10 yr old son expelled from school today

[Edinburghschool2026]

This isn't a aibu but wanted the traffic.

My ds10 was expelled from school today. We are in Edinburgh and it's a state school. Could anyone with experience with Edinburgh Council explain how serious this is? Also What options there is.

Thank you

As has been said, it's in practice almost impossible to expel a child in Scotland, where even a child who has done something really terrible only gets a short suspension. That's presumably one reason why Scotland has the worst violence against teachers in the UK. And pupils are terrorised by bullies, with nothing being done to help them. The Scottish government is very, very against bullies suffering any consequences. Other children are being withdrawn from state schools and home-educated because of this, fgs.
Is there anything that you can do as parents? Have you taken advice from anyone?

This happened to us when our son was a similar age and like you we felt very low and ashamed. We understood the reasons for the school's decision but nothing we said or did changed his behaviour and reactions and school (he tried three different ones) just couldn't meet his needs at that time.

Like your son, ours spent a couple of years on a part time timetable. He later got an autism diagnosis and the disruptive behaviour burnt itself out post puberty which I think was a factor. He had a further 13 exclusions in late primary then through the first couple of years of high school. It's not uncommon with SEN but maturity and self regulation kicked in about age 15 and the disruption and exclusions stopped.

Just to say, I don’t think the poster above was meaning to be rude. It’s a big bone contention and endless frustration that young people don’t have something as protective as an EHCP in Scotland.

It’s great that England has them, but we have literally nothing that states a child’s need and requirements so clearly, so it can be frustrating when, in threads like this they are brought up, because yes, an EHCP review would be immensely helpful! 😅 (I know EHCP’s don’t always get implemented perfectly, but they are a great starting point!)

My son was excluded in an Edinburgh primary school when he was in p3, so a bit younger.

Similarly, he has ASN and was on a part time timetable with most of his half days involving forest school, Georgie Farm and going to the yard. He was barely in the school setting as he could not cope with it. The school were, and have been, amazing but he hurt a teacher when his fight or flight kicked in and was excluded.

He went back to school after his exclusion. We had a meeting with the school to discuss and update his CPM etc where they stated they where not the best setting for him and a specialist setting ot a school with a unit provisions may be more appropriate.

Or by there parents - so tired of hearing that it’s the system that’s let children down.

Op

sorry to hear this, of course you're feeling sad and low even if it's not a shock to you,
Take a deep breath and have a think about what you want next steps to be. Do you want support to homeschool until they find him a suitable place. Do you want him to have some time away to decompress, is there other therapies that you think he needs, I'd jot down you wish list before you meet with the school and local authorities to assess next steps. Unfortunately you are probably going to have to been the squeaky wheel here to get him every bit of support he needs .
sympathies op. It's always hard on parents when it's agreed that mainstream isn't working ,it does feel significant for parents to say that specialist provision is required for their child particularly when it's not straightforward.
Hugs.

You must be very worried. I’d like to wish you luck and to applaud your honesty. There are children who desperately need help that can’t be provided in a standard school setting. It helps when the parents accept that the school has done everything they can to accommodate their children. I hope you find somewhere that can help your son.

Because people in England can mean well but be quite England-centric, and not even stop to think that things will be different in Scotland even when they know it’s Scotland being talked about. You see it in lots of threads on legal issues.

They give you a letter on the process and what happens next.

you need to join a SEN parents group and get the information you need to find him a suitable placement.

Not sure what the procedure is in Scotland, but my son was excluded from school quite a few times as a child (sen related) in England. It helped because it was used as evidence towards an EHCP.

He is an adult now, works full time, has a girlfriend and is a lovely caring man who I am very proud of. It hasn't been easy and I remember those low points when he was excluded but try and think of it in a positive way that he will get the help he needs.

So I just want to add that on the letter I received today it said excluded. So that's officially what happened today.

I'm going to try and see this as a positive as he doesn't belong in mainstream school and even before today a application for special school has being made. So my hope is this now acts as more evidence.

