To raise a formal complaint regarding school isolation

[HaudYerWheeshtYaWeeBellend]

Last week a group of 20-30 kids were throwing acorns at each other in the school playing field, a child who also throwing the acorns, got hit in the eye which I've been led to believe required medical treatment, teacher asked who hit the child and DS said he believed it was his acorn, and that he was sorry, and did not mean to cause anyone harm.

He was given a days isolation plus after school detention, however on the day with only 10 mins notice.

His head of year called and said as he admitted it was him, they had no choice to follow the isolation process, however admitted they thought it was harsh, however rules and rules which we will adhere to and support the school with.

DS has NEVER been in isolation.

My AIBU is, Ds was made to sit in a 2 by 4 booth, being made to sit upright and face a white wall for the whole of the school day. NO SCHOOL WORK WAS GIVEN AT ALL

He could not tell the supervisor he had no course work as he isn't allowed to talk while in isolation, and tbh nor should even have to ask for course work, its the supervisors role to ensure DS has course work, which is the policy in DS school.

Only one teacher called the isolation supervisor to ask if DS was present, however did not send course work, not one of his other 4 teachers called to ask if he was present.

The isolation supervisor has confirmed all of the above is true his HOY has advised us that they have passed it on to the isolation manager who will be calling me, however even after chasing it up everyday for the past week and leaving messages for them to call me I am still awaiting the phone call.

My own DS ended up requiring medical treatment as he endured a headache with sickness and sensitivity to light, ds has never had a migraine before isolation, which the A&E doctors advised was the cause.

Rebel I don't believe a word of it. As I said, the story is bizarre.

Just on the subject of injured pupils and posters expressing shock at my school apparently “ignoring the DDA”.

You’re wrong. My school DOES allow pupils who need to to leave lesson early to avoid crowds in the corridor. It DOES arrange things like a buddy to help the pupil to the dining hall/carry their tray. It DOES allow them to leave school early if a parent has to leave to pick up another sibling in a different school.

It DOES give a lift key to pupils on crutches. Previously when we had enough TAs, one of them would even accompany the injured pupil to lessons. Sadly we don’t have that luxury anymore as there are hardly any TAs left and the ones that are are accompanyig much higher needs SEN pupils. The fact that pupils are now given a lift key rather than a member of staff accompanying them IS a problem sometimes when there are a few pupils on crutches as there are now not enough lift keys to go round. Pupils were not returning the lift keys/saying they lost them etc and premises staff have been told they will not be given the money to arrange new ones as they are so costly (not standard keys) and the pupils are not careful enough with them. I don’t think school would charge a family for a replacement lift key because a lot of our families are on low income.

Howevr some of the buildings are old. We can’t change that. We were due for a rebuild and then the “Building Schools foe the future” funding was pulled so it didn’t happen. One building doesn’t have a lift as far as the top floor (complicated structural reasons) and there is not a cat in hell’s chance there is any money for a second lift to be put in that building.

A lift was installed in another one of the buildings at great cost for a year 7 pupil in a wheelchair who has gone through GCSEs, 6th form and is now at uni. The timetable was arranged around him so that all his classrooms were accessible. A school cannot possibly change a whole room timetable round for a pupil with a temporary injury. We are an old school, we simply don’t have enough spare rooms to play with.

re: pupils on crutches not being allowed to use stairs. they were when we had spare support staff to accompany them and ensure their safety. Unfortunately we are a boys school. Anyone who has worked in one will realise that boys don’t walk nicely down the corridor gossiping to their friends. Pupil safety is our greatest concern.

The other thing you may not have considered is that many parents REQUEST that their child on crutches works in the library or wherever as they have been advised by medical professionals that their child must rest as much as possible and they demand that they not move from the spot. While we can advise that this might mean they are missing out on valuable stuff covered in the classroom many of them don’t seem that concerned unfortunately.

In whose world are there enough TAs left to do 1-1 work elsewherewith an injured pupil in crutches who can’t get to an inaccessible floor? What utopia is this? I’d like to know where. Used to happen in my school, certainly, but those days are long gone

Lastly do you really not think that OFsted would not have pounced on us if were flouting the DDA?! When a school is doing everything they can for an pupil with a temporary injury with the resources they have then yes, that is good enough in their eyes.

