A MUM is terrified her son will be bullied if he is forced to attend a mainstream Worcester school.

Sharon Jones fears 11-year-old Christopher will suffer the moment he starts his new school after leaving Cliffey House.

Worcestershire county councillors have decided to close Cliffey House, leaving children with moderate learning difficulties being transferred to high schools with special needs units attached.

Mrs Jones says that Christopher cannot spell the months of the year and, because he is not "streetwise", she would have to walk him all the way to school.

"I don't think these units are going to work," said Mrs Jones, of Swallowfields, Warndon Villages, who also has a four-year-old son at Thornton House School.

"Children are spiteful to special school children now. How are they going to fit in at a mainstream school?

"Christopher doesn't get to mix with ordinary children on our estate as they pick on him."

Mrs Jones is not the first parent to voice her concerns. When the inclusion policy was discussed by councillors last year, parents argued it would damage their children's development and make them "easy targets".

When his school closes in July 2004, Christopher is expected to go to Elgar Technology College, which will have a new special needs units.

"At the moment, he has transport but we don't know if that will continue," Mrs Jones said. "Elgar's a long way to go. He wouldn't know the way to walk and he'd probably get on the wrong bus.

"I'd have to walk him but imagine what would happen when he got to school? He'd be bullied. He's worrying about the move already."

"At the moment we don't know how these units are going to work. All the children are going to be evaluated before being moved into these units and I just hope he can stay in special needs."

June Longmuir, the county's cabinet member for education, said Mrs Jones' concerns would not be taken lightly.

"There'll be units at the schools with staff who understand these youngsters and any problems that might occur," she said. "Every school in the county has an anti-bullying policy. If bullying takes place the head takes action."

The council is considering extending its inclusion policy to all special schools in the county. But head of school services Ruth Chiva has reassured parents that whatever they decide, special school children will be better provided for.

Christopher has moderate learning difficulties and has difficulty with reading and writing. His mum said that when he transferred aged eight from mainstream schooling to Thornton House School he could barely write his name.

"At special school he's in a well-structured environment where there's no more than 10 in a class at a time," said the mum-of-five. "There's lots of help and support.