DS Expelled - drugs

[TapasGirl]

I have posted this in Parenting but see from previous posters on here that others have had similar experiences and would like to draw on those experiences if anyone is able to help.
DS is going to be expelled tomorrow year 11 for selling drugs to another student.
DS' explanation is that he and friends (who have smoked weed on various occasions, as it has all come out now) put herbs into a bag to sell on as weed to make some cash.
The pupil he sold to realising it was herbs reported him to the Head. Subsequently everyone has been investigated and it looks as if the evidence against DS is strong. Also when he was investigaged by the Head he confessed to selling Weed to the other pupil

So he/we are in the shit basically and I don't know where to go from here.

I did email the Head of Friday when it all came out to say that we wanted to withdraw DS as I did not want his expulsion on his record.
Since having some good advice from the Parenting forum I have withdrawn that statement, to say we need to be more informed before taking him out.

I do not want him to go to a PRU. I know lots of people say how good they are; how they have turned others lives around etc. but he only has 20 weeks left to do GCSE's and I know this will not work for him. He struggles badly has had Ed Psych reports which School have had. I believe he is probably on the Aspergers spectrum. He struggles socially; eager to please; doesn't get consequences etc.

So tomorrow I want to ask the School to keep him on roll and I will give up my job to support him through his GCSE's at home. But I will need their support to do this as I am not exactly academically gifted myself but sure between us we can scrape through a couple of C's - if we are lucky.

Do you think this might work with the School. Or do you think they will just want him off their roll.

I am absolutley terrified of what is to become of him and am in a very bad place. Your advice (particularly if you have been where I am today) would be really appreciated.
X

Cauliflower where do you think the school thinks he should go if not a PRU if they permanently exclude. As you say they cannot make that decision.

I am also surprised that there is no letter yet, at our school they usually go home with the letter, on the day of the incident whether a temporary oor permanent exclusion. If permanent the paperwork is done after. I am wondering if they are not that sure of a permanent exclusion.

Op what grades was your DS on course for achieving ie was he on course for the top grades in Maths and English? I may sound cynical but if he goes on a Managed Move then he is still technically on the original school roll and therefore his grades will still count for their targets.

I really don't know. I just get this hunch that they are trying to side step it and do a managed move to a partner school.

A managed move would mean dual registration and so exams being sat at the other centre. All quite odd. Should be clear in letter..

I would have thought you'd receive a letter too, ESP if your son is not allowed in school (which I presume is the case?)

Definitely no letter. The Head seems to be unsure what to do to be honest. I did ask about work for DS to do whilst he is making the decision as to whether to exclude or not and he said 'yes we will sort some work out for him' but nothing definite.

Ok well in that case they are not following the correct process. Has he said your son is not allowed back in January?

I wonder if he is trying to get hold of either the CEO of the academy trust or the other headteacher to ask them about a managed move. No school likes to permanently exclude if they can avoid it really.

He has to make the decision to do a fixed term exclusion - he can't just tell him not to come into school. I can see him not being 100% sure of the permanent one but he should have issued a 5 day FTE letter.

The school have to give you a written explanation of what is going on and the fact that they have not done so up till now is very worrying. Your son is currently stuck in limbo. He cannot just be at home, either he is excluded either fixed term or permanently or he is in school.
I assume that they finish wednesday or later this week. I would get on the phone to the head teacher tomorrow and ask him what he is going to do, as your son needs to be in school on Wednesday if they have not made their mind up to exclude him either fixed term or permanently. Whilst that will almost for sure produce a letter permanently excluding your son, you need to have some closure on it before Christmas.
However what the head has said so far does tend to suggest that he is looking for a way out of this. The fact that the school sees drug dealing as a higher crime than buying drugs does give a bit of leeway because any independent review panel is going to look carefully at how previous instances have been dealt with.

The school has a legal responsibility to provide course work for your son for the first 5 days of the exclusion but after that it becomes the responsibility of the LA to provide education. That will probably start with some home ed but given the nearness of the exams the LA need to get him into some provision very quickly, which would normally be the PRU.

