Dearne Valley parents say head was 'unprofessional' after playground ban

Conisbrough Ivanhoe Primary Academy head Joe Brian banned cousins Gemma White and Danielle Hoult from the school last week.

It came after Ms White posted comments on Facebook about the headteacher after he stopped her 11-year-old daughter from attending a school trip - despite a doctor's note saying she was fit to attend.

In the social media post, Gemma (35) called the headteacher a "massive be*****" for "going behind my back" and informing the outdoor pursuit residential centre her daughter Ruby Edwards had had ringworm, despite a doctors note confirming the condition was not contagious.

Responding to the post, Ms Hoult wrote: "Oh my god, poor Ruby, what a d**k."

Ms White said she had made the comments out of upset, which had attracted over 100 supportive comments.

She added: "However, he (Mr Brian) only contacted one individual, which happened to be my relative Danielle."

The mums received emails from the school informing them they were banned from the site until their comments were deleted.

Ms Hoult, a former Weekender sales executive, said: "There were over 150 comments from people - the things they were saying were vulgar but he only contacted me personally."

She believes Mr Brian targeted her because he wanted to "get at" her cousin further.

Ms Hoult (33) said she received an "aggressive" phone call from the head who told her he wanted to "challenge" her over her online comment.

She said: "My comments were not aggressive, not threatening - he's taken it out of context.

"The Government website says the only way a school can ban you is if you've been aggressive or threatening, I don't see what I said as threatening, it's just how you talk in conversation."

Ms Hoult added: "He should be big enough and old enough to rise above it (comments on social media) and should not be screen-shotting personal conversations."

"He's trying to police parents thoughts - it's very controlling."

Ms White removed the post so she could attend her daughter's play at the school on Friday - but was further upset after Mr Brian publicly thanked parents at the event for "supporting him over the slander on social media".

Ms White added: "He's called me out in front of everyone.

"I emailed him afterwards to say its unprofessional, disrespectful and he made other parents feel uncomfortable.

"I told him if he had an issue he should have discussed it in his office like adults."

The mum is demanding an apology from the head for "ignoring the doctor's advice" and leaving her daughter "heartbroken".

The Conisbrough parents said they would be raising an official complaint with the school governors at the single-academy trust.

Mr Brian claimed the allegations were "inaccurate" when approached by the Weekender but declined to comment further.