No Lee Way

‘THERE were three shepherds, three wise men, Baby Jesus (of course), the Virgin Mary, Joseph, an innkeeper and his wife and a couple of angels and archangels.

”And who let Jews in?”

But nowhere in the nativity play is there a character with a disability called global developmental delay that caused speech and learning difficulties.

And that meant there was no part for Lee Buniak when the Jenny Hammond Primary School in Leytonstone put on their Christmas play.

And nor, says the Times, was there an invitation for Lee to the school disco. He was left out of the class trip to the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green.

He wasn’t allowed to take part with the other children in making Christmas cards or scenery for the play.

And the school didn’t tell Lee’s mother the date of the school photo, with the result that Lee was the only person at the school not to be in it.

“It was a year of trauma for Lee,” his mother told a special tribunal, which ruled that the school unlawfully discriminated against him.

“Not being in the school Christmas play was the lowest point.”

It’s good to see that the Christian message is coming through loud and clear at this time of year…’

Posted: 15th, December 2003 | In: Broadsheets Comment (1) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink