What happens if a child is expelled from a Primary School?

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For Secondary School, there are PRUs, etc.

However, these are mainly for 11 - 16.

What happens if it's a Primary School child?

Would say it depends on the reasons. We have a child in our school who was expelled - well, it was suggested to his parents that he be removed from his first school as his needs might be better met elsewhere. He is still a nightmare but the teachers at our school seem more experienced in coping with his behaviour.

I would imagine that if a child does something SO awful that no other school would have him/her, that the Council would have to step in and arrange tuition or some other type of education.

There are PRUs for primary aged pupils

Depends on the Local authority but if a child is permanently excluded they are normally aware this is 'on the cards' and the exclusion team will put plans in place. There are short stay schools/units/assessment centres/tutoring it depends on the situation.

Often there are multiple issues and early help/CAF is also put in place to help the whole family.

I know there are, that's why I just put mainly - as there aren't any in my area, so that wouldn't be an option.

If a child is permanently excluded the LA has to find them a place within six days ( it doesn't have to be local.)

There is a legal obligation for the LEA to provide children with education so they will have options. It may be that they send them to another local schools and provide additional funding/support. If you are really curious/it's an issue you are dealing with then ring your LA and ask them.

Dd's primary took in all the permanently excluded pupils from quite a wide ranging area. Many were on managed moves prior to permanent exclusion from schools elsewhere. They were very successful at integrating those children within the school and none of the children were excluded again once they got to dd's school in fact there were no exclusions at dd's school and OFSTED rated pupil's behaviour as outstanding, Perhaps there is a school in your area that does similar.

If your child has SEN then IPSEA is a good place to start for advice.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2010-to-2015-government-policy-children-outside-mainstream-education/2010-to-2015-government-policy-children-outside-mainstream-education

There is a PRU near us that starts from age 3 so they do exist

There is a process that should be being followed. The first thing to say is that permanent exclusion from a primary school is something that happens relatively rarely because most primary schools manage to keep the pupils in school.
However there are situations where the only realistic action is for the head teacher to permanently exclude the pupil. In many instances this is at the end of a significant number of incidents, so that in many instances rather than permanent exclusion, a managed move to another school can be negotiated with the LA, parents and pupil all involved.
However in some instances permanent exclusion is the only way forward. For the first 6 days after permanent exclusion the school is responsible for setting work for the pupil but after that time the education of the pupil becomes the responsibility of the LA. They do not normally go direct to another school because there is a process to follow after a head teacher permanently excludes a pupil. Firstly within a set period of time a committee of the governing body have to meet and agree that the decision by the head teacher was legal, fair and reasonable in the circumstances. Then there is the opportunity for the parents to ask for a review by an independent appeal panel, again within a set period of time. The reality is that the pupil will be out of school for a period of time and during this period will probably taught individually at home by people bought in by the LA.
Only after the independent review panel agree that the permanent exclusion was the correct decision can the pupil be allocated to a different school by the LA, usually in co-operation with the parents.

I don't believe that a PRU would take a child below complusory school age. There are complex needs schools that cater for very young children, but that is something very different to a PRU.

There are EBD special schools that cater for primary school children. One would hope that a school moves hell and high water to include a really young child. Many primaries have nature groups if being in a class of 30 is too much to cope with.

There are definitely PRUs for nursery aged children http://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/index.php?q=filedownloading/&id=968531&type=1&refer=0

my dc was 'asked to leave' aged 5. For almost a term the school kept them and they rode a bike around the school yard and did not a lot else....
From the september a place was found in a PRU where they stayed till this july aged 11.
The places are very very sought after - only 10 places for the whole of our area - no nurture units or similar.
our child already had a statement so it did make it easier.
hope that helps!

We have several short stay schools in our area, the "short stay" part is deceptive as they can go from year 2- year 9, we have several as their purpose varies, some are for sen children some are for children that just struggle to get on in mainstream but have no diagnosis, the idea is that in the time they are there they can learn ways to cope in mainstream or in social situations etc depending on what they need help with to then move on to a long term more appropriate school

My general area I should say, they are not all in a line on one street lol

There are EBD special schools that cater for primary school children.

An SEBD school would not necessarily be suitable for all children either excluded or at risk of exclusion. They would need an EHCPlan for entry or possibly be on track to get one if the special school had assessment places.

If there is no one serious issue but a series of minor ones then often it will not get to exclusion. It will go to a managed move process and a trial period will be agreed at another local school. The protocols vary by LA but most are published online (fair access policy or similar). These include what happens if the managed move fails.

A PRU would often not be the best place for a child with an EHCPlan.

You need to be more specific about why they are at risk of exclusion.

You also need to look at the local offer in detail

Local authorities are required to find a place in a school for the excluded child. However, a registered "asked to leave" is not a legal option for any school and must be resisted by the parents. A PRU is normally a short-term solution and is definitely not a "school" where a child should attend for 6 years! The full curriculum would not be on offer. This is an outrageous solution for a primary age child. A PRU should help reintegrate a child into a mainstream school and it may be available as a part-time placement to help reintegration. The PRU staff do have a lot of expertise and that should not be solely used in the PRU.

Special schools for primary children are few and far between which is why the PRU-mainstream model is best. A child can have a EHC Plan for a mainstream school and extra adult supoort can be built into that. This plan may form part of the negotiations between the Head of a new school, the LA and the parents.

No parent should ever accept a request to take their child away from a state school, although many do because they then arrive at a new school with no blemish on their school record, but no support either. The new school is, effectively, being duped and the whole behavioural difficulty starts all over again, with no support for the child or the new school.

There are PRUs and different kinds of alternative provision for primary kids who are PEX'd. Very rare from primary though. I think the figure is near 0 for our LA.

It may be further out, in which case they should provide transport.

In my LA, we do have primary PRUs but they are not supposed to be a refuge for permanently exlcuded children - those in danger of exclusion would need to get help. Integration into mainstream is the way forward for most.

Policy in our LA is to:

Allocate a place at a PRU within 6 days. If PRU is full then a home tutor is allocated to give 1 hour tuition per day.

Within six weeks a managed move is arranged to another mainstream school. Shockingly, child is given no automatic additional support to help reduce risk of problems at new school. If new school has a space the HT has little scope for refusing the placement.

If managed move fails then child is immediately returned to the PRU and the cycle begins again.

The only way to get out of this loop is if child has a statement (now EHCP) plan which enables a special school placement (often an EBD school) to be given and/ or extra support to be allocated so they can cope in mainstream.