To object to this punishment ?

[School99]

My son is doing his GCSEs at local secondary school. They give lunchtime / break time / afterschool detentions for misbehaviour (ranging from not wearing a tie to constantly talking /disrupting class) which I support.
They also do a thing called internal exclusion which is where pupil has to sit in a different room all day with no lessons and nothing to do. My son has been told he has to do this on Monday for what I think is not a serious offence. Apart from thinking the punishment is not appropriate for the crime, I actually think this punishment is not at all appropriate in any circumstances- surely missing out on lessons when doing GCSEs is just setting them up to fail ? How is that teaching them to behave according to the school rules ?? I would object less if they were isolated but got their normal work given to them but they don’t even do that. I’m not really happy about the punishment - is this standard across all secondary schools ? I’m thinking of contacting the school to voice my views/objections but not sure if there’s any point ??

I would assume he would at least be allowed to read/revise - so if no other work is given, I would encourage him to use it as focused revision time. Assuming he has books/access to materials related to the subjects he is studying, he could also read ahead - it may be that he quickly grasps whatever concepts/topics were to be covered in the lessons he will miss - perhaps make notes so he can research the topics himself. At least then when he returns to class he may only have to ask a few questions to fill in the gaps. I don't know what he's alleged to have done but I would've thought at the very least, any decent teachers would likely be impressed if he used the time like that and used his own initiative/motivation to minimise the educational impact of the isolation period. Also an opportunity to develop self-study/research skills.

He could take in his Science text books and read them and make a few revision cards. No teacher would say stop working on Science GCSE'S to sit doing nothing.

Your child did not follow rules and is being sanctioned.
Unless there is some serious misconduct by the teachers, you need not be involved; in addition your child may be lying to you about what the offence was.
You might have a better influence by punishing the child yourself in addition to the school, then you could set a task and see it was completed.

Yes, you are probably being U. as PPs have said, in most secondary schools this is for more serious issues. The school almost certainly has a clear policy on sanctions. Without knowing the nature of your son's misdemeanor, it's impossible to say for sure whether it's fair or not.

Check the school discipline policy to gain some extra info. Maybe contact the school to find out what has really led to the exclusion.
Really need to support the school.....

Rather than object to the punishment, try objecting to the behaviours.

It might be that the final incident wasn't a serious issue, but it's part of a pattern of issues.

I know a few schools will use internal exclusion for repeated patterns of behaviour that disrupt learning because it's still persistent disruption.

Or a student ends up in internal isolation not for the original issue, but for the events that followed. For example, the student does something that's outside expectations, the teacher challenges it, but instead of doing what they should, the student argues back, refuses to follow instructions, disrupts the class. They aren't in internal exclusion for the first issue. They're in there for the defiance and disruptive behaviour that followed.

It would be interesting to find out what the behaviour was.

I’d be asking what work he is going to be set and is there an opportunity to catch up on the lessons he will miss

Internal inclusion is an alternative to exclusion and is standard in schools.
Work is provided and they work in silence away from the other students. Some schools stagger inclusion from 1-7pm which students dislike.
It sends a strong message that bullying/ swearing/ rudeness/ truancy/ dodging detentions/ vaping is not tolerated.
Whatever your child did, the school deem inclusion necessary.
Support the school , don't undermine them.

I’d support the school and pull your child up for his poor behaviour that led to a quite serious consequence. Honestly, you will be doing him a favour supporting the school in teaching your child that actions have consequences.

I'd he asking him to behave

Tell your child that whatever they did is unacceptable. Why should the teacher spend time setting work? They have the rest of the class to teach and frankly in year 11 the other kids will be more than happy the disruptive child is finally removed. It's year 11 for every child not just your child and frankly they will be annoyed at your child for taking up the teachers time. When your child is disruptive their actions affect everyone else's GCSE, think about that for a second Its year 11 by now your child should have realised the school rules.

State schools are limited now in what punishments they can consider. The one you are describing is one for the most serious offences. So if your son has done something the school thinks warrants it, then yes it's needed.

Perhaps be frustrated with your son rather than the school, he could have chosen not to do whatever it was and then not be punished.

Even if (which I really doubt is the case!) your son isn’t being set work, I’d expect him to get off his arse to find a useful way to spend his time - reading ahead in the textbooks, past papers etc. The fact that he’s expecting to sit there all day, not learning, speaks volumes.

Once again, I'm so glad that the disciplinary processes that are used in the UK are not used in Ireland.

I don't agree that there's any useful purpose served by a student sitting in isolation, with work to do or not (and I agree with PP that there is likely work given).

I wonder if there's any evidence that this is a successful approach to remedying behavioural issues?

It serves a useful purpose of getting a disruptive pupil out of the classroom so others can get on with their learning.

What happens in Ireland?

There may not be but at least it gives the other pupils, and staff, a break!

I think it’s really bad that he’s missing lessons in Y11 due to his poor behaviour, but it’s him I’d be reading the riot act to, not the school.

There would be the usual sanctions of detention, meeting with parents, suspension ultimately.

There's challenging behaviour in Irish schools of course, but the idea of isolating students is not considered suitable.

I see the point about the break for others but it seems really counter-intuitive in terms of addressing the actual issues.

Yes, of course this

It works because it takes disruptive pupils out of the classroom. By year 11 the majority of kids just want to get their heads down at get good grades. Why should they be prevented to do this by one disruptive pupil eating up all the teachers time?

Absolutely.
I work in a school and parents who constantly second guess what is going on, complain when their child is sanctioned and so on do not help anyone - including their child.

Yes, if you have a one-off issue, speak to the teacher or the head, but usually if little Johnny misses break or is put in detention there is a good reason for it.

Most of the disruptive kids in my child's school have had between years 7-10 have had many interventions and guidance around their behaviour, I'm sorry but if they don't get it by year 11 the rest of the class has to come first

It works because it takes disruptive pupils out of the classroom.

But it doesn't, presumably, address the behaviour of the disruptive child?

I'm obviously not familiar with the situations and not meaning to be argumentative. I assume we have similarly disruptive children in Ireland (I haven't come across it in my DC's schools or heard about it but assume it happens, obviously) and perhaps this is used & I haven't heard about it.

I just am concerned about isolating an already challenging student - how does it address the behavioural issues?

@Maxus

I suppose that's fair enough. Sad to hear.

It must happen here but I wonder if to a less extent?