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!🫶

British people remain smug nearly a century after the event about the defeat of Hitler. Yet so many little fascists dwell in our country as evidenced by this thread.

I agree with those saying this punishment is abusive and should have no place in school.

Do you mean those who say what the OP’s DC did is unacceptable?

Or those who say yes, isolation rooms exist and can be a way to solve an issue in school? Tbh sitting and working in silence (yes, work should be given in the room, I think we all agree on that) should be the normal behaviour in lessons for a lot of the time anyway. I'm not sure why wanting a calm classroom with no majorly disruptive behaviour or students swearing at me makes me a fascist.

@noblegiraffe you're right about the pens. If it wasn't one of a few specific students in my classes I would often offer a pen in exchange for their phone. Funny how often they discovered they had a pen after all.

Pen in exchange for their phone is a very smart way of doing it, they aren't likely to leave the class with your pen then!

He's not working - he's being forbidden to work or go to the bathroom. It's bizarre. Like prison conditions.

Pretty shit school and policy. I’d not be supporting that waste of time.
I expect getting any changes to this policy would take a huge amount of time and clout.

This without question

Honestly if a parent treated their child this way at home I think social services would be involved. Isn't it a safeguarding issue?

He is allowed to go to the toilet. Just not unaccompanied.

We have all agreed that students in isolation are supposed to work. I would be astonished if on enquiry by the op, she does not discover that he is supposed to be working.

Yes if he has to sit without occupation or going to the loo for seven hours then I agree it's unacceptable. Pretty sure no one on this thread has said it is.

The OP is very clear.

I would be calling the police if they keep doing it.

From the op without the freedom of leaving even for just going to the bathroom unless accompanied by a member of staff

The op has not spoken to the school aboit the work aspect. Like I say, I would be very surprised if it was as suggested.

This type of sanction is absolutely inappropriate and potentially damaging. I’m shocked actually that this happening. Do let us know the outcome op.

I would too. I think supervising his walk to the toilets seems very sensible and reasonable. He has shown through his behaviour that he can't be trusted and it isn't fair on the others in school to let him go wandering about.

I would absolutely love to hear the police response to that phone call! 🤣

@Chichi444 I heard the head of a PRU on the radio this morning saying this type of punishment is completely inappropriate and he said no evidence to support it working. The pupils in his unit are the product of such punishments. He said schools never bother to find out what’s driving the behaviour. I don’t think what your DS did was awful. More curious. He presumably knows the word and obviously should not have used school equipment.

If it’s not clear from the behaviour and sanctions policy what punishment should be for inappropriate use of school IT, I’d be asking for a meeting with a member of SLT. If you cannot make sense of the policy, or it was applied incorrectly, I’d complain using the complaints policy. However I have to say I would never ever send a child to this type of school. Whatever happened to a good talking to by a member of staff? He just needed to be told! I agree with you that’s it’s too much and, frankly, it’s a lazy punishment. Hopefully another school can be found.

He said schools never bother to find out what’s driving the behaviour.

Thanks Mr. PRU head for chatting shite on the radio. Schools spend fucking hours trying to find out what's driving the behaviour. Once we find out, what can we do? There's no funding for MH support, no support services around schools anymore. We can't magic up PRU level support in a mainstream school, we don't have the money for classes of 4.

Today our DSL spent 3 hours with a child. He has the patience of a saint, and after those 3 hours, no one was really any further forward. No one has a magic wand.

Blood clot risk 😂😂😂

I think even in primary, if a child googled a word like that in IT the parents would be called in. My DC all signed IT policies in primary too.

The OP needs to go through the IT policy with her DS again and explain it. The school should have explained it and set some work so that it does not happen again.
I am quite surprised really as my DC were all taught in primary the dos and don’t around racism and internet use at school. They know where the red line is anyway (from us), but school definitely covered it. In primary, if things like this happen, the head usually covers it more generally in assembly again for all to understand. In secondary, there is so much about this kind of thing in assemblies and PSHE too.
I agree that isolation cannot be “fun”, or else the kids are incentivised to misbehave to go there. But it should not be unproductive or lack a learning opportunity nor be humiliating.
I think if it were my child I would be wondering if they had been selective in what they told me. Sometimes they do stupid things to impress someone else or be silly or as a dare.

😂😂😂
the learning happens by being placed in isolation away from their peers as a result of their unacceptable behaviour, not by their mummies telling them they’re going to be traumatised by having to sit in a different room for a few hours. Actually, it’s good practice for anyone going to work in a call centre!

Why would they need to get out for fresh air and a walk round? They’re not in Wormwood Scrubs!

Maybe the school holds isolation on an EasyJet flight 😂😂😂

Now that would be inhumane.

Sitting still with no movement is a risk. Some girls will be on contraception at secondary.

Its not a hassle to say people in isolation should do some leg exercises and stretch a bit and drink water if they are sat for 4 hours. You can even do them sat down. The nhs says to move every hour or so. Thats not a walk outside but a stand and wiggle.

It’s seems a totally disproportionate punishment to me and I wouldn’t want my kid in a school that had that kind of regime. There are other far more humane ways of disciplining children which have more effective long term results.

Sitting still in a chair for seven hours doing nothing but stare at a wall is not physically or mentally healthy. It does sound abusive.

Sitting in an isolation room doing schoolwork, homework or reading, with short breaks to get up and move around, and a longer lunch break, would be fine, although even that sounds excessive for just googling an inappropriate word. An after school detention would have been sufficient.