Exclusions / Appeals / Just help!!!

[TheMonkeysAreMine]

I’ll try and be as brief and precise as possible.

Our son is in reception and since September has been displaying difficult and violent behaviour at school which has become increasingly difficult to manage.

He is currently under assessment through CYPS, he has had a behaviour support worker working with him in school. He has had a reduced timetable since January 30th and has only been in school the equivalent to one week since this date.

He has been given 2 fixed term exclusions. Both result from him being restrained in school and him trying to free himself. As he has been trying to free himself he has headbutted a member of staff, resulting in the exclusion. The first exclusion was for just 1 day. The second for 5.

I would like to appeal the exclusion as I feel that excluding him is unfair on the grounds that as we don’t know what’s causing this behaviour, ultimately he doesn’t have the correct support in place at school. I also feel it’s an inappropriate punishment for a five year old who was very stressed, anxious and angry at the time of the incidents. I have been told though that regardless of any diagnosis/non diagnosis an exclusion would have taken place regardless.

I am by no means suggesting the school have not been supportive of our son so far as they have been .

An EHCP has been applied for and we’re awaiting the assessment.

Our sons support worker has finished her time allowed with our son so he is no longer in school with a support worker.

In fact he is no longer in school at all. Next week we start the private tuition that school is paying for to be carried out outside of school premises. This is for 6 hours a week, initially until May half term.

I have been told that if my son has an outburst in a similar way to what has happened the last two times we’re looking at a permanent exclusion.

A managed move isn’t available as the local schools are full.

Quite frankly, I don’t know what to do. 6 hours of tuition a week is not enough or viable long term. I don’t know if I can appeal the exclusions he has had. I’m extremely worried he is going to be permanently expelled from school on his next outburst....which will happen, I’ve no doubt he will have an outburst again.

I don’t know where to turn as my son is entitled to have a full time education provided for him and we are getting very very little education at all at the moment.

Any help would be very very appreciated 😊

Surely it is an illegal exclusion for him not to be allowed in school full time? Try asking
Ipsea or similar for a view and see if the can help you draft a letter.

Thanks so much for that, there is so much information on there I'll work my way through it later. Thank you

There are all sorts of comments to make. The first has got to be that unless you have agreed to the education at home with a private tutor, then the school are wrong in taking that action. Also 6 hours a week is not full time, which is what the school are supposed to provide to your son. Having said that from what you have said him being in school full time without any support is just a disaster waiting to happen and almost inevitably it will and he will be permanently excluded.
In terms of the 5 day exclusion the rules say that you can appeal the exclusion but if it is only 5 in the term then the governing board is required to consider any representations made by parents but it cannot direct reinstatement and is not required to arrange a meeting with parents (though any same school would). If however the 1 day exclusion is in the same term as the 5 day exclusion then the governing board must consider within 50 days of receiving the notice of exclusion whether the excluded pupil should be reinstated if the parents make representations.
You cannot expect any other reaction from the school other than permanent exclusion for further incidents. The issue is that without an EHC Plan in place and having had the support worker withdrawn without a proper understanding of the reasons behind the outbursts then the school will not have done all that is practical to attempt to improve their behaviour. Under those circumstances any permanent exclusion should be overturned by the governing board appeal panel. The problem is that the permanent exclusion could also be deemed to be a one-off event of such magnitude to warrant permanent exclusion. In that situation it is for the school to show on the balance of probability that the offence happened - which does not seem difficult to prove if your son headbutts a member of staff and is less dependent on the school proving they have done everything possible.
Any EHC Plan is months away and the school will have to come up with good reasons for getting an EHCPlan put in place, so I am not sure how they are going to do that if child is not in school.

Thanks admission

Really appreciate your response. I have to go out now but I'll respond properly later.

Thank you again 😊

What is the outcome that you want for him? Do you want him to remain in mainstream with appropriate support or is there alternative provision in your area that you would like?

