The Aspect Macarthur School in the western Sydney suburb of Cobbitty is being investigated by the NSW Board of Studies Teaching and Educational Standards after claims raised by the parent of an autistic boy that her son was being sent to the fenced structure when he had "meltdowns".
The regulatory body visited the school earlier this week and also interviewed the boy's mother, following enquiries made by ABC's 7.30 program to the office of NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli.
The mother, Lynda Jordan, said the school would send her son, Toby Jordan, 13, to the enclosure, known as "the top playground".
"It has an unused boarded up cubby house in it and the children themselves don't call it the top playground - Toby called it the cage," she told 7.30.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
Ms Jordan said she realised the extent of the situation after arriving at the school unannounced, where she saw her son "kicking, screaming, and fighting".
"I'd come down that road and heard that someone was screaming and pulled over to the side of the road and witnessed them bringing Toby out of the main playground gate," she said.
"They had him slightly elevated from the ground and both had hold of his arms and his wrists, had them turned back."
Ms Jordan later said through school records attained through a solicitor, her son would be sent to the "top playground" up to six times in one day.
She claimed Toby was "still traumatised" from the alleged incidents.
"He trusted them... we sent him to school every day and said 'the teachers know the right thing to do, listen to the teachers', you know, we trusted them, we told him to trust them, and they weren't trustworthy," she said.
"They failed. They failed Toby."
Aspect's national director Dr Trevor Clark told 7.30 an investigation conducted by the school principal into the incident, disputed Ms Jordan's account.
He said the structure was simply a playground that was still in use, and that Toby was supervised at all times.
"No teacher leaves a child with autism unsupervised no matter what situation within a school or within a community and the reason for that is we have got a duty of care to our children," he said.
"It was exercised at the time, it is very unfortunate that there was a different view about where staff were."
A Canberra school was exposed in 2015 for keeping a student enclosed in cage, following a complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission.
SBS has contacted the NSW Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards for comment.