The school's in difficulty if it's accepting that your son has SEN, as it rather implies that they should have done more to support him. If they don't think he should be in a PRU and want to exclude him, that sort of suggests they think that something along the lines of a specialist school or unit is needed, but that isn't going to happen without an EHCP. If they think that's needed, they should have applied for it months ago.

I think the school are looking into a managed move and are probably talking to the LA. It is far too big a leap to get into a special school and also very late in his educational career in that children needing special schools are picked up years earlier than Y11.

The Head should have immediately given a letter to you notifying you of the details of the exclusion. In the circumstances, fixed term is normal pending investigation to ascertain the facts. Then he could change it to permanent if the investigation confirms your DS was dealing. Many schools vary sanctions for dealing and buying. However, the school must act in accordance with their policies. If other children who have been dealing have been permanently excluded, then this would be consistent. If not, then there is a debate to be had.

I think the Sen is of less importance, in that if they had supported him better, educationally, would that have stopped him trying to get money from dealing? Possibly not.

You also seem to be accepting that he smokes weed. He is not therefore a whiter than white child and trouble was just around the corner - you just didn't see it coming, sadly.

OP I don't have much to add because I know nothing about these procedures, but do you know that there are solicitors who specialise in education matters like these. I'm sure that they are expensive but, compared to giving up your income to home educate, it's probably not so bad.

Hi thanks again all for your advice
So have received call this am from School saying that DS is to be permanently excluded and they are processing the paperwork as we speak. I asked if there was anything that could be done and the HT said that we could withdraw DS and this would not go on his records.
The problem I have is that if I withdraw him no-one is going to help are they?
The HT has confirmed that a meeting will take place early Jan where the exclusion would be rubber stamped so has given me some time over xmas to think about the withdrawal vs exclusion
If he is excluded then that will go on his record - what about college? Is there any chance he will be able to get onto a course after this.

The HT also said that he does not recommend we go down the PRU route as DS would not survive it. Great!!!!

The HT is going to speak to the partner school to see if a managed move is an option. This School is closing next year so he feels this might be an option but won't be able to tell me anything until post xmas. This for me would be our best option and I would be eternally grateful for this to become a reality.

Anyway, thanks again for all the great advice it really has been appreciated.
X

Apologies should have said the meeting in early Jan is for the Governors to rubber stamp the exclusion

Technically the meeting is for the governors to review the exclusion and decide whether to uphold it or not, not to rubber stamp it! And I really would suggest that they be asked to look at whether the school dealt adequately with your son's SEN. Try contacting the School Exclusion Project linked upthread.

The HT is actually not allowed to make a recommendation about removing him from roll to avoid exclusion. The MM sounds a possibility.

So sorry for your situation and hope you still manage to enjoy Christmas.
I do think it is important that your son is not made to feel that he is a hardened drug dealer. While I understand the school's policy on drugs, and do not think drugs should ever be allowed on school premises, he was not 'dealing' heroin or crack but cannabis which, according to my children, a great many teenagers experiment with at some time. I know I did.
ASAIK there is no evidence it leads on to hard drug use and it is being legalised in some places.
The school seems to have been negligent in not taking into account and providing support for your DS's SEN.
All schools can ask for a child to be assessed and then, if necessary, finance is provided for whatever support the child needs. It does not come out of the school's budget.
Unfortunately, in these days of constrained budgets, they are often under pressure not to do so.
I have recent experience of this as two of my grandchildren have SEN. One was diagnosed by a paediatrician after a GP referral . The school accepted the diagnosis and support was provided immediately. We have custody of this DGS.
In the the other case the parent asked the school to get the educational psychologist to assess the child. The school kept saying it was not necessary and it was years before a diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome was made.
In your position I would be trying very hard to get a diagnosis for him before the meeting in January as this certainly may affect the outcome.
LEAs are duty bound to make provision for children with SENs. They also receive preferential treatment in admission to the school most suitable for them. In the majority of cases this will be a mainstream school with extra support provided. FE colleges can also provide this support.
If this is not possible over the Christmas period, might it be possible to delay the meeting for a short time until you have a diagnosis ?
Possibly your GP may be able to tell you of a reputable doctor who can do this.
Obviously this will have to be done privately and will be expensive but I would think a far better step than giving up your job.
We had to do this for our DD when we believed she was dyslexic and the school educational psychologist said she was educationally subnormal. We were correct and on receiving the report the school then miraculousy diagnosed her as dyslexic.
Please PM me if I can help, further as, from experience, I do know quite a bit about schools' SEN policies.

