Islington broken hand girl told ‘write with the other hand’

A girl with learning difficulties who broke the wrist on her writing hand says her teacher told her to do schoolwork with her other one.

Rebecca Cook, 11, also claims she was given detention for not completing her homework while she had her cast on – even though it had to be hand-written.

The youngster from the Andover Estate, off Hornsey Road, in Holloway, suffers from a number of learning disorders including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and dyspraxia, which affects movement.

She broke her left arm, which she writes with, while ice skating in February, but when she went into Holloway School, in Hilldrop Road, she says her teacher told her to carry on with her right hand. When her mum Charlotte complained, she said the school promised her a laptop to use while her bones heal, but three weeks later she still hasn’t received one.

Mrs Cook said: “I couldn’t believe it when I found out. I was shocked. How is she supposed to work with her wrong hand?

“Then she was given detention because she hadn’t done her homework. Her English homework has to be hand-written in a book, so I don’t see how she could do that.

“I feel really let down by the school. I really think they need to get their act together.”

No one from Holloway School was available for comment.

A statement on the website for Anything Left Handed – a group that promotes awareness, acceptance and empathy for left-handers – said: “We know left-handers were physically forced to change hands and write right-handed in the past, but it seems it is still happening and natural left-handers are being encouraged in various ways to write right-handed.

“This is not going to work and can cause various problems but some teachers still seem to think that pupils should change for their own convenience, or for some perverted view of correctness.”