A mother has condemned the city council for failing to prevent her son being attacked by bullies.
During a series of incidents at his primary school the boy was repeatedly assaulted and even had to get changed for PE class on his own.
“He was being kicked and punched in the playground and we were not told about it,” his mother said.
She took the family’s case to the Scottish public services ombudsman, who has upheld all their complaints and ordered the council to apologise for its failings.
The mother said she wanted the case to be publicised in the hope that other parents worried about bullying at city schools would realise that persistence in demanding action can pay off.
Her son, whom we are not naming as he remains at his school, was in P5 when the bullying began last year. Several children are said to have been involved at various stages.
“They were treating it as a kind of sport and the school was doing nothing about it. Foolishly we had trusted the school to deal with it,” the mother said.
At one point a pupil even made death threats against her son.
She said complaints to the school proved unsuccessful and the family contacted the city council education department only to be told their best course of action was to speak to the school.
It was suggested to them by a council officer that they move their son to another school.
The mum said: “We still thought he should be able to go to his local school. It should have a basic level of safety.”
She said that repeated complaints had eventually forced the school to act.
The problems have since subsided, although the family believe it was only their refusal to give up that paved the way for an improvement.
“We made such a fuss that it really seems to have died down now. His class teachers have been fantastic and he gets on fine with his class,” his mother said.
The family’s main concern now is with the school’s stance on preventing or tackling bullying, with the ombudsman upholding their complaint of a failure to follow proper procedures.
A report released by the ombudsman said: “Our investigation found that the council had a comprehensive and detailed policy but had not ensured that the school were following this.
“There was also little evidence of logging bullying incidents as required and, when the school revisited their decision about adopting a school policy, attempts to engage parents were not effective.
“We also found that, in handling the complaint, the council did not refer to the complaints handling procedure and its stages and did not record or communicate the outcomes of a meeting held with (the mother) to investigate and resolve the complaint.”
The ombudsman recommended the council apologise for failing to ensure appropriate anti-bullying policy and procedures were followed by the school.
Also, it should consider how it monitors the implementation of the anti-bullying policy and take an active role in ensuring meaningful engagement with parents, pupils and staff on anti-bullying strategies.
A council spokesman said: “We are following the recommendations as contained in the findings.”