My son Freddy was 11 years old when he was first excluded from school. Having been diagnosed with autism and learning difficulties, he had been well-supported in a special needs nursery and mainstream primary school with one-to-one learning support. But then came the transition to secondary school and with it, the gaping chasm between the needs of the child and family and the capacity of the school and local authority to act or support.
After just 12 days (only five of which he had been allowed to attend) our vulnerable son, whose needs were already fully documented, was permanently excluded.
Despite the fact that his known food allergies were ignored, exacerbating his behaviour, and that the one-to-one support to which he was entitled had not been provided, our appeal failed.
Following Freddy’s exclusion we were left totally alone to juggle the anxiety and complexities of an autistic child with two full-time jobs and the needs of our younger child. There was no childcare support, no suggestion of an alternative placement, no social work guidance, no advocacy, no counselling or CAMHS support, not even a place in the SEND holiday scheme.
Freddy was struggling to cope with the stress and distress of being excluded and was provided with only three hours a week of tutor time. This left him isolated and did not constitute an education.
For many months, there was only one beacon of light – the local Scouts group who, without any special skills or resources, were able to welcome Freddy. Still today, every time we pass the church hall where they met, Freddy says “Remember the Scouts?” And I do.
This act of kindness was in sharp contrast to the sense of abandonment we felt in the midst of the exclusions process which dragged on for months and begs the question: why was there no advocacy, support or practical help when the school could not cope and neither could we?
Seventeen years on, Freddy is settled in supported living with excellent support. However, Coram’s recently published research, Unfair Results: the views and experiences of pupils and parents in education exclusion, has shown that isolation, poor communication and lack of support remains the reality for far too many children and families following school exclusion.
Coram’s report, which contributed to the government review into school exclusions led by Edward Timpson, has found that over 80% of parents of children who were permanently excluded received inadequate support to find an alternative school place for their child.
Alongside this, three-quarters of parents whose child had been temporarily excluded felt that they received insufficient support in preparing for their child’s return to school. Nearly 80% of parents also reported poor communication with the school following exclusion.
Coram’s Legal Practice, one of only two in the country that undertake legal aid work on education issues, has found that all too many of the exclusion cases they deal with relate to children with special educational needs whose education, health and care plans have not been implemented.
Coram sees cases every week where children have spent months and even years out of school before a solution is found. That is why we are calling for local authorities to account for the number of teaching days lost between a permanent exclusion being made and an alternative school place being found.
The Timpson Review on school exclusion is a welcome, wide-ranging, balanced and important review. If implemented, it will help the committed professionals across the system to change the chances for the next generation.
Schools have a duty to all their children and sometimes exclusion may be necessary and appropriate; the recommendations to update the statutory guidance for school leaders and for a concerted effort to improve consistency of good practice are welcome.
But this should go further: young people and parents need to be participants in the process and to have specific guidance with clear timescales as well as access to help and advice, so they can work with authorities and schools to secure the educational future for their child.
While it will take time to address the many recommendations on process, incentives and accountability for the longer term, let us not forget that every day matters in the life of a child. Therefore, we must ensure that parents, carers and children are never again left feeling they have to cope alone and forced to fight for their child’s right to education.