Schools and Suspension - Is this right?

[NutterlyUts]

Hi,
I am writing this on behalf of a RL friend who is having problems with her 7/8yr old son and his school.
Basically, he is constantly being suspended from school, and its come to a head now as he off until after christmas, and when he does go back, it is for 2hrs a day. She is looking at having to give up her degree training to be a nurse because of it
From what i've been told, and although I realise it might not be the complete story although it does fit with her son from the times i've been with him, he's basically playing up in class. Refusing to do his work sometimes saying he can't do it, or he doesn't want to.[Just to add he is a bright lad so I don't know if that has anything to do with it?] Has been caught hitting back a few times either. Basically, imo, nothing near worth suspension for. As far as I know the school haven't gone down the behaviour chart route but I may be wrong - if they have it's definately not been for long.
What advice can I give my friend? Do schools really suspend nowadays for such silly reasons? [I say silly because in my mind, suspension should be a last resort when nothing else has worked OR if the child is a danger to others etc]

Has the school been working with your friend on this? Has she any opinions on why he is mis-behaving at school. I would have thought suspension is the last resort for most schools. However if he is consantly disrupting the class and being uncooperative it is unfair on the other children and so if I was a parent of a child in the boy's class I would want him removed tbh. How is his behaviour at home btw?

Have the school made any effort to try and find what lies at the root of this child's difficulties?
Being suspended for being disruptive at primary school sounds very extreme.
If 'playing up in class' means he has problems concentrating, that needs investigating. It could be due to many reasons eg: being bored because he finds the work too easy, or being frustrated because he finds it too hard.
He could have an undiagnosed problem such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD etc.
Has he been assessed by a child psychologist, reviewed by a speech therapist, a behaviour support teacher, an occupational therapist?
I think his mother needs to speak to the parent liaison department of the LEA (details can be found on the website of the local council, usually), and find out what can be done to help her child.
Please encourage her not to allow her child to slip between the gaps of the school system because he has been labelled as disruptive - he has a right to an appropriate education, and should be helped, not suspended!

Thanks for the replies.

At home he is fine. I would say he is an average 7/8yr old. Can be a little bit backchatty but nothing worth really noting. His mum doesn't think he is a "naughty boy" either. She doesn't really know why he is misbehaving - asking him doesn't really get an answer, but he does acknowldege he's not always doing what he's supposed to.

No assessments have been done to my knowledge and i will be deff encouraging her to go further with it. My first reaction tbh was sorry but the school suck, find a new one, which i realise is totally impracticale.

I'd definately persue the line of 'what are the school doing to help' - 1 to 1 TA assistance, observations etc to see if there is a pattern to the behaviour. It does seem an extreme measure to take without proper investigation in to the cause

Does there have to be some kind of formal paperwork from the school if a child is suspended? If so, does this explain the situation in more detail?
I would certainly suggest your friend has a lenghty meeting with the Head to ascertain exactly what is going on, and perhaps ask an LEA parent support rep to go with her.

'lengthy'

Humphrey - I don't know about any paperwork but i will ask. I know the school have been ringing mum, she's been going in and her son is being suspended. I will be pointing her in the direction of this thread I wanted some input from other mums with primary age children as I don't any kids so I thought perhaps my input would be useless.

The school can't just call up the parent and ask them to take their child home and say they are excluded. There is a procedure that they need to go through. There should also be a letter giving details of the reason for the exclusion. Informal or unofficial exclusions are illegal.
There is more information about exclusions on here and
hereAdvisory Centre for Education .
You can also phone ACE for help and advice.

Thanks Juule. I don't think its just a case of mum being rung and son excluded - I think meetings are happening, but I don't know full details as i've said before so I might be wrong. Either way, I am going to point mum in this direction so hopefully something can be fixed =)

At the primary schools I know it is very unusual for a child to be excluded for any reason other than:

• violence and aggression (usually quite extreme/severe),
• absconding, or
• complete refusal to co-operate (e.g. sitting under the table, or walking out of the classroom, that sort of thing.)

what do you mean by ' hitting back a few times '?

by hitting back a few times I mean he has been hit by another child and he has been caught retaliating.