confused! suspension/exclusion?

[DeadMansBones]

I was phoned by my sons school today and told that I must collect him due to an emotional outburst and that he couldn't stay at school in the frame of mind he was in.

of course I immediately went to fetch him, not sure what kind of state I was going to find him in. he was actually sitting calmly in a chair a bit tearful. it seems he had been asked to read out his homework to class and had refused and been rude and uncooperative. obviously this is unacceptable and we will be dealing with his behaviour.

i asked if he would be able to stay at school as he had calmed down and were told no the decision had been made that he was to go home.

what I am confused about is the school have said that this is not a suspension/exclusion, my husband spoke to the school when he got home from work and they said that it was agreed with me that it would be best for him to come home, this simply isnt true I specifically asked if he could stay at school.

my feeling is that they had lots going on today (school panto etc) and just didnt want to deal with things properly.

can they just send kids home without formally suspending them?

From the guidance I linked to earlier:

13. ‘Informal’ or ‘unofficial’ exclusions, such as sending pupils home ‘to cool off’ are unlawful, regardless of whether they occur with the agreement of parents or carers. Any exclusion of a pupil, even for short periods of time, must be formally recorded.

ah okay, in that case they have done it twice then.

he came home a couple of weeks ago but I agreed with them on that occasion as ds was really really upset.

I think for that reason I would request a copy of my email to the head be placed on child's school record so that it is there in black and white that school went against your wishes and child was sent home. Clearly your child needs fuller support to avoid these outbursts and to get to the bottom of what is causing them.

Have you ever considered applying for a statement of educational need? Not that you'd necessarily get one but as a formal request it should ensure that his full needs are assessed? It sounds like the school have tried internal support i.e. 1-1 etc. if accepted for assessment you'd most likely get an educational psychiatrist to liaise with you and the school independently and end up with a report and recommendations that it would be hard for the school to ignore. You could site these exclusions as the need for a full assessment.

Even if it is 'illegal' for the school to do this, I wonder if it will create more difficulites for ds if you push the issue. (Although there are obviously plenty of other avenues the school could more constructively persue.)

I can imagine that they threatened ds when he started losing it =if you don't calm down you'll have to go home. They then felt they had to be seen to carry this through. If they backed down when you asked, presumably they may be concerned that ds will believe he can behave like this without repercussion.

Will making it a legal issue just push them into formally excluding him instead?

Would I need to speak to the headteacher about a statement? we have completed the CAF form does that have any bearing on it?

I dont think he has had much 1on1 to be honest, towards the end of year 4 he had a time out area he could go to but it all seems to have gone out of the window since he started yr5.

I think because he has relatively long periods of calm he slips through the net while they deal with even more problematic children.

Something needs to be done, I have just started on antideptessants myself, I literally sit at home dreading the phone calls.

He has had a really tough few weeks, they had the residential trip at the end of nov and he hated it. he was teased about wanting the light on at night and was so so homesick. he has been out of sorts at school since then really.

I am a little concerned that pushing it might make it worse, I'm not planning on taking it any further than the email but I feel like they need to get to the root of the problem and not just send him home.

the behaviour policy has lots of steps before it reaches exclusion, none of these had happened. he could have been kept in isolation to work. I dont have a problem with him being punished.

also the school didnt suggest we complete the CAF, we asked what the next steps should be and they said they had to wait for us to ask for help before they put anything in force.

I feel way out of my depth

As it has happened twice already I no longer agree with my previous comment. The school definitely need to know that what they are doing is illegal. A lot of schools get this wrong so it could be that they aren't aware that they are breaking the law but it needs to stop for the sake of other pupils as well as your son. I would at the very least point them at paragraph 13 of the guidance in a non-confrontational way.

The school are talking bollocks, frankly.

If they are concerned enough about his behaviour to send him home on a regular basis, then they should be concerned enough to request an assessment for a statement- this processes called raising an SA1. The school are perfectly able to do this. You can also do this independently of them- have a look at IPSEA for a template letter and advice.

I would arrange a meeting with the SENCo and his class teacher, and ask them what strategies they are going to put in place to enable your son to fully access the curriculum. Explain that you are concerned that his behaviour is a barrier to his learning. Ask if he is on School Action or School Action Plus. Does he have an Individual Education Plan? This is a document which sets out areas of need, effective strategies and targets and is reviewed regularly. It would be most appropriate in your son's case. I would also request that they refer him to the Educational Psychologist for an assessment.

Having his exclusions recorded officially may not be a bad thing, even though it feels bad... When it comes to the statementing process, a large number of exclusions could be considered as evidence that additional support is needed.

Good luck- the school is very much in the wrong here.

Oh, and have a on me

You won't get anywhere applying for a statement as things currently stand so you don't need to worry about that for a moment. However I would start to think carefully about secondary now and plan for that.

There are many reasons for behavioural outbursts and many are due to unmet or unidentified need. The solution to that is identification and provision often, not ignoring and getting mum in as unpaid TA to deal with it.

It is entirely possible that the reason your Ds doesn't tell you what caused it is because he doesn't know or understand it himself. You would do well to keep a log or diary of behaviours and encourage the school to fill out an ABC Chart.

he had an iep for one term in yr1, but it wasnt due to behaviour, these issues started from yr4. as far as I know he hasnt had another iep, I've never signed anything.

I feel clueless and if they had suggested any of the things you've mentioned I would have been more than happy for them to go ahead with it.

right 2wk break then things have got to change.

I think you're right starlight, I dont think he really understands why he reacts the way he does. he is always mortified and apologetic once he calms down.

Indeed Starlight, things are dire at the moment and getting a statement is even more difficult- but the situation varies from council to council, and even discussing raising an SA1 with a school can sometimes galvanise them into action. It would certainly call them out on their rather odd assertion that they cannot do anything until the OP requests help

What was the IEP for? Do you still have a copy? How are his academic levels?

Yes tethers you do have a point. Even requesting a statutory Assessment might drag the EP out even if it is to justify the refusal.

it may have even been in reception actually. I cant remember that well, but he had a speech delay and I think it was pretty much helping him to catch up with that.

his levels are a little below average I think, 3bs across the board.

But OP, you need to start a document trail and a log. Even log the suggestions or promises or outcomes of conversations and meetings by date, time and name.

That way you'll see you aren't going mad and you can quote people back to themselves if you need to.

I wish I'd done it from the start, if I'd known how long the issues would go on for. it hasnt been constant but it obviously isnt going to get better on its own.

when you say think about secondary school now, do you mean in terms of looking at what behaviour support the local schools have etc

Some councils still have behaviour support services which haven't been dismantled. It may also be worth asking for a referral to this team (or equivalent) if there is one.

Hindsight is wonderful eh?

Do it from now. If you can remember stuff from the past or have correspondence add that in when you find it/remember it.

Yes. Support, attitude to inclusion, exclusion and bullying policies as well as behavioural support.

If you did get a statement you could name any school but tbh time is very short to get one by secondary. Having said that, being en route might help.

wow does it really take that long to get a statement!

Maybe if the school actually put some effective strategies into place and stuck with them he might not even need one.