A distressed mother has said that her son has missed three months of education after moving schools and no one has contacted her to ask where he is.

Imarney Tia said her son Reggie, who was in year nine at John Madejski Academy, was pulled out of school back in December after safeguarding concerns.

The secondary school in Whitley has consistently been rated inadequate or requiring improvement by Ofsted since 2012. 


“The teachers have no control over the children, there are so many issues with bullying,” Ms Tia said.

“I told JMA that I was going to apply to another school and he would not be returning next term to continue his studies.”

John Madejski Academy had also told Ms Tia that staff would give her a call back to start the transition process to Maiden Erlegh.

This conversation was in December, and staff at the school called her back on March 11.

An attendance officer asked Ms Tia why her son wasn't in school when he had not been attending JMA for over three months.

“I removed him on December 15 and no one has been in contact with me. Not one single person, not his form tutor, not my son’s head of year, not the safeguarding officer.

Ms Tia subsequently managed to get her son into Maiden Erlegh in Reading, but the secondary school hasn’t contacted her since January to formally enroll him.

Reggie was given a place on January 8 and both he and Ms Tia had a meeting with the Vice Principal Mr Hood.

Ms Tia said “I explained everything that had happened at JMA and that he wanted a fresh start and was ready to learn. I said I didn’t want him to be out of school for too long.”

Reggie has now been out of school for three months after both schools failed to contact Ms Tia to arrange a transfer.

“I was only told last week that they wanted to do a co-transfer between both schools. Every week I’ve been ringing Maiden Erlegh and have notified the council, but no one seems to be doing anything.”

A spokesperson for Brighter Futures for Children said that they do not comment on individual cases but can confirm that when children are missing education they work closely with the school and the family to resolve issues as soon as possible.

“I’ve complained to Ofsted, I’ve complained to my local MP. I’ve done everything I can, why is my child still out of school? This is how children slip through the system,” Ms Tia said.

“Why has no one done a welfare check on my son? How do they even know that my son is alive?”

Maiden Erlegh was contacted for a comment but said that Brighter Futures is responsible for such cases.

A spokesperson for JMA said “We always encourage parents and carers to speak directly with us if they have any concerns so that appropriate action can be taken and we can ensure all our policies, including our safeguarding policy, are followed.”