Hi SM - what a lovely post - thank you.
How long would it take for a diagnosis. We have had 2 Ed Psych reports one of them mentioning possible Asperger traits. This was when he was 7.
I think the problem now is that time is not on our side, particulary with the holiday period.

The School will not delay the meeting with the Governor's. I am wondering whether the LEA will take into account his 2 Ed Psych reports when placing him in another School?

Sounds like you are doing an amazing job with your DGS. I will PM you if I think of anything else I need to ask. Thank youx

I think a MM to but I am surprised that the HT has not contacted the partner school yet, they have had 3 days to pick up the phone and make a phonecall. I am surprised that the HT is so negative about the PRU's, people have commented on heir experiences on this thread and they all seem positive.

Would I withdraw my DS from the school roll - absolutely not if that meant cutting off support he and I might be entitled to - surely that is out of the fat and into the fire, but very easy for the school.

If my DS I would take the MM, if offered and make the most of it, pay for extra tuition where needed. If permanently excluded, I would research the PRU and what his/our options are, again pay for extra tuition where needed.

With 20 weeks of education left would I use my time to fight the exclusion, (you can still ask for an appeal upto 15 days after the first permanent exclusion meeting) or would I use it to find all the help he could possibly receive to support him with his SEN?

As far as I am aware, you cannot delay the meeting, there a statutory guidelines with timelines that the course of a permanent exclusion has to take place, did someone mention upthread.

LA's are still open, up until Friday I would imagine. I agree with the poster who said to contact the exclusion team and get their advice.

The exclusion team won't speak to me. I have had to write to them and explain the situation and what I need. The response was it will take up to 5 working days to respond.

The person who I spoke to understood the issues I am having but kept saying that there is a process to follow. They will have my very long letter and I await their response.
The partner school finishes today at midday as does my DS'. The HT did say he would try to speak with the HT at the other school today.

I am not that hopeful of a MM.

I think there will be not be an EP available between now and January, but you could try privately.

What support should he have had at school that he did not get? Have you had meetings with the SENDCo where the role of the school and interventions were planned and agreed?

Schools do pay for SEN by the way. The budget for SEN is delegated to them. They only receive extra funds for a child with a "Statement". All the way towards getting this, the school will need to support the child from their budget and their resources. What discussions did you have with the school about his needs and why has he not had any further Ed Psych intervention since the age of 7? What were his SEN transfer arrangments at the age of 11? What did the primary school do regarding his move to secondary in terms of SEN?

You also said, I think,he had only been at this school for 18 months. Why did you not press them for help when he went to this school? How come he left his previous school? Usually parents with SEN children are continually pushing schools for help. Did you do this when you thought he was not getting enough help? What help did you want? What did the school say they were doing at Parents' Evenings? Or, because the reports were so out of date, and his needs were not adequately flagged up, they did very little because they could get away with it. I personally think the SEN angle regarding the exclusion is clutching at straws but I am happy to be wrong. Very many SEN children are excluded if they break very clear rules.

I think the LA will struggle to find him another school to be honest (I used to do this job) but it is not impossible. It is very hard and other schools will not want their cohort disrupted in Y11 just before exams. I would accept a managed move if you are offered one but a report when he was aged 7 will not carry much weight now. It is what has been happening in the last few years that matters. I think the onus will be on you to talk to any new school and try to get support in place. Leaving it to them just will not be enough and there should be an introductory meeting that you can attend.