Have you asked him what he did?

So not expelled, excluded.

What are the reasons they have given? You should have the right to appeal.

Although as PP said exclusion may help if you are seeking a move out of mainstream to a special school.

There are no ECHPs in Scotland, the only statutory plan is a co ordinated support plan which only a tiny minority of kids will ever be eligible for. Other plans can be agreed but they do not have formal legal
status

And have a hug OP so many of us have had so much despair over the years over our kids’ education. Hang in there.

It will say in the letter the reason for the exclusion but the OP doesn't have to divulge that information on this thread.

Hi, I’m in another country with different school and medical services. I just wanted to say once you find the weight school that can support your child, it takes time but usually things get better and you start to see progress. Hang in there, it is a hard road, best wishes to you and your family.

Part time timetables shouldn’t be used as a permanent or long term solution either. They are only supposed to be temporary.

Exactly as you say, this will build evidence. We're in England. My son's friend was excluded because of certain behaviour. Fixed term exclusion was the "standard tariff" at the school for that behaviour.

After that he spent a year out of class being taught 1 to 1. He later returned to mainstream learning with a 1:1. Many years later he got all As and A stars in his 4 A levels and got his pick of universities.

Unfortunately sometimes children have to reach crisis point to get the help they need. Best of luck in your fight for that special school place.

Of course she doesn't have to divulge this information but if she doesn't want to say what her child did, why create a post asking "explain how serious this is? Also What options there is."

The phrase ' the school cannot meet his needs' might be useful for you, it's not criticising the school.wnd acknowledges he deserves to have his need met. and it sounds like it's accurate. .

So he’s not expelled just suspended. How long for? As you say if he’s having issues with school this can help in his application for special school.

That's suspended not expelled then

Exclusion is the word they use for a suspension. If its for 5 days he goes back to the same school on the next school day.
What happens then is you go back into the same cycle of trying to get him the support he needs.
Honestly at this point if I were you I'd focus on getting him a place at a local high school with a good das and start pushing for that as it takes ages to get a Scottish council to agree the extra funding, will his primary support you in applying for an additional support placement at high school?

@Hoardasurass has given good advice. However, I'd like to add a note of caution: in a mainstream secondary setting, "support" often only consists of a restricted timetable, access to a support base when overwhelmed and sharing a Pupil Support Assistant with other children in class. (That was my experience as a PTC in another part of Central Scotland.)

Therefore, if special school access is at all possible, then that would probably be better.

I've worked in two campuses which housed both a mainstream school and a special school. [The latter term is still used in some Scottish authorities.] In that situation, it was sometimes possible for pupils from the special school to take certain subjects within the mainstream school, but with one-to-one support provided by the special school. [N.B. I retired from my permanent post 7 yrs ago, but only came off the teaching register last year.]

I don't know whether a similar set-up is available in Edinburgh, but it would be worthwhile making enquiries. I've found a link to a directory of special schools in Edinburgh. Clicking on the bold letters gives you the links for schools: those in turn have links to their full websites.

I don't wish to dishearten you, but the LA that I worked in stopped providing support for pupils within mainstream once they hit their 16th birthday. They'd still get exam accommodations, but no support within class. As a PTC I argued about this, but was met with shrugs.

Schools would encourage parents to consider college courses for S5 and 6, with the argument being that the children would be welcomed there since the colleges got extra funding for those with special needs.

If it looks like a mainstream school is the likely outcome, pay special attention to their support mechanisms. In my experience, in some schools, SLTs have tried to save money by combining specialisms.

For example, in one school we had Guidance Teachers, Behaviour Support Teachers and Learning Support Teachers - ideal. The school needed to save money, so they were combined into one Pastoral Department led by a former Guidance Teacher, so that there was no longer a need to pay three heads of department. The Guidance Teacher was lovely, but had no expertise in Learning Support.

Also consider the size of the school. Children with additional support needs often feel overwhelmed in the largest secondary schools.