A mother of a pupil at an Enniskillen primary school was left with no other option but to remove her child from the school over bullying which she claimed made her son’s life “hell”.

Following the publication of an article in this newspaper recently detailing the bullying of an autistic pupil at Holy Trinity Primary School in Enniskillen, ‘Sarah’ (not her real name) contacted The Impartial Reporter to detail similar experiences she claimed her child had at the primary school.

Her son, ‘Mark’ (not his real name), has now transferred to a new school for the remainder of the term as she felt there was not enough being done by the school to stop the alleged bullying, which she said at one point left Mark feeling suicidal.

“He was suicidal and everything, my wee son. He was absolutely terrified of school.

“I didn’t go to the school with all my concerns. I wasn’t that type, but you have to do what you can to protect your child, and [you have to act] when your child is coming home having meltdowns, complete and utter meltdowns.

“I had to carry him into school several mornings, and it was just hell. It was absolute hell.”

Alleged incidents included Mark being pushed to the ground, resulting in cuts and scrapes to his body, as well as verbal bullying.

Sarah explained that Mark is awaiting an autism diagnosis, and he also has other health problems which she felt were not dealt with properly by the school.

The tipping point came when a photo of Mark was circulated on Snapchat, and he was taken out of school in January.

“The straw that broke the camel’s back was a photograph of him was put on Snapchat.

“I don’t know what the photograph consisted off – what it was, I never saw it,” said Sarah, who claims she contacted the school about it, only to be asked what the school could do about it.

She claimed: “[They were] very blasé about the whole thing. Any concerns you had, they are just brushed [off].

“To be honest with you, I just thought I had had enough really, and I did remove him completely.”

The transfer to a new school has been a positive move for Sarah and Mark, and life now is what Sarah was promised when Mark went to Holy Trinity PS.

“It was just the way I was treated, and the way Mark was treated.

“The reason I rang was to basically back that family up [as previously reported on recently in The Impartial Reporter], and to say that, yes, this [bullying] is going on, and I would not want it to happen to another child.

“You feel so alone when this happens as a parent,” added Sarah.

The Impartial Reporter contacted Holy Trinity PS and the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools and put a number of questions to them about Sarah’s allegations, as well as the overall issue of bullying in CCMS controlled schools. In response a CCMS spokesperson said: CCMS is unable to discuss matters pertaining to individual pupils.

"CCMS continues to prioritise the safeguarding and pastoral needs of all children in our schools."