Please help - expulsion / managed move year 11

@MargaretThursday Independent appeal panels can recommend reinstatement only. Therefore a reintegration plan (by anyone) is not part of an appeal. It’s an appeal against the exclusion, not what might happen afterwards which is entirely down to the Head. It’s clearly day to day management of the school. Appeals are about ensuring a fair exclusion decision has been reached by the governors, that the circumstances that led to the decision were robustly and properly investigated plus all rules being followed.

It does sound like the head is trying to dodge the official process, possibly to try and force you to accept a managed move. On the one hand in this scenario I don't think a managed move would be such a terrible idea - it sounds like a toxic environment at her current school and maybe a fresh start at a new school would be the best thing for her.

On the other hand, if you are really confident that staying at her current school is the best thing, then definitely as a starting point, get the head to properly follow the official process, including putting things in writing etc. It may be that he is just using the prospect of permanent exclusion as a threat and he won't actually officially go through with it.

As well as this, if the official paperwork isn't done correctly, the exclusion can be overturned on those grounds.

But from everything you have said, I would look seriously at the option of a managed move, and see if you can make it work. If it doesn't work out she can still return to her previous school.

Dh has sat on panels for people appealing permanent exclusion.

He really does not enjoy it at all.

But I know there was one time he was on one, I don't know any of the details, but the appeal won. His comment was that the parents came with a plan of action, the pupil was in full agreement with the plan of action, and they didn't spend the appeal making excuses, rather admitted the fault and explained how they were going to make it different carrying forwards with the schools help.

I will also add that the pupil not only completed their schooling with little further issues and far exceeded expectations.

If you are wanting to appeal, I suggest you do similar. If you go in with excuses about why it wasn't really their fault, they've heard all that before.

Children with SEN are 5 times more likely to get a permanent exclusion than other DC. Therefore support is essential. I’m not sure the DD has been managed by the school in a supportive way given the issues. She seems to be like a moth around the worst possible DDs though. It’s important to make friends with sensible DDs. Walk away and don’t get involved in something you know is wrong. This is something you need to learn for the whole of your life, not just school.

What are the SEN support staff doing for her??? My DD is adhd and gets loads of support

This

Thank you for the response, I was just curious.

@HazardLights That is a real stretch. She’s clearly broken school rules by drinking. However there are mitigating arguments to move from permanent exclusion to reinstatement. There’s always an agreement when DC do return to school. Not sure if OP has an exclusion letter yet from the head. If not, she’s not excluded or suspended. The Head must send a letter “without delay” saying what the exclusion/suspension is and how to make representations. Exclusion cannot be used as a threat to enforce a managed move.

Is there an element of if she didn’t bring in the alcohol herself, that the school has some responsibility in keeping her safe on school premises?

She needs somewhere to take the exams. You cannot do these at home. So having some educational provision registered with an exam board is vital.

Oh that I can agree with, wait until the school have legally expelled her first. If they do I don't think it would be the end of the world based on what op has written there's only a few months left and she'll be off to college, missing a few months of being bullied by everyone except 2 kids who you have to walk on eggshells to please lest you be left with no one isn't a bad thing.

Honestly the textbooks explain things better than a lot of teachers 🤷🏻‍♀️ when you get to a certain age you can pretty much teach yourself if you're motivated to, just my opinion I'm sure many will disagree though

@Leah5678 it's essential that the op doesn't remove her daughter for elective home education as that then removes the local authorities statutory duty to provide and education. If it's something op wishes to do after the permanent exclusion process has been followed correctly by the school, then that's up to the op.

Sorry. Yes there is an independent panel. My mistake. Governors first though.

Not much point moving to a different school in year 11 especially with the bullying problems you mentioned so if her current school won't keep her I'd just let her study at home if that's possible? Not long and she'll be off to college.
I think there's centres where she can take her exam tests so she doesn't miss out on GCSEs buy her the textbooks for all her subjects so she can study at home if you're poor you can usually get them free as part of pupil premium or something. The textbooks basically contain everything you need to know for each GCSE. Literally life savers for me when I did my GCSEs in 2016 seeing as some of the teachers weren't that great at explaining things

Once governors have met, the parent has the right to request an independent panel review the governor decision. They do not have power to reinstate but can quash and recommend reconsideration by governors.

