It was a mother’s intuition that saved her child with multiple disabilities from her verbally abusive school teacher.

Janey Concepcion knew something was wrong in her daughter Portia’s classroom.

But with down syndrome and autism, five-year-old Portia cannot speak, prompting Janey to take drastic steps to uncover the truth.

Five-year-old Portia developed an aversion to school after being moved into a new class. (A Current Affair)

“My child cannot tell me what happened at school today. My child cannot tell me, ‘Mum, I’m hurt,” Janey told A Current Affair .

Her husband, Jason, said: “It’s your worst fears as a parent.”

Janey first felt something wasn’t right during her first week of Year 1 at Norree, the high needs unit at Riverstone Public School.

“There was a bruise on her left arm that looked like a mark of a thumb that’s been holding her really tight,” Janey said.

“I was kind of a bit suspicious about it, but it’s the first week, so I let it go.”

By week two, Janey and Jason said it wasn’t just some bruises that worried them. They had noticed a change in Portia’s behaviour.

Parents Janey and Jason said after meetings with the school, they were still worried something was wrong. (A Current Affair)

“There was resistance - actual resistance - to going to school,” Jason said.

So Portia’s parents organised a meeting with the deputy principal.

“She’d say that [Portia] is in the classroom that we believe is best for her, that she is there for her safety - so she gets the best amount of attention as possible,” Jason explained.

Still not satisfied, he and Janey then arranged to meet with Portia’s teacher the following week.

“My wife asked again, ‘Has there been any trauma? Any bullying? Is there anything?’ She asked those very direct questions and, looking us right in the eye, they would say, ‘She had a great day, she’s doing so well, she’s so happy here'.”

But Janey couldn’t let it go.

“You feel it with your child - ‘Mum, I’m hurt’,” she said.

It ermerged Portia was being subjected to verbal abuse by her teachers. (A Current Affair)

“It haunts me in the middle of the night. I dream of it. I can’t sleep.”

Janey said her decision to take matters into her own hands wasn’t made lightly. She said she and Jason gave the school ample opportunity to really listen to their concerns. It was only after not one, but two, face-to-face meetings at the school, that Janey said she just knew something wasn’t right and she had no choice but to act.

“It was her maternal instinct,” Jason said.

Little did Janey know, a little black disc was going to confirm her fears. It was a recording device she bought online for $30. Last Wednesday, she placed it in the pocket of Portia’s school uniform and sent her on her way.

“I just really wanted to know if Portia was safe, I just wanted to hear it for myself that it isn’t unsafe,” Janey said.

She and Jason were not prepared for the awful abuse that little black disc would uncover.

“You feel sick, you feel appalled, and I’m very, very angry,” Janey said.

Janey and Jason said the language used by the teachers was unacceptable. (A Current Affair)

There are three non-verbal students in the high needs class - Portia and two children in wheelchairs.

It couldn’t be further from a loving learning environment.

“Oi! Stop doing it! Do not spit into your hands! You are not going outside! Get up!” Portia’s teacher said.

Janey explained that Portia is not “spitting”, but blowing raspberries; a sign she was scared.

The teacher and the teacher’s aide spoke about Portia’s toilet training program.

“Right, today Portia, your mother can have lots of wet, shitting pants, and if she shits in them, I’m sending them home."

Portia was called names.

“Can you go away and stop licking the cupboard please? You weird child. I don’t care if you don’t like us, Portia, you don’t lick the cupboards.”

Teacher Bronwen Massie and teacher's aide Claire have been suspended. (A Current Affair)

It’s language that Janey said was unacceptable, especially given it was used by an educator of special needs children.

The teacher told Portia to “stop masturbating”.

“You do not play with yourself on the toilet! You use the toilet to wee!”

Jason said he could not fathom how a teacher could be so rude to a child.

And just as alarming, they suggested they knew rules were being broken.

“Luckily, we have no WHS people here.”

WHS means ‘Workplace Health and Safety’.

“What’s happening in that classroom, I don’t know, but she’s saying [it’s] lucky there’s no-one monitoring them,” Janey explained.

Stuck to the fridge in the Concepcion family home are the once-trusted faces behind the verbal abuse - Portia’s teacher, Bronwen Massie, and teacher’s aide, Claire. Both have been suspended, pending an investigation into their conduct.

Bronwen Massie refused to answer questions posed by A Current Affair. (A Current Affair)

A Current Affair found Mrs Massie at home, pacing around her front yard, appearing anxious as she checked the letterbox while talking on her mobile phone.

She ran from our cameras and did not to respond to questions.

“That woman should never be allowed to teach again, in my opinion,” Jason said.

In a statement, the NSW Department of Education said the school has apologised to the family for what has occurred.

Portia has started at a new school.

Jason and Janey knew what they did was risky, but they insisted her wellbeing was worth it.

“How horrible a feeling that you have to do something bad to get to the bottom of what’s happening to your child - there’s something wrong there,” Jason said.