A GIRL with Down's syndrome who missed school for over a month simply because she was diagnosed with diabetes is heading back to class after the Telegraph highlighted her plight.

Last week we revealed told how 12-year-old Brooke Cormack-Cook had lost out on four weeks of her secondary education after being told she has type 1.

Staff shortages and an issue with insurance for the school bus meant Brooke had to stay at home with mum Brenda, who has also had to miss work to care for her daughter.

The family live in Skelmorlie in the North Ayrshire local authority area meaning the youngster has to go to Stanecastle additional support needs school in Irvine even though Craigmarloch in Port Glasgow - run by Inverclyde Council - is much closer and is where her friends attend.

Brooke had only been in class for nine days before she became ill.

Following the Tele's story, Brenda was contacted by education chiefs before being invited to a meeting at the school.

Brooke will now start back on Monday.

Mum Brenda said: "I'm just glad she can get back into a routine and get to know her new classmates."

North Ayrshire Council had apologised for the delay in sorting the problems which prevented Brooke from going to school and said a solution would be found 'very soon'.

The staffing issue has now been sorted with someone being redeployed to Stanecastle to help meet the youngster's needs.

The transport problem remains, but Brenda says she will drive her daughter to school herself until the October break to give local authority officials more time to come up with a plan.

She reluctantly spoke out about Brooke's plight as a last resort to spark the council into action and prevent her daughter from missing any more class time.

Brenda, who went to Greenock High and teaches at the West College Scotland Finnart Street campus, says education chiefs have 'definitely changed their attitude' in light of the press coverage, adding that they are 'finally getting results' after four frustrating weeks without a solution.

School workers were trained to deal with Brooke's needs, including administering medication and what to do in an emergency, following her diagnosis but a staff shortage meant they were unable to accommodate her.

She was then told she could not travel to class on the council-run bus because the contractor's insurance does not cover the transportation of someone with type 1 diabetes.