How nice it must be for some schools who have modern buildings with lifts everywhere, model students who don’t treat lift keys like a piece of annoying rubbish or who run down corridors, have spare staff to work 1-1 with temp injured kids or to push them round in a wheelchair

How lovely for you. Some schools are stuck with the resources they have.

This has quite got my back up and I am sorry this has nothing to do with what the OP posted but I think some people don’t realise how schools can vary with their resourcing.

@cariadlet

“If she had been a pupil at the school where @Tranquiltess or @CurlyhairedAssassin teach she'd have effectively missed at least a term's education which would probably affect her GCSE results (not good for her or for the school.”

So, no, had she been a pupil a teacher my school She woukd NOT have missed a term’s education, don’t be silly. Yes, she would have struggled to access a couple of classrooms on a top floor, but in that situation the teachers based in those rooms would have met up with her regularly to ensure she was keepjtn up with the topics being studied in the classroom.

This thread is so silly. So many people, who don’t seem to have any experience of working in schools, are making huge assumptions about the way other schools are run just because of one or two comments. My school bends over backwards to help families who often come from very challenging circumstances. We know our pupils really well, we know the ones whose poor behaviour is because they’re just being lazy, entitled, moaning Kevins. And we know those who need a bit more leeway and support because of challenging family circumstances.

I’m not sure some of these outstanding grammars would be so tolerant of poor behaviour resulting from awful situations at home. Which is why perhaps they don’t need isolation rooms, eh?! They seem to try to get rid of such students pretty quickly....

So children who are healthy enough to be at school, are trying to keep up the attendance levels that schools always put in reports and want to be educated should be ignored?

Don't be ridiculous. They are not being ignored, they are being provided work and an accessible, quiet place to do it. Teachers will check returned work and make time to see the pupil individually.

Stop trying to cause an argument.

I would expect every school to be accessable to students with disabilities.
I don't think that's a ludicrous idea

And it is, as far as infrastructure can provide. As @CurlyHairedAssasin said, there is a major difference between a disabled child and a temporarily disabled child. We too will arrange a timetable around needs at the start of the year but then may be unable to disrupt (a minimum of) two classes temporarily for a short term injury, as there is no extra space. We only have one old lift in the main building, and although I remember the days of a TA helping pupils on crutches on stairs, exactly the same thing has happened ie few TAs left, all attached to high need SEN pupils. I don't know where you think the money would come from to remedy this?

It's yet another school thread in which non school staff are outraged at what has happened, yet fail to acknowledge the realities of the underfunded system when school staff who have experienced it try to explain. We might prefer a different outcome too, but that's not the way it works, unfortunately.

Well a wee update.

Meeting went well with some positive outcomes. Head unhappy with the whole course of action/Ds treatment, backed by his HOY.

On going into the meeting I madde it clear this was not regarding him getting isolation for his silly behaviour, but for how he was treated.

Made it also clear that I am aware how difficult there jobs can be, however as a parent if your asking my child to behave according to the school rules/polices, then the school also have to lead by example.

So outcomes

1, There will be no more last min isolation, DS was given no work due to said last min isolation, and school will adhere to there own policy of 24 hours notice.

2, School policy will not change, as teachers are given an email by HOY's the day before and is mandatory that work is supplied to the isolation email group which has the head CC'd in (I was shown examples of this)

3, Rules are now going to be changed in isolation in which children can approach the supervisors desk to ask for help/work to be given etc...

4, They are going to be selection of reading books/tasks in the isolation unit, in case work cannot be provided (ie teacher sickness/equipment failure) however head advised this would be rare.

I also asked for clarity on punishment on the school isolation behaviour sanction, explaining DS own disparity. head agreed there is currently inconsistency and its something she is trying to resolve atm.

DS isolation punishment is being taken off his class chart behaviour report (I wasn't bothered) as she agreed his punishment did not fit the crime, after his HOY made it clear DS had owned up to his behaviour, and is treatment in the isolation unit, resulted in his hsopital admission, even tho its not accurate that DS was the one to blame, and the injured child involvement in the same activity.

