Schoolgirl left bedbound by illness reduced to tears…

Schoolgirl left bedbound by illness reduced to tears after being 'banned' from debs

A teenager was left in tears after being "banned" from her school debs "due to a long-standing illness".

Alisha Hoy was looking forward to enjoying her final year celebration this week, but was told "under no circumstances" could she attend, her mum claims.

The student at Airedale Academy in Castleford, West Yorkshire has suffered with a bowel illness since she was a child.

In pain and unable to get out of bed, Alisha was unable to attend a lot of her final year at school and would stay home to rest, her mum Marian Fitchett told Yorkshire Live.

"Because she wasn't able to go to classes I told the school to send her work home so she could keep up but they never did", she added.

Marian added that Alisha was able to go to her exams and complete them at the school after "pushing herself".

Marian said the family got a letter from the academy a week before the debs explaining Alisha could not go. She added that she has been trying to get in touch with the school since, but has "not been able to get a response".

The school pupil was reduced to tears when pictures were shared across social media of Airedale Academy students wearing posh frocks, suits, and walking down a red carpet without her. Her mum had saved up money to buy her a dress for the event on Thursday, July 7, but Airedale Academy said her bad attendance didn't warrant enjoying the celebration.

A pupil was left 'in tears' after she was told she couldn't go to debs due to bad attendance on the back of being ill (Airedale Academy)

Mum Marian, who also has a son and a set of twins at home, said: "My daughter is very upset and I feel the school are discriminating against her for being ill. She has had an illness since she was a child.

"She doesn't really like to talk about it or share too much but she had to have time off school and was in bed. She was banned from her prom this week.

"The school are saying she had too much time off school but I provided medical records. It's disgusting.

"We got a letter from them last week [the week before the prom] saying she could not go and I have been ringing the school this week. The school never helped us through the years with her illness and would never provide work to do at home etc. And now, to do this to a child is disgusting."

The furious mum-of-four added: "She was crying last night, in fact we were both crying. Children who have illnesses already have so much going on in their life this is the last thing she needed.

"This is something she has always looked forward. Things need to change if that is the rules for academy."

After complaining to Airedale Academy, Marian received a reply which read: "Thank you for your email. I will post out first class to you the letters that were previously circulated regarding prom and the explanations of points.