From the school's point of view, his SEN will be adressed by classroom intervention. It is not really in a position to address whether he smokes weed (you are) and tries to make money out of selling something which he is saying is drugs. Although it wasn't.

I think it's important to raise at the permanent exclusion meeting that you share the HT's concerns about the PRU, especially in light of the Ed Psych reports.

The problem with a MM is that the other headteacher may not agree. If they have a turbulent year group or staffing issues or just feel unhelpful, they are under no obligation to accept. However, it does also work the other way - if they don't accept him then they won't get the favour returned that easily either.
Wishing you lots of luck. How's your son doing?

I am sorry to read of this situation.

On a totally black and white note, the school will be looking to have this sorted before the 19th January, that is the School Census day and any students on roll at that point count in the school figures for performance tables.

Just something you might want to think about, don't let them rush you into something that is not the right solution just because they are keen to have this done and dusted by this date.

Thanks CS - I do get that the other HT may not agree but am hoping that as the School is closing at the end of Summer term (due to low numbers) that they may just do it and I know they are looking to offload some of their pupils into DS' School when they close.
I will take the Ed Psych's reports with me to the exclusion meeting will this be with the Exclusion's team?
Having read the Ed Psych's report when he was 13.6 it does say that he may be on the Aspergers or ADHD spectrum and also talks about him not understanding the consequences of his actions. We have always known this and are forever asking him to think about the consequences of everything he does.

The School has had both of these reports upon joining and we have tried to get as much support from the SENCO during our stay. DH is always in School fighting DS' corner.

DS has been through all the emotions (as have we) and when I told him this morning about the permanent exclusion he contacted another child who was excluded in February. This was also for supply of drugs.
The child has told DS that he must dig deep and get on with some work so that he can pass his GCSE's. He was home educated by the LEA up until his exams so not sure why he was able to have this. DS has taken some heart from this and has said that he is glad a decision has been made and now wants to make a fresh start. He is scared of what is going to happen to him but seems resigned that he has to get on with whatever is in front of him.

I am hoping that this nightmare situation is going to change my boy's life if not then he will end up with nothing. I pray it is the former.

I think it's odd the HT has said the PRU would not suit. It would be far easier for him to say that your son would do well there. Very strange.

Some of the information you have been given on here is out of date. In my opinion you are shutting the door after the horse has bolted re SEN. It takes ages to sort that out and you should have pushed before. There are no statements now. they are health Care Plans.
PRU's are not hideous and bare in mind managed moves normally require your sons school trading someone for him in a similar situation. We have just done one. They are normally last chance options and if one goes back the other school can send the other child back. It can be problematic.
Pru's can be ok depending on the one he would be allocated. I would look. My eldest attended one with what was a statement which is not strictly allowed but he got a whole raft of GCSE'S very quickly, went to a normal school for sixth form and has just gone to uni.
Try and see the bigger picture although I appreciate it can be difficult.

Of course you are right about shutting the door after the horse etc. and am beginning to realise that this is the case.
When DS had his first Ed Psych report we moved him to a private school where they had a good SEN facility. Over the years, this provision (albeit horrendously expensive) deteriorated and so did DS' behaviour so we were in a and out of School due to incidents with behaviour rather than focussing on the SEN.
We decided that we were just throwing money away sending him there and the opportunity came up to send him to a Technical college where he could study Events Management. We thought at the time this was such a great opportunity as it is something he is interested in and he would also benefit from the core subjects too.

We have worked closely with the SENCO (who has now left) and the Assistant Principal trying to get him extra support and also extra responsibility to help raise his self esteem. There was talk about DS starting a running club; having regular counselling and other initiaties which would help. None of this happened and meetings going forward consisted of talking about DS's behaviour rather than his SEN. Our aim at the time was to keep him in School to get his GCSE's and then start afresh at college where he could do a practical course if possible.
With hindsight we should have changed Schools again but it would always have been a gamble as to whether we could manage his behaviour and they could manage is SEN.

Yes, in retrospect I probably have failed him.