15 yr old permanently excluded from school.

I think there is an Interhigh thread on here somewhere if that helps .

Internet schooling , there’s quite a few around , it’s quite popular for home educators doing GCSEs

I think if it really is a one off incident and your son is motivated I’d be tempted down the inter high or similar route if you can afford it rather than go to the PRU .

I have to say, if it was a one off, given the circumstances I actually think that his 'victim' had it coming. What an absolutely horrid thing to do. I can't offer any words of wisdom, but I really wish him and you all the best. Hopefully he can put this behind him and move on. I would keep him home until he was offered a suitable place.

I have been an LA advisor to governing bodies on appeals and also, later on, a governor. If your DS has genuinely only done this the once, then you should go to the meeting and advocate for your DS. The meeting has to follow the rules of natural justice and you will be given the case of the school prior to the meeting. Not doing homework or not wearing the correct uniform should not be included nor a catalogue of small insignificant incidents that have no bearing on the final serious incident for which he has been excluded.

Your best area of challenge is severity of punishment for a first offence, that no other avenues of support were considered or offered prior to PE, and that he is very ashamed of his reaction and will possibly suffer greatly regarding his educational attainment. When you get the case made by the school, go through it very carefully and check they have followed the rules. I think there was a link above. PR4bridge is more up to date than me and I am sure would help.

In fact getting rid of a child is the easy cheap option. It takes a lot more time and effort and money to keep them. PE is passing the problem to the pru and then another school.

I know lots of kids in PRUs and none of them are drug dealers, thieves or burglars, plenty of decent kids (although all who've had a pretty traumatic past).

Dh used to be a governor. I'll ask him later what he'd expect to see in an appeal

It hasn't been agreed by governors yet- I'm assuming they will back the head though

No necessarily. Fight it as hard as you can - you're his only advocate

PRUs can be a lifeline for youngsters that are struggling. They offer a more accessible and acceptable education for lots of difficult children. They provide a more tolerant and supportive environment for those struggling at school. Let him try it.

I would appeal the exclusion if his behaviour record was previously squeaky clean.

Otherwise then I would probably home school for 6 weeks.

Reading the OPs posts, I'm guessing the assault was pretty serious? A PEX is a last resort and is very expensive - I don't think the head would be considering it lightly.

Definitely appeal OP if you don't think it is warranted, just seems strange as most schools genuinely would only consider it as a last resort. We try all sorts of other arrangements and managed moves before a PEX.

Sorry, missed out a chunk of your posts.

I would Appeal the exclusion, look at whether police action is appropriate for what the other student did.

He is clearly a Bright and academic boy. Can you keep him at home, buy tne GCSE course / revision study guides and get him to follow them while he is out of school, might help him keep his confidence up.

I wouldn’t send him to a PRU.

Can you try and overturn the PEX if it is a one off situation? Speak to a parent/pupil support person or someone from SNAP who can help in this process.

It really depends on the PRU.

Some are brilliant and create an environment where those who just don’t flourish in the big machine of a school get attention in smaller groups, get a wide range of supplementary support etc.

Others act as gang recruitment agencies.

(I have working contact with a range)

If there is any danger of that I wouldn’t send him anywhere near it,

What lies behind his behaviour? Does he have anger management issues? Was he being bullied? Does he enjoy the learning side of school?

Permanent exclusion should be a final resort when all else has failed. A single incident where the other pupil was not injured and where there was clear provocation certainly should not lead to permanent exclusion. Whether you or he wants to continue with the current school after this is another matter. But I would certainly appeal this if it were me.

Another agreeing about the proportionate punishment - or father seemingly disproportionate.

Hence my post above about possibly having maybe struggles? Because if that's the case the PRU should and would address those.

If this is a once off fight with no injury after provocation it does seem an extreme reaction. That's not condoning the violence that's looking into the whole situation, what drove it and also looking at the likelihood of it happening again.

If it's an isolated incident I would have thought school could deal with it effectively by heavily punishing the lad for social media event and also homophobia (which publicly questioning his sexuality with the intention of humiliation is) and equally punishing your DS for inappropriate violent reaction with a fixed term exclusion should be sufficient.

I think other posters are right about using your right to appeal (if ds wants to remain there). Don't focus on other behaviour if student as they'll see its condoning your ds' by rather focus on the fact it was a big incident that left ds feeling out of his depth, a deep sense of emotion that he hadn't in countered before, and humiliation and that he reacted out of character. Then say school have resources to support emotional development and also have a responsibility to be teaching students about cyber bullying and effectively responding to it.

Good luck. I think some posts here are not very kind. I imagine it's very hard for you. It's not your fault. You probably did everything you could for your son. Sometimes your children aren't all you want them to be. Sometimes children make mistakes. Some make a lot of mistakes and aren't good at learning from them. That's quite tough on them cos they probably didn't choose to be born like that. Some children pick up on stuff quickly and don't make the same mistakes twice others just don't catch on and don't have good self control. There are very few children that are deliberately evil.

No words of wisdom but wishing you and your boy well.