Permanent exclusion

[MarilynAlice]

My son was permanently excluded from school 5 months ago I have been fighting it ever since as they were discriminating him and manipulating suspensions. I took it to an independent panel amd they quashed the decision of the governing body and directed they review the exclusion again because of how flawed it was. At the independent review they completely made up a new lie that my child strangled another child, they have literally re wrote incident forms and got the child to re write their statement nearly 5 months down the line saying the strangling took place, they have submitted these to the reconsideration panel, surely this is not allowed.

This isn't true. It actually means another school can be directed to offer him a place and can't refuse him. And school files are school files, they are never referred to, or passed on, once a child leaves school- unless he/she is a youth offender in which case the PX might be mentioned as a pattern of challenging behaviour. DH was excluded from school (temporary) as a teenager, after a fight, and is a Headteacher now.

There's no prove of any support, absolutely none, the school.have also pex 6 children in order 4 years

OP, step back for a moment.

If I asked you what was the number one priority for your DC right now, what would your answer be?

Hopefully, it'd be that your priority is to get him back into suitable education. If that is the case, then I'd strongly recommend you focus all of your energy into getting him a school place that works for him.

If what you say is correct, then of course it should be investigated and dealt with. If I were you I'd write to the local authority with your allegations and leave them to investigate while you deal with finding a school for your child.

I am saying this as someone who often deals with exclusion in a local authority. I understand your concern and anger. However, it sounds as if the relationship between you/your son and the school may have now broken down completely and is likely irreparable. PX is never taken lightly, schools do sometimes not get the process right but that does not mean you can make everything right by the child returning.
There should be an officer who works for the local authority whose job it is to try to help you think about what is the best solution here- for your son.

Returning to a school where the relationship has broken down may well not be the best thing.

I don't understand, as he is just 13, why he can not start at a new school and get settled and ready for GCSEs at the start of Y10. Why is he only being offered a PRU?

That he is, suggests to me there are serious concerns about his ability to manage in a mainstream school. PRUs are able to offer tailored programmes that are flexible and mix core and other GCSEs with vocational provision . Yes, of course some children are challenging but many are not and make very good progress in very supportive provision where there is access to more support and staff experienced in dealing with issues like ADHD.

When was your son diagnosed and by whom? Surely the school were involved in the diagnosis? Does he have an EHCP? What help does it say he should have? When was it last reviewed? Is he medicated? When was that last reviewed? You need this info to help you in the px discussion and to help you plan his future placement.

It is extremely difficult for a child to return successfully to a school following a px from that school. Other children will watch them and be wary of them or think it is funny to provoke them. Friendships will have moved on. Classes will have made a lot of progress with the curriculum and it will be very difficult to just slot in. Old grudges hang around. It is hard to adjust to being back in the restrictions of a place you feel does not want you back. He is likely to think the school will want him to fail.I have seen it work once or twice but more often than that I have seen it fail again very quickly. It requires absolute commitment, calmness and best behaviour from everyone. I always say to a school in this circumstance they should treat the child as if he/she is their best student- give them every support and opportunity, praise them and help them, be flexible, move mountains, so it stands the best chance. Often the child can not cope with the difficulty or the parent can not cope because they don't trust the school and actually behave in very unhelpful ways.

Please don't go in full of rage - it won't help. What is important is that he is in the right place going ahead, wherever that is.

And? All kinds of factors influence px rates. How big is the school? Were any from the same incident eg three involved in a gang carrying knives? Two in an assault on another child? 6 in 4 years is not unusual.

Some great advice from @LuluBlakey1 there, OP. Calm and measured.

That the strangulation wasn't mentioned (to your knowledge) earlier on does not mean it didn't happen.

He's been permanently excluded for telling a child to fuck off?
I imagine there's a long history of unreasonable behaviour and/or violence. Obviously I have no way of knowing the details of the 'strangulation' but the bottom line is, the school felt it was necessary to exclude your child. It wouldn't benefit anyone for him to go back there.

The excluding school will not have him back. The IRP can rescind the PEX but the excluding school will just get a fine with no right to return.
If this is his first PEX, he has the right to immediately go to another mainstream school and this should be arranged through the LA's Fair Access Panel (FAP) in a timely manner.
Does he have an EHCP?

I think there are some posts that have quite a nasty undertone here.
OP, I hope you’re ok as I know this can be a deeply distressing situation.
I have been in your situation myself - the Deputy made up a lie during the Independent Review Panel meeting - I was shocked. She wasn’t happy with the grilling she was getting and found a way to make things sound so much worse. My son’s school also falsified the minutes of a meeting. Schools unfortunately will change things to fit - I’ve seen behaviour incidents added to my son’s log that weren’t in a previous one despite them being earlier than the date I received it.
Keep fighting!