@ManagedMove here is a link to the government guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-exclusion. It has recently been updated and not all schools will be up to speed with the changes, so it's worth you reading it thoroughly to make sure your school is following the rules.

Apologies I didn't make myself clear, the Independent Review Panel is a completely separate meeting which can happen after the Governors Disciplinary Committee. As @TizerorFizz says the parent can make representation at the GDC

Given her mental health problems, suspected ADHD and attempted suicide, was the SENDCo involved before this latest incident? Did you report the previous bullying; if so, what did they do to keep her safe? How are they dealing with the alleged culture of alcohol being brought onto school premises and students drinking alcohol at school?

For how long is the fixed term exclusion?

Unless you are inclined to accept the managed move, I would request a written minute of the meeting, or you could write to the head, cc’ing others at the meeting, detailing your understanding of what he said and asking him to confirm or amend in writing.

Others are clearly knowledgeable about permanent exclusion and the suggestion to involve the governing body would seem sensible.

What were her plans post 16 - was she leaving for college, I.e do you just need to focus on the remaining 8 months.

On the school offered for the managed move: would the plan be that she joins Year 11 and study her existing subjects / exam boards? Perhaps discuss home to school transport with the LA - they may be willing to pay / arrange transport.

A parent can make representations to the Governors to ask for reinstatement if this is a permanent exclusion. There’s no independent panel.

The latest suspension and exclusion info was published by the Government in Sept 2023. Read it and you will see what is required of the school. If your DD is permanently excluded, the social worker might be persuaded to attend the governors’ meeting to explain the difficulties your DD has faced.

The head must inform you if dd has been suspended or excluded. They should not threaten exclusion to get you to agree to a managed move. I agree that you speak to the LA or pupil support unit.

sorry ps make a record now of times and dates of all conversations, who was present and what was said before it gets blurred.

1. If your dd has had such a terrible time then moving schools should have been decided upon by you. She said no you maybe should have taken charge.
2. It seems unlikely that this is a one off issue with her behaviour.
3. Your dd saying others have done it is deflection of what she has done.
4. Sounds like she hasn't been honest and shown that she accepts responsibility as she is refusing to be truthful about who is involved and to what degree.

You can of course appeal an exclusion and you might be successful. What if you are not? Wouldn't she be better elsewhere?

I agree with above refuse the managed move and set everything out in writing for the governing body. Doing it now is really unthinkable. Tell them how sorry your daughter is and how you'll work with the school to improve everything. Moving her now is really not a good idea at all. So stressful - sorry. I think you need to tell them asap you're not accepting the managed move.

It all hinges on whether this is a permanent exclusion or not.
@LittleGreenDuck this is something the schools involved will be looking at and possibly why the 'full' school hasn't been approached because it's then setting the young person up to fail.
@oldsoulrebel all school have to have a 'blended learning' provision which is for students who are medically unable to attend school. This is either provided by the school or outsourced to an alternative provision provider or done online. The application for something like this normally has to be backed up by consultant letters, CAMHS letters etc but does cover mental health and anxiety etc, it's not normally something schools look at automatically for a permanent exclusion or a student At Risk of Exclusion, whereas managed moves for Year 11 are very much used as an 'alternative to exclusion'

My daughter was put on a managed move at the start of year 11. She also suffered with anxiety and managed 2 days at the new school before refusing . The original school then put her on to an online learning program for 6 of her GCSEs . I can't remember the name I'm afraid but it was virtual classrooms which were pretty interactive . (I don't know if she would have passed them in the traditional way because along came Covid and she passed from her predicted grades ) . It may be worth approaching the school although I believe it is not the norm as it is an expensive option for the excluding school .

Does the proposed alternative school offer the same GCSEs with the same exam board? I have no idea whether this would be taken into account but it seems unfair if she's been studying, for example, Spanish and the alternative school only offers French. Or if she's been studying Macbeth in English, but the alternative has been doing Hamlet.