Isolation rooms in schools

[Chichi444]

Hello !

So my sons school has very strict behaviour policy which includes Isolation rooms which pupils are sat in without the freedom of leaving even for just going to the bathroom unless accompanied by a member of staff and and are expected to remain silent and have no school work given to them and these pupils are given no movement breaks.

This punitive measure is given for even the most minor slip ups such as not having the right uniform or for more serious behavioural issues.

My 11 year old son in year 7 and he was given two consecutive days of Isolation which he sat for 7 hours in a row without movement break so altogether 14 hours , for nothing which was severe enough for to be punished that way.

I was told that he was to sit a third 7 hours in isolation.
Ive decided to challenge their decision as I feel the reason for it didn’t warrant such harsh punishment.

Ive wrote to the principal requesting to review but meanwhile my son isn’t in school as the school told me that whenever he returns to school he will have to sit the isolation.

Now what I’m asking is has any parent out there ever challenged the school on such matters what was you experience and eventually the outcome?

Any input would be so helpful thank you!🫶

It's not disproportionate though. Violating the ict policy and using racist language is a completely reasonable reason to issue an isolation.

What was the other reason?

7 hours is the length of the school day so of course it will be 7 hours. No breaks for that time is ok for a one-off. And isolation should only be a one-off. 3 days is not normal and there's obviously a reason you're refusing to say what else he did to warrant it. The no work to complete is odd. But I would question the truth in that. But again, 1 day with no work isn't going to de-rail his education. If he keeps getting isolations it might, but you need to step up as a parent to prevent that.

What was he thinking? Typing the N word into a computer when he was supposed to be doing a lesson. Any use of the N word, by anybody in any situation, is a massive red flag for any school and is always dealt with seriously. Being mixed race has nothing to do with it; he chose to muck about in a lesson and type in a banned word. Why? To blatantly flout school rules? To wind up and disrespect his teacher? To see how far he could push the boundaries? To show off to his pals and disrupt the learning? What's more, it was deliberate and cannot be attributed to being dysregulated, like an explosive outburst of some kind. You may think the consequence is disproportionate to the rule breaking, but being in year 7 provides an opportunity to turn this kind of behaviour around. It is extreme compared with a lunchtime detention of reflection in the headteacher's office, which might have happened at primary school, but it will be in the school's behaviour policy. As regards not doing anything, I don't think you are getting the full picture here.

It's your reaction people are struggling to understand. He just needs to be told to get on with it.

Sorry am I understanding this right? The school forces your 11 year old son to:

• sit in a room by himself completely silently for 7 hours
• he is not allowed to leave the room to go to the toilet without being escorted
• he is not allowed to have a break to walk around or stretch his legs, just sat in a chair for 7 hours
• he is not even given any school work???

If that’s right this is absolutely bonkers. This sounds like straight forward abuse without even the pretext of education, because they’re not actually giving him any work to do or making him do self directed learning.

Is he given lunch? Water? Is he allowed a book?

I would be finding a new school as soon as possible.

I think people are focusing on your son's behaviour (which is obviously wrong!) and ignoring your question. The school have a legal duty to educate your DC. Yes there may be instances when they can isolate a child in order to keep other pupils safe but DC shouldn't be removed from the curriculum as a punishment. Isolation with movement breaks and an education - ok, 7 hours in isolation without education or movement breaks - not ok. Two wrongs do not make a right.

I would never send my child to a place like that. It's abusive.

I'd move him to a decent school.

This. If this is indeed the case then it's completely out of order.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/jul/30/court-upholds-isolation-booths-schools-england

I think normally the child isn't on their own. It's a set up like in the photo with a teacher supervising.
They are normally given work to do and have breaks at different times from the rest of the school.

Schools that use these draconian isolation punishments often focus them on any kid who they stereotype as naughty, and they aren't operating separately from the rest of society. The teacher's biases will not be helping and I expect it is definitely a factor that your son is mixed race, OP. There are some horrific stories out there of how Black children are being systematically deprived of their education through these punishments. Every day they are isolated makes it harder to catch up and understand what the rest of the class is being taught so they fall further behind. It has been going on for years now in some schools. See www.voice-online.co.uk/news/2025/12/02/isolation-room-ban/

As for those who are saying 'if he did the crime he should do the time' give your head a wobble! He was googling something innapropriate, not setting the school on fire. This should be fodder for a standard lunchtime or after school detention not being deprived of an entire day of his education!

I have no answers for what you can do about it. I expect the school will not listen to any protest you have. If this goes on I'd suggest trying to find a place for him at another school if you can honestly. I know that's easier said than done

Yes to lunch and water

There are some schools in my area that are extremely strict and you can end up in an isolation like this pretty easily. I can't say I like the approach but it gets results and therefore the schools are popular. They are very up front about their approach though so parents know what they a signing up for! If it's that type of school you are going to be fighting a losing battle about how they handle behavioural issues. If it's possible it might be better to move your son to somewhere that's a bit more relaxed/ less like an army camp.

It sounds like what you’re considering is challenging a major feature of the schools behaviour policy.

Relatively early in your child’s time at school, and at a point where the child has definitely done something that is a clear breach of the schools code of conduct or equivalent. You’re also undermining the schools approach to managing behaviour in front of your child. That sets a really, really poor foundation for your child’s perception of behaviour standards and consequences going forward.

