Parents are angry with the Leijpark Education Center in Tilburg. According to them, the school for special education does not pay attention to the needs of their children. Bullying students are also given so much space that it makes other children anxious. Foster grandmother Anja Remst is furious. “Last Wednesday, Boyd was so sick that he couldn’t eat. He was spitting up from fear and stress.” According to the school itself, they get a lot of appreciation from parents.
‘A drama’ and ‘terrible time’. Omroep Brabant spoke to several parents who think that things are wrong at OC Leijpark. Most people only want to tell their story anonymously to protect their child.
All parents admit that their child is not in special education because of his sweaty feet: there is something special going on with the students. This is also the case with the eldest son of Renate Kortekaas. She had three children at OC Leijpark and picked them up from school last summer: enough was enough. “Of course I understand that a school does not have expertise in all areas. But the individual needs of my child were not taken into account at all.”
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Renate’s eldest son has autism: “He has an obsessive-compulsive disorder that prevents him from using tablets, laptops and the like. When he entered grade seven, he suddenly had to start working with a digital agenda. But he can’t, he has to have a paper agenda. ‘We do it like this here, so ready’, I was told.”
Several parents give such examples. A mother: “Normally, when children were naughty, they had to sit in the hallway. In corona time, lessons were sometimes given in the hallway. But kids thought they had done something naughty because it wasn’t communicated to them.”
Several parents also complain about communication by the school management. A mother: “My child had an accident on the playground on Friday afternoon, in which he accidentally injured another child. A meeting with the director would not follow until Monday. My child was stressed all weekend.”
Diana Obbens recognizes that the school pays too little attention to the needs of children. Her daughter attended the school between 2015 and 2017, when it was still called Mytylschool: “My child came home exhausted, sometimes had to vomit because of fatigue, because she continuously went over her limits. She has fibromyalgia, a form of rheumatism, which makes her always in pain and tired quickly. Because her illness was not recognized, she was also bullied at school: ‘You don’t belong here,’ they told her. Her self-image has been destroyed. My daughter is now trying to come to terms with her bullying past through therapy.”
Boyd, the child of foster grandmother Anja Remst, also struggles with bullying. “He was booed for what he ate, what he looked like, how fat he was and he was definitely not feeling well. I reported this to the mentor almost every month. I approached the education inspectorate and the compulsory education officer: I’m done with it.”
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Several parents say that their child has a burnout or is on the edge. Boyd is on medication for the stress. “That’s crazy, isn’t it?” Anja responds. “But otherwise the child can’t go to school, then he won’t pull it.”
According to a mother, there is a boy in the VMBO exam class who causes a lot of problems: “He terrorizes everything, harasss and threatens other children. The bomb exploded on Sunday evening. My daughter came home and said it doesn’t have to be like this anymore. But she has to go to school, otherwise she can’t take an exam. We have demanded that the boy be kept under constant surveillance to protect my daughter. I am so angry that this school would allow another child to do this to my child.”
At the Education Inspectorate, OC Leijpark is only a matter of ‘the mouth cap’ known. “But we don’t think this is so widespread at the school that we should take action on it,” a spokesperson said. He is not familiar with the issues surrounding bullying: “But parents can report to us, and we will see if there is reason to take action.”
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OC Leijpark says in a response that it cannot comment on specific situations due to privacy. Director Harry Hoekjen: “Obviously we are concerned if someone is not feeling well or if there are concerns and we will then enter into a conversation. It is in our common interest to ensure that students feel comfortable and can receive a good education.”
According to Hoekjen, OC Leijpark has an anti-bullying policy: “And we actively put that into practice. In general, the annual social safety monitor shows that pupils feel socially safe, enjoy themselves in the classroom and are satisfied with how we treat each other. The appreciation from parents is also very good.”
Most parents with a child at OC Leijpark only want to talk about their problems anonymously because they are afraid. Because if you are dissatisfied, you cannot just transfer your child to another school. There are very few special education schools. A parent: “When there is a conflict, the question arises: ‘Do you still have faith in this school?’ because otherwise you are no longer welcome. But then your child will end up at home and you don’t want that either.”
Renate Kortekaas did transfer her children to another school: “My oldest went up a school level in four months. He now has peace and regularity. A school should be a safe place and it is not at OC Leijpark.”
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