Little Gabrielle Turner, who needs to be fed through a tube, is not getting the special daily care she needs because Southend Education bosses and her school can't decide who should pay for it.

Mum Kelly is so frustrated with the situation she is having to visit Westborough Primary School every lunchtime just to feed her four-year-old daughter.

She said education bosses knew of her daughter's condition two years ago when she started attending nursery classes part-time at the school in Macdonald Avenue, Westcliff.

Gabrielle suffers from a condition known as Reflux which means she must be fed through a tube in her side which goes straight into her stomach.

Education bosses accept Gabrielle has a "special need," but they say that because they don't consider it a "special educational need" she cannot receive extra funding for help.

The school said it would need to specially train someone to come into the school to perform the task, something they could not fund either.

But that has meant that for the past three days Gabrielle has not been fed at school. But Kelly said she sees no other option but to go in every lunchtime to feed her daughter.

She said: "They knew about this but they accepted her into the school. Educational psychologists have told me that Gabrielle should be treated as much like the other children as possible.

"For me to come in and feed her or for me to take her home every day would go against everything they have advised. This is ridiculous."

She said she didn't blame the school for the problem because they have provided special needs tutoring for two of her other children, Matthew, eight, and Kieron, seven.

The school's deputy headteacher Gerry Bennett, who is also in charge of special needs, said Gabrielle's case was a very special one.

She said: "It involves someone being trained specially to do the task and would involve an extra cost of bringing someone on to the site.

"We feel the needs go beyond what is normally expected of the school."

Colin Jones, the council's assistant director of education and libraries, said money to support children who were not considered to have special educational needs was given to individual schools.

He said: "The LEA is currently discussing with the family, school and other agencies a way of resolving this difficulty."

Problem - Gabrielle takes food through a tube

Picture STEPHEN LLOYD

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