Temporary exclusion and threatened permanent exclusion

[user1483060276]

I have a resolution meeting at the school in the New Year. Son (15) was caught with cannabis in school and excluded. They have also threatened to permanently exclude him.

Has anyone been to an "resolution meeting", what should I expect, and how can I best prepare?

In answer to gnome's question. As the writer of 384638373737 ucas references what will make a difference is attitude rather than this single instance. One fall from grace will not impact at all if the lad is generally a good student. If he adopts all already had a shitty attitude then the reference wouldn't say that outright but in the worst situation would lack positives - admissions officers are extremely skilled at reading between the lines.

I have never written a reference for someone with a criminal record (op's son does not to my knowledge) but I do know that obviously this would preclude (and has in my experience) a student from courses where the student would be working with vulnerable people.

So teaching or nursing or social work would be a no. International Relations or engineers, no reason why it should have an impact as far as I am aware.

Gosh - another ramble. The holiday has obviously rendered me unable to say anything briefly

I think user148 etc ( name a coincidence??) has a relaxed attitude to cannabis. I was like that till it cost my son a year of uni and some mental health issues. cannabis today is much stronger and less predictable than in previous times. the school is likely to be very intolerant of a parent accepting that cannabis use is ok

In all my years, I have never seen a young person smoke cannabis who did not already smoke cigarettes. Therefore if a child has an addictive personality, the opportunity to smoke tobacco and then cannabis and gets a kick from seeing if he gets discovered in school, then there is likely to be an ongoing problem. It could also get worse. This may depend on friends and what they do and what they have access to. We also tend to forget that many parents have, themselves, a relaxed attitude to drugs. They started at uni and carried on at festivals and parties and privately at home. It is highly likely many children are rather used to the idea that their parents smoke dope. It is then one small step for them to copy.

Throughout this thread there have been posters who don't want dope smokers in schools. I just pointed out that this was unrealistic. There are loads but most don't get caught!

Surely smoking dope at school is a step too far??

Bottom line is that the school has to weigh up the message that allowing him back gives out. Exclusions (fixed-term or permanent) are what a hard-line against drugs looks like. If they let kids get away with it (and that's what it will look like to all the other kids), it's a green light to everyone else to light up a spliff. Where's the hard line then?

Mind you, with my cynical teacher's hat on, they might also be considering how much of a contribution he might be making to their ranking in the league tables, if he's a bright kid who is likely to ace his exams.

When this happened at our school the child continued in the pupil support base doing all the subjects until another school
was found for them. There was a lot of waiting as many schools did want to take the child due to the drugs connection. When a place came up pupil and parents had a home school contract to sign with the new school.

So theoretically it wasn't a permanent exclusion but the pupil wasn't allowed to remain permanently at the school.

I'm hoping he doesn't get expelled and equally hoping he quits the smoking/cannabis. It's been a very interesting thread and I'd love to know how it goes - please come back and let us know.

Passmethecrisps I did wonder this. I can imagine that medicine would need a very 'positive' reference

I'm curious to know, OP, what sanction from the school you would be prepared to accept as just, if he's lucky enough to get away without being excluded.

A situation similar to this arose in my school in November(England). The end result was the pupil was placed on twilight provision because both parent and child failed to see how serious an issue it was. As a result the pupil attends from 2-6pm completing work set by teachers. Not the way to top results but since the family would not take the situation seriously the school had to prioritise the rights of the majority of pupils.

OP I seriously doubt your DS does not smoke and the need to smoke cannabis during the school day suggests a more worrying relationship with the drug.

Groovee - exactly. Another school was found. This is what happens. So anyone that thinks there are no dope smokers at their school is probably incorrect. The ones who get caught just get passed around. The ones who sell are more difficult to deal with. There is no government policy which says children who smoke dope must be permanently excluded. Therefore there is no "hard line" against drugs. Drug problems are dealt with differently by individual schools but there is no hard line blanket policy to exclude permanently. A permanent exclusion is often another school's admission.

Parents, the child, drug advisers and the school will need to work together to improve the situation, whether in this school or another one.

I'm under no illusion that kids smoke dope at my DDs' school. My DDs tell me they do. I also know that if they were to do it (or get caught doing it) they would have very very serious consequences to face at home as well as at school. I would certainly not be struggling to get worked up about it.

I suspect that there is a group in almost every school that smokes dope, I also know that those that get caught (with evidence) get either a managed move or in some case PEXd. In some cases (most likely) both.

I wonder what the outcome of the meeting was?

It won't have happened yet. The earliest schools go back is Tuesday and some not until next Monday.

Your son is a dick, lots of teens smoke weed but not many are dumb enough to take it into school and get caught with it

Glasgow schools don't start back until Thursday.

Edinburgh return on the 10th

Your son is a dick, lots of teens smoke weed but not many are dumb enough to take it into school and get caught with it

I think the stupidity has been compounded by

Not naming the dealer
Minimising ( it was just herbs)
Child not taking it seriously
Parent not taking it seriously
Neither seeking help for his drug use
Parent not accepting that school could exclude
Parent insisting that school must respect the child's rights
Parent who states that her child is going for a prestigious course and therefore the alternatives are not suitable for him ( which sounds like 'my child is far too clever to be placed with the riff raff' )

Kr1stina A very good summary of the whole situation.

I think not naming the dealer could be a big stumbling block- supplying illegal drugs to teenagers is obviously a big deal, and I'm sure the school will want to know who he bought from, especially as he has admitted it was an older student.

Has he said why he does not want to name the dealer? Is it because he is afraid of them? Or is it out of a misplaced sense of loyalty? Or is he worried about the wider consequences, e.g. being seen as a grass, others being angry they have lost their supply? Or is he claiming to not actually know the dealer's name?

I think you and he will both have to accept that this is something the school is likely to push for, and refusing to name the dealer will make him look even more guilty. If they get any sense he was supplying the drug, I expect it will become a criminal matter, which could become very serious indeed.

I think the OP might be slightly misled by the official statistics, which show that a tiny amount of pupils ( less than 10 year in the whole country ) are removed from the register.

I suspect that's because most are managed out, rather than going down the permanent exclusion route . My children attend one of the best schools in the country and I know of two kids who have been 'forced to leave ' durning the last couple of years - one for drugs and another for sexual offences. I doubt very much that they will show up in the official statistics so I can only assume that they were somehow persuaded to leave and continue their education elsewhere.

So even if you think that removal from the register is an idle threat, I strongly suggest that you and your son eat humble pie. They may not be able to exclude him but you really don't want to piss off the people who will be writing his UCAS reference. The days when you walked into some of the most prestigious courses as long as you had 6As are long gone.

Kr1stina

The problem is that managed moves have to be agreed by all parties, (parents and schools), and from what I can tell the OP won't agree to it. That will leave the School and the OP in a very poor position.

chances are though that as its a "resolution meeting" it will be a slap on the wrist and a firm set of rules that he will have to abide by.