A 13-year-old Crayford boy has not been to school in nearly a month after being dropped from the top set of his classes.

Olorunfemi Adeniji, 46, of Mayplace Avenue, says his son has been crying and is now receiving counselling.

Year 9 student Elijah Pedersen-Adeniji has not attended a full day at Haberdashers’ Aske’s Crayford Academy since September 2.

Mr Adeniji said: “He was very surprised when he was put in the lower set of all his subjects including English, maths and history despite finishing with top marks in the previous term.

“We had a stream of emails between myself and the school but they couldn’t give me a reason explaining why they moved him.

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Olorunfemi Adeniji

“The last time he was in school was on September 2 because he has been crying and so down.

“We took him to the doctors and they referred him to child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) for counselling. The whole situation is not nice – he just keeps crying.”

Mr Adeniji tried to arrange a meeting with the vice-principal, but he claims his family have had no contact from the school since September 16.

His wife has taken time off work because of the stress the situation has caused.

And Mr Adeniji wants Elijah to go back to school as soon as possible.

The dad-of-four told News Shopper: “When we left the doctors, Elijah just broke down completely. As strong as I am, seeing my son like that was horrible. I can’t do anything to help him.

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Elijah Pedersen-Adeniji​

“My son needs to get back to school to learn. I have submitted applications to other schools in case this isn’t resolved, but he wants to stay at Haberdashers’ Aske’s.

“He’s always been in the top sets, achieving very high grades.”

Mr Adeniji revealed that he has also had to undertake counselling sessions to help him cope with his son’s misery.

“We convinced him to go back to school last Wednesday, he tried but he just started crying again,” he added.

“I’ve told him that I won’t let anyone deny him his right of education.

“I can’t sleep at night because of this and I’ve had to have counselling as well, where the woman told me just to be there for my son.”

Haberdashers’ Aske’s Crayford Academy declined to comment when contacted by News Shopper.