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A young girl with autism was "accidentally locked inside a sports shed" at her school, on a scorching hot day. Ruby, 8, had been in the shed on a 31C day, with no AC or ventilation, her raging dad Matthew Everingham claimed. He noticed something was wrong when he, and his partner Brooke, went to pick their daughter up from the primary school but couldn't see her lined up with the other kids . The dad said the children at Manning Gardens Public School in Taree, Australia , were rushing past the couple saying "they are looking for Ruby" and "Ruby can't be found", on October 15. Matthew claimed he eventually saw his eight-year-old crying as she was walked out with an aide for special needs children. The dad alleged the member of staff apologised and said Ruby was inside a sports shed and found after being locked in for five minutes, according to The Daily Telegraph . Ruby's dad said he believes Ruby ended up in the shed during an outdoor game on "pirate day" at the primary school. He said: "They put all the kids with higher needs all in one group, so it made it extremely challenging for the teachers and SLO (special needs aide) supervising." Her dad added that Ruby had and photographic memory and had been watching survival TV shows so believes she would have chose to hide in the shed, but thinks she was locked in. Matthew claimed a member of staff said they checked inside the shed before shutting it. He raged as he claimed the shed had no air conditioning or ventilation on the 31C hot day, so Ruby would have been "scorching" while locked in. The dad added that he has since had no contact directly with the school but claimed at the time of the ordeal: "(The school) didn't even ring to say she was missing." Matthew said the NSW Department of Education had reached out to him and moved Ruby to a new school in the area. A spokesperson for the NSW Department of Education said: "Department of Education staff have met with and apologised to the family following this incident. Thankfully, the student was uninjured and did not require medical attention. The matter was reported to police by the school. "The school has reviewed its student safety and supervision processes and has taken steps to ensure the door of the sports equipment room can be opened from the inside. "The safety and wellbeing of students is our highest priority and we are providing the family with access to counselling services." The Mirror has reached out to Manning Gardens Public School for comment.