If you want alternative provision the quickest route is probably to insist he returns to school full time. If he is then permanently excluded the LA will have to find full time education for him from the 6th day. You can argue at that point for the provision you want.

If you want mainstream you (all) need to start unpicking what the problem is so the right support can be put in place. What do you think is the underlying problem and what have the school said?

I've ended emailing everyone I can think of this evening and just hoping for the best because I quite simply don't know what to do.

I've emailed the local mp, the education secretary and Parent Support from the council.

I don't know who else I can involve. We're really waiting on a diagnosis/non diagnosis from CYPS so we can take it from there. The EHCP is up to 20 weeks away so I've no idea what I'm supposed to do until then.

I have agreed to this tutor out of school but it's really more because I'm really worried he'll be permanently excluded in school now his support worker has gone.

As far as which school I want him to go to....my personal preference is the school he's at now. However, if that's not the best place for him I'm happy to keep an open mind. The nearest specialist type school is 25 miles away, we're in the sticks as it were.

I'm just amazed that for all the support there is out there, I can't access any on a full time basis.

I suspect the issue is at present that the school are using their own resources to provide the tutor and also paid for the behaviour support worker. They cannot continue to provide these services because of the financial strain most schools are under. So their options are to get an EHCPlan which takes time but brings funds in to support the child, keep him out of the school to avoid the probability of a permanent exclusion or bring him back into the school and expect the inevitable.

Oh absolutely it comes down to finances which is completely unfair. Luckily I've never had to experience outside help with my other children and I naively assumed that if a child needed xyz support, it would be freely available to them via the council. How naive of me.

The support service was free, as an emergency measure. But the tutoring is £45 an hour. That is coming out of the school budget.

One of my concerns is that that is only being provided until May half term. I have no idea what we do then.

Would it be a viable suggestion for me to be with him in school? Help him with activities, support him? Just until we get a diagnosis / non diagnosis and until the EHCP assessment has been finalised?

He has never been violent towards me and I can easily remove him from a situation if I can see he's starting to get agitated?

Support is available via the devolved budget held by the school. The LA doesn’t hold the purse strings as they used to. It is down to the school to provide support and ensure all attempts have been made to help your DS adjust to school before a EHIC plan can be issued.

Did he go to Nursery? How did he get on there? If he has had difficulties for some time, he could have had a EHIC plan upon transfer from Nursery to School. This sort of issue should be picked up much earlier. Children can be different with parents where they are in one to one relationships. Nursery attendance tends to show up relationship problems with other adults and children and what needs to be in place in YR at school should be discussed prior to starting.

You could offer to be in school. I don’t know if the school would allow this, and you would need to be CRB checked, but it’s worth asking. Some schools are pro parents helping and others are less accommodating.

Thanks bubbles.

He was in the preschool at his current school for 18 months before he started reception. Showed absolutely no problems at all. He had full days there and short days. He never had any outbursts like he does now.

Which is why us as parents and the teachers are so gobsmacked by all this. He's a completely different child. One thing CYPS and behaviour support think is that it's now showing because he has to do 'work' as such and now there are expectations of him. If he does something like writing for example and it isn't good enough in his eyes, that can trigger him.

I am DBS/CRB checked with the school as prior to my son being off I regularly volunteered to go on trips etc

This must be bewildering. It seems to be adjustment to a more “formal” setting but YR is usually a smooth transition if DC have attended nursery at the school. They will know the staff, the cksssroom etc. Hope it works out for you but I would try and negotiate some attendance at school because at the moment he is not learning how to behave at school if he’s been removed from it.

If it was at my school where I am chair of governor, we would not allow a parent to work with their child - in other areas of the school yes, but not directly with your son. Actually by suggesting that you are just allowing the school to get away from facing up to their legal obligations. Your son should be in school full time and the school needs to make suitable adjustments. From what you are saying it might be that the school needs to carry out a re-integration exercise where your son is weened into the school, in terms of him being allowed to mainly "play" whilst doing some work and then weened into doing more and more "real" work. Your comments question whether there is actually any SEN or whether this a child acting up to get what they want.

