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Original poster

Any exclusion experts about?

30 replies

Desperatelyseekingsupport · 15/05/2012 19:49

Ds has SEN and was excluded by school on Friday. He only attends part-time because school do not think he could cope with full days (although we do not agree with this). He was excluded of 2 days but because he only attends part-time they have made it into 4 actual days i.e Fri-Thurs. Can they do this? I have tried to contact the county exclusion officer but she is not returning my calls or answering my e-mail Hmm. Any advice would be a big help. Thanks.

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EBDTeacher · 15/05/2012 20:28

I have no advice but your school do not sound very supportive at all.

Do they have a unit/ base for children with the type of SEN your DS has? Do they fully understand how to meet your DS's needs, do you think? Sounds to me like they are just trying to minimise the impact on them.

Do you have any other placement options for your DS? There might be more advice going in the Special Needs area.

Original poster
Desperatelyseekingsupport · 15/05/2012 20:48

Thanks EBDTeacher. The school have been very supportive but I am beginning to think that they don't want him there anymore. They do have an area fro SEN children to go to but not a unit as such. he has no diagnosis at the moment so without that he can't access schools which may be better for him.

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EBDTeacher · 15/05/2012 20:58

Perhaps they are running out of ideas about what to do.

Have they refered him for any assessments? Ed Psych?

MoaningMinnieRisesAgain · 15/05/2012 21:05

I don't know the answer to this, my instinct is that they cannot implement the exclusion on a prorata basis - he was excluded for 2 days, not 12 hours or whatever.

I think www.childrenslegalcentre.com/these people will be able to support you, or phone on 0808 802 0008 (freephone)

Arriety · 15/05/2012 21:25

ACE and IPSEA both have some info that is good. My gut feeling is also that the school can't pick and choose. He is either full time or part time and if they exclude, a day is what his school day is.

bigTillyMint · 15/05/2012 21:29

I have never heard of this, but as there are so many informal illegal exclusions occurring in so many schools, it doesn't surprise me.

I work with children who are not coping in mainstream. It may not be that they don't want him, but that they are just not able to meet his needs. Whatever the case, you need to get them to organise a multi-agency asap so that you can get to the bottom of what the problem is and make a plan for what is going to be the best for your DS next.

Arriety · 15/05/2012 21:30

If you post in the Special Needs section you will get some really good advice as there are some incredibly knowledgable people there. HTH.

GetDownNesbitt · 15/05/2012 21:38

I replied on your other thread - if the incident happened Friday, then Inwould expect Monday and Tuesday to be the days of the exclusion with readmittance on Wednesday- so only one extra day seems to have crept in.

Original poster
Desperatelyseekingsupport · 15/05/2012 21:47

The incident happened first lesson Friday and he was excluded then so he missed practically all of Friday too.
arriety I am a regular on the SN board Smile but thought I'd post in education as not everyone looks at the SN boards.

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ragged · 16/05/2012 17:58

I think they have the discretion to interpret "two days" as they see fit (within reason, & 4 half days would be within reason).
Hope you find some better support for him, soon.

whenskiesaregrey · 16/05/2012 18:13

I would have expected a 2 day exclusion. When there are school holidays, he doesn't get twice as long, does he. His academic years don't go on twice as long. So I think they are being unfair. If its a 2 day exclusion, then that is what it should be.

Original poster
Desperatelyseekingsupport · 16/05/2012 18:38

Well, today they call to say they are 'happy' to have him back but are worried about the risk of permanent exclusion so perhaps we would like him to work at home full-time for the next few weeks! They effectively now want us to agree to an illegal exclusion. I Have refused this as he has been part-time for 6 months now and my dh's health is deteriorating because of it. Apparently if the Head had been there on the day he would have been permanently excluded (my ds was told on the day that the HT had approved his exclusion and he was in school). They clearly do not want him there so I have requested an urgent review of the statement in the hope of finding my son a school which will support him.

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EBDTeacher · 16/05/2012 18:52

What type of SEN do you suspect your DS of having?

Original poster
Desperatelyseekingsupport · 16/05/2012 19:46

Probably ADD/aspergers with maybe a few other things.

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Original poster
Desperatelyseekingsupport · 16/05/2012 19:48

Probably ADD/aspergers and possibly something else.

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Original poster
Desperatelyseekingsupport · 16/05/2012 19:49

ASD I mean.

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EBDTeacher · 16/05/2012 20:03

You say he has a statement though? What does it state his needs to be?

If he is at risk of permanent exclusion at his current setting there is no way the setting can be meeting his needs. You can push your authority to demonstrate how they are going to meet the needs outlined in the statement. If there is no setting 'in county' that can meet the needs you need to start hassling them to find and 'out county' placement that is more appropriate. (Not necessarily out of the county geographically, might just be independent.)

Original poster
Desperatelyseekingsupport · 16/05/2012 20:06

Statement is for BESD - we have been years trying to get a diagnosis but he's complex.

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ILoveOnionRings · 16/05/2012 20:08

If the letter states 2 days then it is 2 days eg Monday & Tuesday. If the letter says 4 sessions then it can be over 4 days as he attends 1 session a day (each day is 2 sessions - am and pm)

If a student has 15 days worth of exclusions per term then a governors meeting is/must be arranged.

Also looking back at your first post if the incident happened on Friday, after am registration, he would have been classed as present in school and the exclusion should have begun on Monday.

If he works from home then school must provide work, schools must provide work too for the duration of the exclusion but this work is not necessarily what will be covered in class.

The Headteacher does not have to be in school to authorise an exclusion.

bigTillyMint · 16/05/2012 20:12

Have PM'd you.

DeWe · 16/05/2012 20:16

Can you use the exclusion with the school to force the hand that opens extra help? I know there was a child excluded (with parental agreeement) from Ds' school because they felt he needed more help and this openned doors for what he needed.

clam · 16/05/2012 20:16

Really, onionrings? 15 days per term? I was told (by my HT) today it was 5 per term, and 15 therefore in an academic year. 15 a term sounds an awful lot, actually.
I have a pupil who's nearing 5 days this term already... Not sure what happens after that.

Original poster
Desperatelyseekingsupport · 16/05/2012 20:27

The letter says exclusion is for 2 full school days and that means Friday - Thursday due to his flexible timetable.

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ILoveOnionRings · 16/05/2012 20:30

Hhhhhhmm Clam - doubting myself now, I will see if I can find the info

Desperately if it is 2 full days then it cannot include Friday as that would make it 2.5 days

EBDTeacher · 16/05/2012 20:33

We have many children at my (SEBD) school who's statements say behaviour is their primary need but the behavioural difficulties have actually been caused by complex, unmet needs.

An SEBD placement id not right for every single one of them. However, the benefit of an effective SEBD school is much smaller classes where there is a better chance of any need being undrestood and met.

Does your county have any specialist SEBD provision? If not you could 'allow' him to be excluded from mainstream and then insist on an SEBD placement being found?