It also sounds like you’re not actually understanding the concept of the isolation rooms. From what you’ve said the intent is to remove the child from the normal school activities for a set period, whilst also keeping them in the rhythm of school attendance. They’re expected to study independently, and in silence. They’re not given free rein to go and roam the corridors under the guise of going to the toilet. They’re allowed to go to the toilet but without that free roaming with potential to cause trouble aspect. Keep in mind that drug dealing in schools generally takes place under the guise of going to the toilet. It’s a major challenge in behaviour management at school.

If you’ve got concerns, talk to the school, but make it specific, be open to learning, and respect their expected standards of behaviour and need for consequences to exist. I’ve seen that style of engagement work well. Arguing the concept because you don’t agree and you think your child’s behaviours are ok I’ve not seen work well, and often associated with behaviour deteriorating further over time as it undermines respect for appropriate authority.

On your points:

• toilet access - sounds like suitable arrangements are made when required.
• movement breaks - nice to have but not necessary for that time frame for a healthy secondary school age child. They’re expected to know it’s coming, they can get their daily exercise before or after school.
• boring - that’s generally the point.
• work to do in the time - constructive point to raise with the school. Maybe some sheets of maths and English exercises could be provided, or he can take a suitable book to fill the time that homework doesn’t.

I don’t agree with the specific punishment. Haven’t heard of schools doing that before. I know another school who suspended a boy for something similar to what your son has done. It was taken extremely seriously.

@Chichi444 I’m sorry this has happened to your son. A research paper was published in October about these internal exclusions. I think it would be worth you trying to have a constructive conversation with the school about their behaviour policy reflecting the most up to date and evidence based research. Please have a read. As a teacher, I think these isolations are dreadfully archaic and in most forward-thinking education systems are not being used.

https://bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/berj.70049

For everyone saying, “He broke the ICT agreement, he deserves punishment”, I agree but as a child, he also has a right to an education. Google translating a slur should not equate to losing 3 days of learning. Perhaps, not being allowed internet-enabled devices during his school breaks would be more appropriate (as it sounds like this happened during break?)

Supervised visits to toilets is fine. How else can the school ensure that kids aren’t going to go and find their friends or something different?

Sitting there with no work is pointless. If they don’t want to create more work for teachers then reading a book or something would be more appropriate. I know it creates more work for teachers when kids bring in something to push boundaries like a manga with nudity but maybe they need to have a set of books in the room that kids can read or something.

At the school my kids went to, kids in isolation got a movement break when the rest of the school weren’t on break because seeing your friends during isolation is obviously not ok.

Suspending someone for searching inappropriate words on the school network is fine imo. Kids are taught this since primary and know that computer use at school is much stricter than an home (no games etc) I completely disagree that you can’t be racist if you’re mixed race (I am mixed race too)

Your son has been suspended for not complying with the isolation punishment. This is totally normal.

Many schools use isolation as a punishment at high school. In our day you'd just be suspended, so it's a way of keeping them in school but away from friends.

The only thing I would be questioning here is are they really given no work to do? Ours tend to get set work sheets to do, which are already available to the teachers covering isolation so there is no extra work for their teachers.

thank you for sharing the link for the study @FunnyOrca I had come across it when I first starting researching this whole thing.

There’s so much evidence online from educated groups such as psychologists on what a negative effect isolations has on pupils and you are right I should bring this type of research forward to the school.

What consequences do you think should have been given to your son? @Chichi444

I'm interested to know what you would suggest for kids who wind up the rest of the class, encourage their friends to mess around on the computers, constantly talk back to the teacher, make it impossible to teach or learn.
Keeping them in the classroom is insane, no?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0r425pyl57o

I feel like banging my head against a brick wall.

As a former senior manager in secondary school, who was amongst other things i/c behaviour, this does seem a daft condequence. HOWEVER, there are peopleon this thread who seem to think that all behaviour is for a reason and seem to not have other ideas as to what over consequences would be either appropriate or effective.
MOST poor behaviour from teenagers (or pre-teens) is due to entitlement and trying to fit in. Trying to 'be cool' infront of peers. Being seen to be defiant to adults is a common theme. Disruption of lessons is usually a result of the above.
Internal seclusion can work. Consequences need to be something that teenagers do not want to repeat.
At the end of the day, most people do not want their children's education disrupted by the few. The message needs to be simple to children. These are the rules. They are not difficuilt to follow. Ignore them and these are the consequences. Tough... get on with it and learn the lessons from your errant behaviour!
Unfortunately there are a small, but growing minority of parents who will try to look for excuses for their children. They will believe their child before professionals in school. (Children lie if it suits them.... 'It was't me!')

Schools can and do put in supportive measures to try to help those who struggle to behave, but the bottom line is, and always should be, FAFO.

(This is not aimed at the OP, but a general comment on behaviour and consequences in schools)

You won’t get much support here - most replies come from teachers who spend their working day on Mumsnet instead of teaching, all while taking the moral high ground.

Most isolation rooms in secondary schools do not work like the one described in your OP - children are usually set work and have breaks. Three days would also generally not happen in my school, if it were serious that would be an exclusion.

It’s entirely reasonable to query these aspects of the policy.

However if you are going to attack the mere idea of taking pupils out of lessons for poor behaviour on the basis that it is damaging to them, that has to be balanced against the damage caused to the education/wellbeing of the children in the class if they are not removed.

Exactly this! I couldn't believe what I was reading. It sounds like something more suitable to a high security prison. I would definitely be taking my child out of that school. I would've thought a reasonable way to deal with what he did would be more like having a conversation with him on why what he searched for was inappropriate and at max get him to write an essay or do an hour's detention. Not 21 hours isolation with nothing to do except stare at a wall. It seems extremely heavy-handed and damaging to the trust and relationship between the school and your son.