Internal Exclusion Room - is this a normal term/punishment in primary schools in the UK?

[Bananaforscale1]

Our junior school has recently started using this and it's making me feel uncomfortable.

The secondary school uses this term and they're under the same academy trust, so looks like they want to use the same language/terms across the board.

Does anyone else feel uncomfortable about 7-11 year olds being sent to an exclusion room?

Internal exclusion in primary school is the official name for what used to be working in the head teachers office for the day/afternoon when we were at school.
It is a valid consequence when behaviour warrants it. Usually physical contact but less than would warrant a fixed term exclusion.

Yes, that's what's happened. A child attempted to strangle another and was sent to work in the Head's office for half a day. I've checked the website and this is published as their policy. Just thought it was a strong word/term for young children.

Strangling is a worse word!

DD2 has had to spend some time working outside the heads office, when she’s gone a bit wild. It’s not terrible - she actually liked it as it’s a reset and calm (much more so than the classroom).

They don’t get told its ’internal Exclusion’, just that its ’thinking time’. It’s followed by a chat about what decisions could we make better next time.

Didn't used to be.

Things have probably changed.

Our local secondary has a 'learning hub' and now the primary is adopting it. Apparently behaviour has taken a major dive since Covid lockdowns.

I think the word used is the least of the issues here. Child is bloody lucky that wasn’t a fixed term exclusion. It really ought to have been.

They tried to strangle another child and you're worried being 'excluded' is mean?!
Is this your child?

And depending on what side of 7-11 they are, I'm surprised police weren't involved! (Await dripfeed of why they strangled another child!)

It’s normal in education (well it was where I worked). Our lunatic of an HT never excluded outwith school so they were normally sat in her office either doing work, on Google earth or sharing her biscuits. Meanwhile the rest of us were trying to keep on top of the awful behaviour boundaries she’d created. 🙄

I think it's appropriate and necessary. Unfortunately, some primary age children can get very angry and very violent and also some can get super anxious and misbehave in a way that is disruptive and they just need some time to calm down away from others. Tbh I'd feel more uncomfortable if the school were not taking action to deal with this type of behaviour. An exclusion is serious so the words are necessary I think. Y3 children are expected to understand words like fronted adverbials and perpendicular so they can cope with the word exclusion!

Trying not yo drip feed or mislead. Also trying not to out myself.

My child was the one whose mate put their hands around my child's neck and wouldn't let go during playtime when play got rough. My child was upset, teachers were told, I got a phone call from school that afternoon to explain what had happened. My child has since said the child got sent to the internal Exclusion Room.

I know the child and family and they are all lovely. Kids are Yr5. I'm not angry at school or the child, they're young and impulsive and made a mistake. I'm sure they won't do it again. My child was/is fine and they are friends again now.

It's actually me who has the issue with the word exclusion, not the kids! I hate the thought of any child feeling excluded, especially when they're clearly struggling (all behaviour is communication).

Much prefer other terms on here such as thinking time, hub, or I know other schools call it "re-focus". Even time out is better than exclusion imo.

Much prefer other terms on here such as thinking time, hub, or I know other schools call it "re-focus". Even time out is better than exclusion imo.
Why? Do you think they should never have negative connotations for negative behaviour?

I can't quite believe what I'm reading.
Your child was strangled and your ok with it (and more concerned about the words internal exclusion)

You do realise your child could easily have been killed?
The school I work in has a very softly softly approach to managing unwanted behaviour but your child's 'mate' from the 'lovely' family would have been excluded from school.

*you're

Precisely! 'Well darling I know Timmy kicked you in the face and broke your teeth, but he's communicating with you! Stop being so mean and crying and think about him!"

When I was at school (secondary) we used to call it the chokey. It was an old changing room so it was tiled and echoey and they'd put desks round the outside facing the wall with partitions coming out in between them so the pupils in there couldn't communicate (they were set work to complete by class teachers). It was always staffed by a senior teacher, head, deputy or department head. It was more effective than going home to play on the PlayStation. The pupils in there got exercise breaks but not at the same time as the rest of the school.
I had to go in there once because my maths teacher was staffing it and wanted to go over a couple of things on my maths coursework. It wasn't pleasant.

This doesn't sound like that at all, an afternoon in the head's office seems appropriate and sends a clear message that you cannot put your hands around someone's throat. If he's generally a nice child this will be a lesson learned hopefully. They'll be at secondary soon and things won't be as gentle.

Why not call it 'sent to Heads office' that seemed to work in the past? Is it sound like they are taking 'tough measures' against poor behaviour?
Even in the depths of time, I remember kids sitting at a desk outside the heads office on their own doing work set. Exclusion, yes, but less dramatic language.

The "all behaviour is communication" soundbite has really caused the growth of so many behaviour issues in schools today. Everyone parrots it back but no one ever stops to actually examine what is communicated and whether it actually merits responding to. They just say stuff like "Oh, it's because he's unhappy," or "It must be because he doesn't like living in a split family," etc. in order to excuse or not have to address the behaviour itself.

Take this instance. This child putting their hands around your child's throat could be a wide range of things from "my father does this to me when he thinks I've done something wrong" (needs recognising and responding to) all the way down to "I think this is a reasonable thing to do when I want to get my own way" (needs massive behaviour correction to stop this child growing up into an abuser).

Absolutely @Iamnotthe1 !

Gobsmacked.
OP if a child does not get punished for assaulting another child then what sort of adult will they turn out to me? It’s not “communication” it’s being a little shite bag and they need consequence for it.

Are you for real? You are uncomfortable with a child being sent to a room for a while after they tried to strangle your child? Are you not more concerned about your own child being attacked in such an awful way? I would be demanding a proper consequence for the attacker and better protection of my child. No one should be 'strangled' at school.

Its called "re-engage" at our Secondary school.

The children do need to know that their misbehaviour is serious and be seen to have consequences.
They can also use the time to find our any underlying issues- the two aren't exclusive.

In your case... the other children need to know it was wrong. The boy needs time to calm down and to know he did wrong. He's also had a space to talk to someone privately.

I've heard them called "refocus" or "realignment" rooms, internal exclusion etc in secondary school.

When my oldest son was at primary they had an actual padded room well the walls and door were padded and no desks or chairs - to stop the kids having violent meltdowns from hurting themselves or others. I believe that was called the realignment room too. It was a horrible room with just a soft cushion to sit on literally nothing else in there. It wasn't a room they showed anyone on the school tours or ever mentioned on their website etc you would only have known about it if you had a SEN child who got put in there for an afternoon!