I think you misunderstand how this works. Minutes can't be falsified, for one thing, and for another, incidents can be added into the log at any point, and not necessarily in the order they happened.

The minutes of my meeting were falsified. It was completely different to what was said in the meeting. My audio recording proves this.
people should not believe that all members of staff at a school are trustworthy.

You know nothing. Suspension and exclusion is routinely used by primary schools to blame children with special needs for failures in the SEND provision. It's a major national scandal that is under reported because of discriminatory views that are held, displayed and acted upon by a large number of people towards autistic children and those with adhd. It's the sharp end of the total collapse in medical provision for children with these needs, via CAMHs, who won't see your child for literal years because of the waiting lists. There is no meaningful system of accountability. Governors are ill prepared and ill trained to deal with the issues when exclusions happen and close ranks. The SEND Tribunal, your only route to redress, is time consuming expensive and draining at a moment when your family is in acute crisis. It is sadly routine for schools to falsify documents to support exclusions.

You are picking the wrong battle to fight here OP. At the moment your top priority needs to be getting your ds to an educational setting that suits his needs. Clearly his original school can't, rightly or wrongly. PRU's can be great, I went to one and thrived there. Is it the stigma that worries you most? What are you as a family doing to manage his adhd? What is he taking responsibility for?

Sounds like a lot of conspiracy theory nonsense and very few facts I'm afraid.

Honestly op. I completely get why you feel a pru is not the best place for him. At 13 even if what they accuse him of was true it seems overkill. ? Have there been other issues or has he been suspended previously ?

Regardless it's really important that you get him to some sort of education asap as these are important years. If the head has bare faced lied and coerced a student into making a false statement then this is a fireable offence so they will not admit to this easily.or ever and it's going to be almost impossible to prove:

I know it's harsh but I would focus on finding the best alternative school for him asap and It doesn't sound like it's this one .

@Sofiabella unfortunately not conspiracy. I forgive you though as you speak from a place of ignorance.

Here is a link to some of the research on the issues undertaken by Birmingham University.

https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/acer/research/the-exclusion-of-autistic-pupils-from-schools#:~:text=Lifelong%20and%20Profound,throughout%20this%20period%20is%20clear.

Here's another one from the National Autistic Society:

https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/education/exclusions/wales/permanent-exclusion

And here's another one for the Timpson Review into exclusions that led to changes in the law in 2019 that haven't been effective.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachmentdata/file/807862/Timpsonn_review.pdf

A big part of the issue that parents like OP face is the prejudice arising from half baked Victorian views over 'naughty' children and the punishment they require. But hey, it's easier to blame a vulnerable parent and child than it is to accept that they are being failed at a systemic level.

@Sofiabella when you finish reading the other material. Here's a link on CAMHS waiting times for autism and adhd diagnosis. This goes directly to the very high school placement breakdown rate that leads to suspension and expulsion: (a) because children are not receiving the medical attention they need in primary school years (b) this impacts and delays EHCP funding for trained TA supports in schools (c) this sets them up to fail when they progress to Secondary

www.politicshome.com/thehouse/article/camhs-crisis-long-wait-neuro-screening

I neither have the time or inclination to read your waffle or random links.

I have years of experience working in schools specialising in exclusions so no ignorance (or over emotion!) here 🙂

Why is he not getting support for an ADHD diagnosis? Why is he not medicated? (Saying this as someone who takes ADHD meds)

Those links don't look random and that poster doesn't appear to be waffling

You do however appear to be proving @idreamoftoddlersleepytime point

You're missing the point. I haven't asked for any information so why would I sit and sift through something I have no interest in?
She started replying to my comments and spamming me with links, it's all a bit odd.

Not odd at all

If you tell someone what they have said isn't facts, then it's fairly understandable when they send you links to actual peer reviewed facts...

It's rather disappointing that someone who works in this area has no interest in research in this area though. Again somewhat proving that posters point

The comment she started spamming me in response to was me stating that
A - Permanent exclusions are not issued for minor reasons
B - Permanent exclusions involve ALOT of work for a school.
Both facts. I have no need to research I know the guidance and legislation inside out.

You said this:

Sounds like a lot of conspiracy theory nonsense and very few facts I'm afraid.

She sent you links to facts

So presumably your secret recording of the meeting showed straight away that the minutes were incorrect. In all meetings Ive attended, minutes are taken then circulated to see if all parties agree. Any disagreements are noted before the minutes are accepted as a true record of the meeting.