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

Look closely at private schools available to you.
Pay for your son to attend a school that meets his needs.
Take their advice on how to help DS at home.

@Edinburghschool2026 I live quite near you and previously worked for Edinburgh Council. As your son has been excluded from school they have to find him a suitable placement in another school. The school has failed your child and you can also appeal the decision. Look into the framework that is used in schools, eg.. GIRFEC, SHANARRI and The UN Convention for the Rights of the Child.

https://share.google/lu5xQq5m3lnl27Qte

pins-my-child-has-been-excluded-from-school-booklet-web.pdf https://share.google/6Nlvu0NPdfoYxuYR4

Immediate Steps:

Notification: The school must inform you as soon as possible, usually with a letter detailing the exclusion's length (fixed-term or permanent) and reasons, including how to challenge it.
Parental Responsibility: For the first five school days, you are responsible for ensuring your child isn't in a public place without good reason, or you could face prosecution.
Meeting: A meeting with the school is usually arranged within 7 days to discuss the exclusion and work towards the child's return.
Types of Exclusion:
Fixed-Term: For a set number of days (up to 45 school days in a year), after which the child returns to school.
Permanent: The child is removed from the school register; the local authority must find them a new school place by the sixth day.
Your Rights & Next Steps:
Appeal: You can appeal the decision to the Education Appeals Committee (part of your local authority).
Seek Support: Contact Enquire (for additional support needs), ParentLine Scotland (for parenting support), or Citizens Advice for guidance.
Local Authority Policy: Every local authority has its own exclusion policy, reflecting Scottish Government guidance.
Key Focus:
Scottish policy emphasizes early intervention and alternatives to exclusion.
If a permanent exclusion occurs, the local authority must arrange alternative education provision.

Try not to stress about the situation, it's not as bad as you think. This may actually work in your favour and your DS could be placed in a school with the support he needs. Wishing you well xx__

I know that only too well with CAMHS and my dd. This was for an eating disorder and we went privately because they were so crap and couldn’t diagnose as they couldn’t work which box she fell into. What actually happens is that she falls into more than one and that doesn’t work for their diagnostic criteria and dd signed herself off at 16. We are also paying for the ASD assessment at a cost of £2100. Very expensive if you have 3 kids.

In any group of adults a percentage will have special needs and some were never diagnosed. They were children once. School is overwhelming for some and 9/10 is when the social demands become more complicated. Lots of kids struggle in school it just looks different depending.

I can’t see the rudeness.

It might be worth asking MN to delete your thread and start a new one saying DS has been suspended/temporarily excluded.

I think you want advice on how to use this as leverage for getting DS the support he needs at a specialist school? Is that right?

In Scotland…

It is unlawful for exclusion to be used as a way to manage disability - that would be disability discrimination. This is a duty on the education authority (council) as well as the school so if the school is unable to manage his needs as a result of his disability then the education authority must place him in a school that can. Ongoing part time timetables that do not form part of a plan to put sufficient support in place and that last more than six weeks is unlawful exclusion.

The education authority is expected to provide alternative education after three days and this must be in a form the child can engage with and learn from - simply sending work home is not sufficient. Again it must take account of his disability. Support put in place for his disability must also continue during the period of exclusion.

This is all well and good but the reality is exclusion often is used as a way to manage disability so when you have your meeting (must be within 7 days) you must ask what plans they (the council as well as the school) are putting in place to meet your child’s needs moving forward. Take your own notes. Do not go to the meeting alone with your child - take your partner or a friend (who can take notes) - you are entitled to take an advocate or parent supporter with you to meetings.

....or people could be a bit less hung up on language in a stressful situation. What an indictment that a parent has to find ' leverage' to get a distressed child's needs met.

Lick your wounds tonight but then absolutely use this as ammunition to get the support that your ds needs and deserves.

ds1 was likewise permanently excluded at ten. We were devastated. But with benefit of hindsight it meant he got a place in a special school that met his needs far better than mainstream. He stayed in the special school sector through secondary but returned to mainstream for sixth form. He successfully managed university and is now working. Things can and do improve. The one thing I would have done different is refuse a placement in another mainstream school unless / until extra support had been put in place (they tried this with ds1 and the placement lasted all of 3 weeks). In retrospect this was doomed to failure and put ds1 (and us) through totally unnecessary stress and trauma.

Yes, it's just that easy to pay for a private school, isn't it?

This is possibly the worst advice, as once the child is in a private school paid for by the parents, the local authority can just wash their hands of him.

I love this post. Some people really do live on a completely different planet from most of the population.100 points for money-earning and ZERO points for powers of observation.

Someone asked of they could private message me. Yes I have now changed settings to allow private messages.

Indeed. It would be FABULOUS news if the Scottish government were permanently excluding kids, as then the majority could learn in safe, calm environments. Sadly not..

Plus there are very few people who can rustle up the thousands of £ it costs to pay for a private school. Also, many private schools are not particularly good at pastoral care, especially when special needs come into the mix.

I had a state school learning support colleague who earned extra by providing additional tuition to children who travelled to a well known Edinburgh private school every day. These were not children with a high level of need.

To clarify: the parents were paying him to provide the additional tuition.

I'm not rude, I'm factual. And again, it's ASN here, not SEND. Talking about the English system isn't helpful. OP has had lots of advice now about Scotland. I'm sure you're very well intentioned, but it's really different here.

Apologies, I completely agree with you. I was meaning to reply to another poster.

Thank you. I wasn't being rude, just factual. And I agree with you about EHCPs- we need them or something like them.

I’m not in Scotland, there are others here who can give more detail. National Autistic Society has an overview. I think This is the full guide on Government website

There is also detailed information on government website on

The third link on my post was re ASN
www.gov.scot/policies/schools/additional-support-for-learning/

The comment about just paying for private school has made me roll my eyes so hard! I looked into into it for my wonderful ASD/ADHD child who is having a hellish time at secondary: £30,000 a year, plus the extra support in school would have to be paid for separately (by me), plus the schools within reach geographically all require children to pass stringent entrance exams. So, yeah, my child is still being failed in the state system and will continue to be unless I win the bloody lottery.

Sorry! Missed the link! Here it is.

https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/directory/10189/a-to-z/B