'My child has only been to school for nine days this year - because they couldn't cope with her additional needs...'

A LITTLE girl has been to school for just nine days this year because her school couldn’t cope with her additional needs.

- LUCY JOHN

Dani-Rae with mum Tyler Dani-Rae loves learning

Charlie Brown from Caerphilly borough also claimed his daughter, Dani-Rae, had fallen ill possibly because her primary school did not follow the correct protocols set out in her development plan.He said Dani-Rae ended up in intensive care because of the illness, and that the school - Rhiw Syr Dafydd Primary in Blackwood - notified them that she can no longer continue her education there. She had spent just nine days at the school and has now been out of education for four months.

Charlie, 29, said: “I feel like the school couldn't be bothered and like Dani’s needs were too complicated. Like they didn’t want her”

Four-year-old Dani-Rae has the rare and life-limiting condition Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), type 1. The multi-system condition means Dani-Rae uses a wheelchair and has immune system dysregulation, meaning that usually minor viruses can cause her to become seriously unwell.

It is the same condition that former Little Mix star Jesy Nelson revealed her twins were diagnosed with after she gave birth prematurely last May.

Charlie explained how Dani-Rae was supposed to start at the school in January 2025, but due to delays she started in November. She started under an Individual Development Plan (IDP) - alegal document in Wales that outlines a child’s additional learning needs and the specific support they should receive.

He said: “In the IDP it was stated that if anyone was poorly around Dani, they were to inform us so we could then choose to keep her home. Or if they were well enough we could choose to send her in. That was in place but the school was not following that. Dani got very poorly in January and she ended up in intensive care”

Charlie acknowledged that he doesn’t know for certain where Dani-Rae picked up her illness, but that he later found out that the school had not informed the family that illnesses had been spreading