What actually happens if a child becomes permanetly excluded from school?

The school shouldn't be looking for you to take her out, they should be sorting out a managed move. The point of that is that it is properly planned between the two schools with any necessary extra support being put in place, so it stands a better chance of success.

It sounds as though the threat of exclusion is not because of truancy but the defiance as a result of refusing to attend detentions (ie. follow the school rules). A school cannot operate with children picking and choosing which rules to follow.
I'm sorry to hear she has been excluded again for smoking weed; did they search her on arrival to school?

It is hard to judge just from reading posts and there could be a multitude of reasons for her behaviour. I would say however, from working in a secondary academy, this is not hugely unusual behaviour. Definitely something she can turn around. Does your LA have some kind of social services triage? As they should be able to signpost/offer relevant support.

Does she have any aspirations/what does she want to do when she leaves year 11. Sometimes a lack of direction along with peer influence can be a disaster.

Does your daughter have a social worker? Where is she getting the weed from? It does sound like she is in a very bad place at the moment.

A state school can not exclude on a whim. They can't permanently exclude for just truancy, but I am not sure about illegal drugs. A school has a duty of care even for the most difficult of children. I may well be that the pupil referral unit is the best place for her.

I was surprised to read that they threatened permanent exclusion for truancy and that might be an empty threat from a member of staff who does not make those decisions. However arriving at school stoned is in another league and I am surprised the school didn't call the police straight away.

As others have said, you might have to consider a managed move or the PRU (not always spaces and not many girls) which the school would prefer over an exclusion.

Alternatively some schools will offer a reduced timetable where the pupil only attends certain lessons, especially if truancy is a problem. Or an alternative curriculum with off-site provision and more emphasis on social skills than the academic.

Good luck today. There are some very supportive threads in teenagers. It's a matter of baby steps. Young Minds and Heads Together are helpful and Relate are starting to roll out teenage emotional support.

I feel for you both, she sounds like she is struggling and that cannot be easy for you either. Get her to the GP or some nhs places have drop ins for teens. Good luck.

It's pretty clear that she needs a full psychiatric assessment. I think you need to see your GP and really press for it. Can you pay for it privately if you have to?

What Admissions said. In addition the school would need to show that they had done everything possible to help your daughter before resorting to a permanent exclusion.

As also said here get everything in writing even if that is just you taking notes in a call or meeting and then emailing the school to say that this is a recap of your call/meeting and if they disagree or see any inaccuracies please respond immediately via email.

Keep hard copies of all correspondence and make a not of date and time and content for every contact you have with the school. Even if it is just a two sentance chat with her form tutor.

Should it go to an exclusion hearing you then have evidence to present to the panel showing your support of the school and your daughter. It also avoids any he said/she said conversations.

It is difficult because what the school may say can be different to what a parent understands. This is why I would say that you follow up every conversation no matter how small with an email, even if it is just bullet points.

It will also make a great frame of reference for yourself as this will undoubtedly be very emotional and it is exceptionally difficult to process information when you are emotional.

You said she tends to over eat? Have you checked her thyroid? Other blood test to make sure her health is in order; this may not be the problem but it can help to know that she is fit and healthy.

Also; if she doesn't want to change schools could you tell her that if she has one more suspension you will change schools.

I think that you need to get the school to say in writing what they are going to do. I will be very surprised if they say much more of not attending detention / truancy and we will exclude permanently because they are not really in a position to do that legally until they have done far more to try and stop this poor behaviour.
The current regs in exclusion is the 2012 document and this was very much cut down in detail (which was a shame). The previous document from September 2008 does in paragraph 26 have a list of reasons for which exclusion would not be appropriate and one of those is lateness or truancy. Only when the situation became persistent could the school claim that the pupil was refusing to co-operate with staff and start to lead towards exclusions.
The reasons why a pupil can be excluded are
In response to a serious breach or persistent breaches of the school's behaviour policy and where allowing the pupil to remain in school would seriously harm the education or welfare of the pupil or others in the school.

What is the school doing to support her? It can't all be stick and no carrot.

Exclusion is not going to help her is it - if you are truanting, it's effectively giving the child what they want. Or what they think they want. She says she doesn't want to leave the school she's in, which I'd say is a positive? The truanting doesn't adversely affect the other kids either - it's not like she's being disruptive in class.

Is there really no way of keeping the girls apart? Could some other girls be asked to take her under their wing and keep her on the straight and narrow?

For what it's worth I don't think denying internet access at home will do much to change anything.

My dd didn't had a diagnosis of depression and anxiety but nothing else. (She has a more complex diagnosis now she's at college).

My dd has also been under CAMHS, and had multiple agency support. I think schools excluding children with learning and mental health needs because of truanting and failing to turn up to detentions is awful. State schools are supposed to be inclusive. My dd's school was a community school, not an academy. I think this made a difference.

My dd's school made a decision not to escalate punishment when she was truanting/refusing to do homework/refusing to attend detentions, because they wanted to avoid excluding her. I think this slightly took the wind out of dd's sails. They actually said "We will NOT exclude you" to her.

In my dd's case there were fairly major emotional and psychiatric issues, and the school supported us to keep her in school until she had finished her GCSE's (though she only ended up sitting a few). I'll never stop being grateful to them for this.

Perhaps you need to explore whether there is more to your dd's behaviour than sheer immaturity and maybe see if the school can consider it too. For my dd the next move would have been a pupil referral unit.

I would be asking your school whether they think a managed move to another school would be helpful before she gets to permanent exclusion stage.

also, the PRU will not necessarily be able to cover all the GCSE options your DD wants. At my sons PRU, they would do fun stuff after lunch - the kids were not all able to follow the very academic curriculum, so afternoons were for PE, cooking, DJ-ing, trips out, more arty subjects. They also knocked off at 2pm.

It all looks very cool from the outside looking in. But after a couple of weeks, DS did realise that he wanted more, and actually had a future to consider. It can be all very nihilistic in a PRU.

My son was excluded, and went to a PRU before going on to his new school.

First, take a look at schools behaviour policy. Does it state that they will exclude for persistent truanting? I would think a call into your school's Education Welfare Officer would be in order, to discuss how you might help your DD.

Second, if excluded, please appeal through the School Exclusion Project - who are really rather brilliant and free. A "baby barrister" may take on your case and run the appeal for you.

I would avoid the PRU if you can. The staff are fantastic, the support brilliant - but your child will be mixing with kids who have some really challenging behaviours in and out of school. DS got mixed up in a lot of crap - drugs, shoplifting etc.

Id also start considering a managed move, as an alternative to exclusion. Again, the EWO might be able to advise you of an alternative school that might be better suited, and may be able to facilitate a move.