A MOTHER fighting for her daughter's education is demanding to know why Melksham's only secondary school is refusing to allow her to attend lessons.

Rachel Smith, of Sangster Avenue, claims her daughter Jessica is being unfairly treated by the headteacher of The George Ward School.

In clear-the-air talks two weeks ago, Mrs Smith, headteacher Dr Pam Stoate and the local education authority all met to thrash out an agreement but failed to resolve the dispute.

Mrs Smith, 37, said she called the meeting after informing the LEA of 15-year-old Jessica's continued absence.

Mrs Smith said: "The LEA was not aware of it. They thought my children were going to school. I asked them to prosecute me simply to bring this matter to light but they would not."

Mrs Smith claims Dr Stoate has excluded the teenager since she had a verbal altercation with a member of staff in October and has refused to give a reason for her continued absence or why she is still being registered as attending lessons.

However, Dr Stoate denied the accusations and said the reason Jessica was not attending school was because it had been decided she would undertake work experience.

"With regard to extended work experience, the Government has recognised that full-time school does not suit everyone in their last two years."

"For a small number of students who are not meeting their potential, a number of schools, including ours, offer a placement with an employer."

Dr Stoate said she was unaware Jessica had ended her placement, but Mrs Smith claims she had informed Dr Stoate at the beginning of December and her daughter was keen to return to school.

After demanding a printout of the register in mid January, Mrs Smith said Jessica had been listed as attending daily since her exclusion in October, a move that meant the LEA was unaware of the situation.

Dr Stoate denied the allegations: "In order to make the register less complicated, these pupils are marked as on work experience until we hear otherwise.

"In this case the register has not been changed quickly enough, but this is an oversight rather than an intention to misrecord."

A spokesman for the LEA said: "We do not comment on specific cases.

"As the local education authority we work actively with parents and schools to make sure every child receives an appropriate level of education based on their needs."