Any SLT or governors here? Advice RE knife at school

[Nevermindthesquirrels]

I'm going to try to keep things brief. My nephew is 12 and was found with a knife in his bag. One of those multi purpose ones with lots of options. He was told by a group of boys that have been bullying him that they'd leave him alone if he was big enough to do this. As soon as he showed them the knife one of them went to the teachers, they searched the bag and here we are.
This is in the naice home counties but it's massively effected by county lines.
He has been struggling in this school. There is a culture of low expectations and he has been getting picked on for being in top set. I am by no means excusing him as he was stupid but this is important due to the offer the school has made. He has been on the waiting list for a different school locally but it's so oversubscribed. They have similar issues with county lines but they are really hot on behaviour and they have very high expectations, as well as much more kids passing.

Anyway back to the proposal. The school has given him a 3 day suspension given that they are aware he is getting bullied and these boys have made similar offers to others. He hasn't got a single behaviour point and is generally not known to the pastoral team aside from this bullying problem.
Police have not been involved. In the meeting, school have said that they STRONGLY suggest he moves schools and they'd like the parents to come back with a choice of two schools they would be happy for him to go to. Parents want the one he's on the waiting list for but there is only one other, really far away and it's worse than the one he's in.

I used to work in schools so they thought I might know about this but I have never seen this. Is this a managed move? An illegal exclusion? We used to send kids to local schools for 2 weeks but not permanently unless it was a permanent exclusion. The paperwork for that was insane. We used to also call the police if it was knife of drugs. I'm very confused how the school can just find him a place elsewhere.

A boy who had a knife in his bag in my school was permanently excluded a few years ago.

I think it sounds like they are offering a managed move- others have explained how these will work. The school obviously have to accept the move, which has probably been why the parents have been asked for a choice of two. I would suggest they find a second choice they are happy with, in case their preferred choice does reject the move- even if it is a long distance away, transport would normally be organised in this circumstance.

Schools can offer managed moves in part to protect the student who is moving, I've seen this happen before. Space can often be found in oversubscribed schools, he wouldn't have to wait to move up the waiting list.

I would respond to the offer in writing, so there is some record of it.

When he returns to school, it's important that there's a plan for keeping him safe in school. The school can't tell anyone what will happen with the other students, but they should have a plan for keeping your nephew safe on return to school. I do think the school is in a difficult position- for lots of reasons they can't be perceived by anyone (including students who witnessed the incident) as punishing students who reported another student for having a knife in school.

@Postapocalypticcowgirl Thank you. We've found a second one but we would have to figure out transport as it's across town and no public transport there. It's likely also oversubscribed. They've also approached a local indie but highly doubt they'd take him after the knife incident, however smart he is.

I’m not SLT but sit on exclusion review panels.

Taking a knife into school normally leads to permanent exclusion, so it does sound as if the school are proposing a managed move as a way of avoiding that. However, it’s worth clarifying this with the school, as (as others have said) there are rules and expectations around managed moves which might not apply if this is intended as some sort of informal transfer.

I'm a school governor. OP, did the incident happen this term or last term? I'm asking because the DfE have issued new behaviour and exclusion guidance to schools, which applies from this term, and may be relevant. You can read it here: www.gov.uk/government/consultations/revised-behaviour-in-schools-guidance-and-suspension-and-permanent-exclusions-guidance

If the incident happened after Sept 1st and your school isn't following the guidance you can challenge them about it. Either way, it is good to understand your rights and the school's obligations.

You wouldn't be able to get a managed move to an independent school, obviously. Are the parents able to pay fees?

In some cases, I have known councils help with transport following a managed move- I'm not sure if there are specific rules around this, though. But it would be worth asking the question of the school and the council (in writing).

@Postapocalypticcowgirl Yh I don't think it would be a managed move in that instance, just taking him off roll. They have a meeting with the indie, they seemed quite supportive. They have the funds for it.
Whatever happens, we will definitely get it all in writing. We've asked Mondays meeting to be minuted.
@inapickel @PanelChair thank you both, that's very helpful.

A good approach (often recommended here) is to take your own minutes, and then send them to the school asking them to confirm that these were the points/actions agreed. That puts you in the lead and the onus on the school to rebut anything they disagree with.

Thanks all. In the end it was agreed he can stay at his current school given his behaviour record. He is out of isolation now and apparently the 3 boys have been permanently excluded. This is according to his friends so playground hearsay rather than fact. He hasn't seen them but they may still be on a fixed term exclusion.