private religious school she attended.

It began when Skyla was in grade 2 and a new principal started at the school. The school requested that Pip attend a meeting with the principal and the disability inclusion teacher. Pip attended, only to have the new principal tell her that Skyla needed to ‘go straight to [the special school] where she belonged’.

Pip wrote a letter of complaint to the local governing body of the school, which resulted in ‘a small apology’ by the principal some days later and, for a short time, things ‘settled’.

Then in grade 4, the school informed Skyla’s parents that she could not attend the school camp unless one of her parents went with her. Pip argued that this was unreasonable. Skyla had good communication and could dress and toilet herself. School staff would only need to assist in administering her medication.

Skyla was ready to go to camp, but the day before the principal ‘removed her’, saying she would drive Skyla to the camp for the day but she was not allowed to stay overnight. Pip fought back. She insisted that Skyla would attend the whole camp, and provided a support to go with her.

The following year, in grade 5, the school again tried to block Skyla from the camp. This time Pip had to take five days off work to attend the camp with her.

‘Grade 6,’ Pip told us, ‘was a whole new level’. The school cancelled Skyla’s enrolment interview saying that they would talk to her parents about her enrolment in due course. Skyla had been excited about the interview and was disappointed when it was cancelled. Pip was ‘appalled’ and wrote to the school.

‘I was sent a reply from the deputy principal that my husband and I needed to have a long sensible think about her enrolment at the high school and what did we want to get out of keeping her there. Her grade 6 teacher made our lives hell for the entire year …’

‘Year 7 was an absolute disaster,’ Pip said, with the school continuing to exclude and isolate Skyla.

Then there was the school swimming carnival.

‘She was excluded from [the racing] and given a job of collecting caps of swimmers as they got out of the pool. She won her race at the primary carnival the year before, so when I arrived and saw her sitting on a chair by herself 50 metres from the rest of the students I was in shock. It was raining and she was continuing to collect caps in the rain.

‘Her age group went up for their races and no-one took her up to race, so I went over and got her ready and walked her down and put her in a race. What parent should have to put their own child in a race? A child that was so excited about the carnival and then was excluded from it. She asked me to go home after the race. It was one of the saddest days of my life.’

With the COVID lockdown, Skyla’s workbooks were sent home. This was when her parents realised the full extent of her educational neglect.

‘I was in absolute shock that there was no work in any of her books. She did five subjects and I think one teacher had attempted to adjust the curriculum to Skyla’s level, the rest was colouring in and cutting and pasting. I was absolutely disgusted.

‘We asked the principal if his teachers needed more help with putting together work for Skyla to do at her level … The principal basically said to us we've done our best and if you’re not happy …’

So Skyla’s parents removed her from the school and she now attends a special school.

Pip says they made many complaints to the governing body of the religious school, but ‘nothing was ever dealt with’.

‘They didn't want her there. She was of no benefit to them.’