Six-year-old girl with eyepatch left in tears after being called 'pirate girl' by deputy headteacher

A six-year-old girl who wears an eyepatch due to a severe visual disability was called "pirate girl" by her deputy headteacher in front of a packed assembly. Alicia Blanco-Clements, of Chelmsford, Essex, was left in tears and afraid she might be bullied after the comment by Jona Davies in a morning assembly at Springfield Primary School on Wednesday last week. Her mother Aimee, 30, said: "I was absolutely horrified. Alicia is normally smiling from ear to ear when I pick her up from school but on Wednesday she was really solemn and I could tell she was upset.



"It was only when my other daughter Olivia told me what had happened that I went marching into the school to confront him. I couldn't believe that someone with such authority could be so ignorant and insensitive. We spoke but he didn't seem sincere." Alicia, has suffered from the impairment in her left eye since she was two and is also extremely short sighted. The patch, which she wears for six hours a day, helps to maintain the 20/20 vision in her right eye. Alicia's elder sister Olivia, 11, is also a pupil at the school and saw Alicia accidentally standing in the wrong line as she waited to leave the assembly hall.

"My sister was queuing in the wrong place and that's when Mr Davies called her 'pirate girl'. He forgot her name and so he was trying to get her attention," she said. Mr Davies then apparently sought out Olivia in the playground to explain his actions. But he didn't go as far as apologising to her younger sister Alicia directly. Aimee said once she told her husband Liam, 29, about the deputy's outburst, they returned to the school immediately. She said: "My husband couldn't believe what he had said. Liam was seeing red. We're so protective of Alicia because of everything she's been through; she's already got enough on her plate.



"We went back later that afternoon and had a meeting with the head teacher, but it was too late by then. The wrong message had already been sent out to the children that bullying is okay." Sharon Tyler, head teacher, said: "We accept that what was said was inappropriate and have apologised unreservedly to the pupil and her parents. While the comment was not malicious or intended to cause offence, the teacher in question has been reminded of our expectations. As a school, we actively promote equality and I can assure all parents this was an isolated incident which will not be repeated."