Teachers caught joking about disabled 6-year-old student on Facebook Live

By Jack Evans via SWNS

A furious mom has slammed school bosses after teaching staff made cruel jokes about her disabled 6-year-old daughter – which they streamed live on Facebook.

The three female staff members were heard chatting about Willow Musgrave, who has a life-saving tracheostomy in her throat to help her breathe.

The youngster has had a tracheostomy since she was born 16 weeks premature and has complex health needs which require 24-hour care.

The women were heard hooting with laughter when one said the medical tube “made them feel sick” while another said it “looked really horrible”.

Unbeknownst to the teaching staff, their entire chat was broadcast on Facebook Live on Saturday (9/11) and was watched by more than 12,000 people.

The teaching staff were using Facebook Live before a school trip but one of them accidentally picked up their conversation about Willow.

In the clip they discussed how teachers are asked to provide medical support for children with one heard saying: "The mask change for Willow. The mask fitting, it's awful."

Talking about helping with her tracheostomy, one said: "It makes me feel queasy. I couldn't do it."

Another said: "I don't like even looking at it."

One replied: "No I don't. I know that's really horrible."

Towards the end of the conversation laughter followed when one said: "You didn't come into this to be changing tracheostomies."

Willow’s outraged mom Becky Wardiell, 34, is now taking legal action against St Andrew’s Church of England Primary School in Kettering, Northants.

The three members of staff have not returned to the school which has launched an investigation into their comments.

"Willow can't defend herself. It's not her fault she has a tracheostomy. It's a life or death situation for her," Wardiell said. "The school drums different values of the week into our children. But then they have teaching staff who speak like that about a child with a disability, what values does that show?"

Wardiell said a friend saw it on Facebook and sent her the link. Both of them are outraged by the video.

The school is part of the Peterborough Diocese Academy Trust.

A spokesperson issued this statement:

"Our school has a very strong community. We celebrate our successes collectively, and, when something happens that doesn’t meet the high standards that we set ourselves, we deal with those issues as openly and transparently as possible.

Over the weekend three staff members, who were together preparing for a school trip, appear to have accidentally shared a brief part of their conversation via Facebook Live. While talking about the planning, they discussed how teachers are asked to provide medical support for young people. In doing so, they also referenced one particular case in our school.

Every child who we are able to support from an educational, health and wellbeing perspective is very welcome in our community - irrespective of any challenges they may be facing.

Clearly there are elements of this conversation that should not have taken place, and the fact that the discussion was accidentally shared to a wider audience is also deeply regrettable.

We have apologized to the family concerned, and we will we be addressing this in greater depth with the staff members concerned. We will also look at what additional training we can provide to help address any barriers about meeting the medical needs of our pupils."

Willow has had a tracheostomy since she was four months old and requires 24-hour care, with siblings and neighbors learning how to change her tube if it gets dislodged.

The tube being out for more than 15 minutes could be fatal.

Becky added: "For three adults to stand there and speak about Willow like that is nasty," Wardiell said. "Willow is the prettiest, happiest little girl. People who are in a position where they care for children shouldn't talk about her like that just because she has a disability."

Becky has taken her case to Kettering-based attorneys The Lawyer and The Nurse Ltd, which advocates for vulnerable children and adults.

“I fully accept that it was clearly never the intention for such cruel views to be shared on social media, but the fact remains that they were," said Adam Cresswell, who is representing the family. "Of most concern is the tone of the conversation between the teaching staff which can only be described as incredibly ugly and more than a little unkind.

"Within hours the video of the teachers' conversation had been shared by over 10,000 people but it's nice to see so many taking to social media to defend Willow, who battles with additional physical and learning needs on a daily basis but is nonetheless one of
the happiest little kids you could ever meet."