All in all, some positives and issues that the head is aware off , but trying to resolved.

In the end its been a positive out come, also been asked to attend the next board meeting (yes) and join the PTA (no)...

Now putting this thread behind me, Once again Thank you for your replies.

And excuse the very poor grammar and punctuation, been awake for over 24 hours as Ds2 was ill with a D&V bug last night.

Great result.
Were you on radio 4 this week about this? This policy of isolation is just awful. Inhumane

holidaylady, Not me, however have been following the news regarding it, my DC was not an extreme case, however reading the comments on this thread and hearing peoples experiences/treatment is quite frankly why its currently in the media, and hopefully some positive results will come form it.

Op, if you’ve been reading my posts, you probably know how I feel about lack of school funding not mixing well with (some) parents who mollycoddle their children somewhat.

However, In your case I’m shocked that points 1, 3 and 4 that you mention are not already happening in your child’s school. It does seem that there is a disparity between what is SUPPOSED to happen in a decent isolation room and what some schools are putting in place after misinterpretation or mismanagement , so a good outcome for you I think as you’ve helped to feed into their clearly inadequate behaviour system.

However I still think that there have been parents on this thread who have been up in arms at the very IDEA of an isolation room, who don’t really understand what it really entails and who might do better to read up a bit more on the subject, or maybe do a bit of work experience in an average English secondary school to get an idea of the type and volume of everyday bad behaviour that schools have to deal with nowadays.

BTW, the Irish school system sounds great to me. Built on common sense. Bet you don’t have a teacher recruitment crisis over there either....

By the way, people who argue against isolation rooms don’t, i think, see how much care and one-to-one attention is given to some children in these rooms, whose poor behaviour is a result of a chaotic family background. Much more than they’d ever get in a classroom of 30 kids. They are NOT torture chambers. They are intended to be a tranquil, warm place of calm and reflection with firm boundaries, experienced supportive senior staff and good learning resources. Any school who doesn’t provide this is doing it wrong. A lot of kids don’t get this level of calm and attention at home and will initially kick against it as they’re not used to it. It saddens me that sometimes such kids end up bouncing back and being the calmest they’ve ever been in such rooms. No distractions, noise or chaos etc. Full staff attention.

We shouldn’t HAVE to provide these rooms but unfortunately with our current level of government funding, not just in school itself but in the wider community for welfare services, they are a necessity.

Good result. I wonder if the current legal action influenced the school's decisions?

They are intended to be a tranquil, warm place of calm and reflection with firm boundaries, experienced supportive senior staff and good learning resources

That sounds decent. Ireland's notorious Kilmainham Goal was built with similar good intentions. It is up to teachers and parents to make sure that that is how they operate.

Well done, OP. You have helped more than your son by going in and complaining.

From reading your side of it, it seems the punishment in this case far outweighed the crime.

Regarding the wider issue of isolation rooms, I’m familiar with the outwood grange schools (in the court case) and the secondary I worked at operated a similar discipline policy. A child is given 3 warnings during one lesson, for disruption, followed by removal from the classroom if the warnings aren’t heeded, plus a detention. If that detention is failed, a longer detention is given, with a senior member of staff. If this is failed, it’s isolation room, and if that’s failed, fixed exclusion. This is a very successful attempt to reduce the disruption in classrooms and to allow the other children their right to safety and an education. Very few cases ever got to isolation room stage in my experience, generally children listen to a warning and adapt their behaviour. Some don’t. But within the discipline system as a whole, there’s many opportunities for a child to make the right choice and/or accept consequences for their actions. In my experience (17years) this sort of system has been very effective in making classrooms safer for everyone and allowing children to learn and teachers get on with teaching without abuse.

The isolation room could also be used for more serious offences, where a warning isn’t sufficient, such as violence against another child or member of staff. Or in an emergency, to separate children following a fight, for example, while it was investigated. It seems like in the OPs case, there was a bit of an overreaction due to a child getting hurt? But schools would take a child being physically hurt very seriously.

I think that most people would be pretty shocked seeing what it can be like for a child in a classroom these days. Over the last 10 or so years, as funding in schools and outside support agencies has vanished, the problems in classrooms are immense. Schools have had to take measures to try to protect all children.