A behavioural problem has crossed our minds admission but until we get the results back from CYPS I'm at a loss

TBH I am very surprised that a school is even considering excluding your son at such a young age. I have worked with dozens of families of the years whose children have displayed similar behaviour and the emphasis should be on collaboration, not a punitive exclusion that will help no one...
Furthermore, it is not 'good practice' to withdraw support for a child the school have clearly identified (albeit wrongly in my view) as in danger of permanent exclusion!
I have concerns about this school and its approach to inclusion. In any case, there is no way that the scenario you describe would hold up to the scrutiny of an exclusions appeal.

punitive exclusion that will help no one...
It may not be punitive. In one of my dc's years there was a child in year R, who sounds similar in some ways, and after discussion with the county and his parents he was excluded which then made the support he needed happen quicker. He was placed at a specialist school which was able to give him the support he needed.
His parents were very grateful for the support the infant school gave him. I believe the headmistress phoned weekly after he'd started the new school to check how he was getting on and offer advice. She also visited him several times in the new school.
It wasn't at any point intended as a punishment, more a cry for help.

I hear what you're saying witch and if I had a specialist school in mind I might not be against the exclusions.

The issue I have is that there is no other school for him. The local schools are full and so is the nearest specialist one. I'm not sure he would even be accepted into a specialist school without a diagnosis.

My understanding is that the LA have to provide full time education in the 6th day after a permanent exclusion? I have no clue where they would put him

The school would be on very shaky ground to permanently exclude as has been said above. It is very poor practice to exclude without putting in sufficient support and then forcing the hand of the LA to find another school. It wouldn’t be a special school at the moment, and LAs can occasionally magic places, but the school does not appear to have done enough to assess the problems and has now withdrawn support. Some children have school funded support for years and never get a statement/plan. It’s fairly unusual for children with behavioural difficulties to get into a special school in YR anyway if they have not exhibited problems in nursery.

I think you have to talk about reintegration into school. I wouldn’t be thinking about a “diagnosis” either. There should be an ed psych involved to advise the school. Do they have access to play therapy or a specialist teacher who can advise?

I’m following this for my own interests. We’re in Scotland but ds is danger of an exclusion. Seems similar situation, totally fine until he’s asked to work. Everyone throwing their hands in the air with no idea what to do.

OP you need to put it in writing to the school that you want them to get the Ed Psych involved immediately, as a matter of emergency. This will hopefully give you a steer in the direction you’re headed.

Re the EHCP, what week are you on? The full assessment should include paediatrician and Ed psych too, which even if not diagnostic will get you some way down the path.

You’re unlikely to get a special School place as it stands, ie with no diagnosis OR EHCP and with the right support in place that might not be necessary anyway. What I would say though, is for the school to be excluding a child so young, and even talking about removing existing provision/support, that doesn’t sound at least encouraging and I wonder if there is another school locally that has a better attitude towards SEN.

Regarding refusing to work, have a look at Pathological Demand Avoidance and see does that look familiar.

I think the op said the other schools were full. I don’t really see why they should take a child who will be expensive for them because their hand is forced by the current school not being sufficiently inclusive.

Where I live, schools buy in Ed Psych services so they might be tardy about this too. It costs them.

One of the first things School did was get an Ed Psy in from the La for an observation. Her recommendations were a hearing test and to separate ds from the class, when he goes in each morning set out the rules....no hitting, kicking etc. Then ask him to choose which tasks he wants to do.

The behaviour support worker and an Ed Psy from a charity rubbished the suggestions of the first Ed Psy. Then the Behavioural support worker took over. Who has been lovely and very helpful in every way imaginable, however in her own words it's not been as progressive as we'd hoped.