Am in two minds whether i should or not.
Been having lots of problems with DS in school. Aspergers has been mentioned as DS has big problems socially interacting and has a behavioural problem which can result in him becoming aggressive and lashing out.
Since October 2006 DS has been EXCLUDED for 2 and a half days in total. Twice this has been an afternoon exclusion where i was asked to take him home after continuous disruptive behaviour. The last time was on Tuesday and this was for a day and a half on fixed period exclusion.
On Wednesday DH and I went into school to discuss these exclusions and to talk about referral to statementing. Before we went in i sought advice from a charity called ACE. They advised me to request my letter detailing the exclusion and to also request a meeting with governers. As soon as this was suggested the head retracted the exclusion BUT DH and i had to remain with DS the whole school day!
Contacted ACE again who have told me that this is unlawful use of exclusion. I did not recieve letters for either of the other 2 exclusions either and am unsure wether the LEA were informed of these.
I have asked around and a friend who has a boy same age as DS (6) said she didnt get anything in writing when her DS was excluded either.
Have the policy infront of me and i definately feel that the school are not following procedures and are using unofficial exclusions to make themselves look good. (incidentally my DS and friends DS are both on school action plus!)
So question is.....would you report to county hall or would you confront governers with the evidence first. Friend has said she will also back up my story and confirm lack of official documents.
printed below is the policy i am referring to.
UNOFFICIAL EXCLUSIONS
22. If a head teacher is satisfied that, on the balance of probabilities, a pupil has committed a
disciplinary offence and needs to be removed from the school site for that reason, formal
exclusion is the only legal method of removal. Informal or unofficial exclusions are illegal
regardless of whether they are done with the agreement of parents or carers.
23. Where a pupil is sent home for disciplinary reasons for part of a school day, some head
teachers have viewed this as a ?cooling off? period, and have not taken action to exclude the
pupil formally. There is no basis in law for this. The relevant regulations do not state a
minimum length of exclusion. If pupils are sent home in response to a breach of discipline,
even for short periods of time, this must be formally recorded as an exclusion.
24. In every instance where a pupil is sent home for disciplinary reasons, head teachers should
formally record and specify the length of the exclusion (for reporting purposes this should be
recorded as a half day, whole day or lunchtime). They should ensure that:
● they are meeting their legal duty of care towards pupils, providing appropriate
supervision whilst on site, and ensuring parents are formally notified if a pupil needs to
be removed from site;
● child protection issues are taken into account; and
● pupils? human right to education is not contravened.