A dad has pulled his autistic son out of a secondary school which he claims is “obsessed” with dishing out detentions.

Tim Matthews says his child’s mental health has declined rapidly since starting at Barton Manor School in Canterbury this September.

He fears its stringent behaviour policy will “chip away” at youngsters’ self-esteem.

The 42-year-old has taken the Year 7 pupil out of the non-selective academy in Spring Lane after he was given nine detentions and ejected three times from class since the start of term.

Mr Matthews believes his son has ADHD and is being punished for traits associated with the condition, such as turning around and not listening in class.

“My son has an autism spectrum condition diagnosis and does not speak his emotions very often,” he said.

“But within the first week of starting, he told me the comment system at the school was making him feel bad about himself and shared his emotions, which rang alarm bells.

“His mental health seemed to decline rapidly. He had anxiety, night terrors and was sleepwalking.

“On his second day, my son got comments for not remembering a green pen and looking behind in class.

“Another was for getting overexcited and speaking without putting his hand up. Those three comments meant he was given a detention.”

The school’s behaviour policy states pupils can be given a ‘comment’ for misdemeanours such as laziness, lateness, lack of correct equipment and uniform infringement.

If a youngster is given three comments in one day, they are removed from class and given an afterschool detention.

“The school has shown no empathy and is obsessed with him doing detentions...”

“My son is not aggressive and he is not a bully,” Mr Matthews added.

“This has happened within a month. In my day, this would happen over one or two years but he has gone through so much trauma.

“The school has shown no empathy and is obsessed with him doing detentions.”

The behaviour policy, sent to parents at the start of the year, says: “All members of the school are expected to help maintain an atmosphere conducive to learning and development, with courtesy and mutual respect as the basic requirements.

“This will be achieved through the application of the code of conduct and the procedures laid down in the policy.”

Mr Matthews says the last time he picked his son up from his afterschool punishment, he saw about 25 to 30 pupils also leaving who he assumed had just finished a club.

But a teacher told him they had been in detention and his son later revealed there were so many youngsters they were moved to the hall.

“He had one for chewing gum, which we later proved he wasn’t and the teacher assumed he was and was judge, jury and executioner,” Mr Matthews said.

“The teacher never bothered checking what my son had and it turned out to be a piece of paper with glue on it but he was given a detention there and then.

“When my son feels he has failed or done wrong but doesn’t quite understand what he has done, he withdraws into himself and becomes very passive.

“When he was given the detention, my son was given comments saying he wasn’t doing any work.

“They kept giving him comment after comment and were feeding the fuel without realising they were hurting him emotionally.

“He was then ejected from class and put in isolation for the rest of the day.”

Mr Matthews says he has witnessed the “deterioration” of his son “very quickly” but the school has refused to budge on its stance.

He claims he “felt guilty” for allowing his son to be subjected to multiple detentions and admits he started to get angry at the school for “not realising the damage they were doing”.

“If you repeatedly punish a child for the smallest of things, it is going to chip away at their self-esteem,” he added.

“On October 3, he had his last detention and he was so distraught he could not function or speak.

“My wife and I decided he was not going back until we reached an agreement with the school.”

Mr Matthews is now homeschooling his son and added: “A detention centre is designed to restrict liberty and movement while keeping people in a controlled environment. That is how I see the school.

“A child is supposed to enjoy school and make fun memories there.”

Barton Manor opened on the site of the former Chaucer Technology School in September 2022.

School bosses have not responded to multiple requests for comment from KentOnline.

The letter sent to parents adds: “The behaviour policy at Barton Manor School is a statement of good practice that covers all aspects of the school that contribute to the fulfilment of the school’s mission statement through the development and maintenance of good behaviour, an awareness in students of their personal responsibility and a positive ethos within the school.”

The policy is next up for review in September 2026.