Permanent exclusion help

[MumnMore]

My son in Year 10 was permanently excluded last week! It’s expected and unexpected. Expected because they threatened it soon after behaviour issues started and unexpected because the behaviours are not disruptive or extreme.
does anyone have experience of attending a PDC (governor’s meeting) to review the exclusion?
Do I have to provide my report/evidence to the school prior to the meeting? Would be grateful to hear any experience of this meeting please x

I know because the staff have told me. They have said his behaviour in lessons is not a problem at all.

I did get the paperwork yes. It said physical assault on another student which sounds awful on paper. He fought back after being attacked and so I understand it.

i think something is going on because he has never been defiant before. He has had a perfectly good behaviour record for three years at the school. I feel something is causing this behaviour but I don’t know what.

A few people have explained that not going to lessons is a huge problem due to safeguarding issues. I think it has to be this.
I work in a school myself and I’ve never seen a permanent exclusion based on the things my son’s is based on.
The reason I’m the letter is “repeated failure to follow the school code of conduct”. I have been working with the school, attending meetings to try and address the issue but they seem to have given up on him so quickly.
I’d even take a managed move right now. He’s a bright kid and it’d be a shame to end up in a PRU.

This is a little offensive, but there is always one.

I do not condone any misbehaviour but this step seems extreme and I am merely voicing that and asking for any experience/knowledge of a governor’s meeting.

You should ask to see the school's records on your DS.

All his behaviour/ incidents he has been involved in will have been recorded, they'll be using these to evidence the exclusion.

Thank you for your post.

He is arriving to lessons 10 minutes late and on-call are having to look for him. He sometimes does this once a day, other times, three times a day! I know this is not ideal and I am trying to get to the bottom of why.

He goes the long way round to lessons and seems to arrive late intentionally. I am at a loss as to why he would want to do this but he’s been very down lately and something is going on.

There is no incident that has triggered this exclusion. It was a “normal day” where he was late to 2 out of 5 lessons and a member of staff found him in the wrong building. If anything had happened, I believe I would have been told.

He was placed on a Pastoral Support Plan, but this has been unhelpful because it says things such as “my teacher will know I am getting angry when…” or “I get distracted in lessons because”. It isn’t tailored to him because anger/disruption isn’t the problem.

Any detentions not attended were escalated to 2 hour ones which he attended or he was isolated.

He walks around the school buildings and takes the long route to lessons. He always goes, just not at the right time!

I do the admin for PEX. You will receive the school’s evidence at least 5 days before the hearing and within this should be his behaviour record, which for most parents I have dealings with is a complete shock ie when they see the extent of the disruption, verbal abuse or repeated poor behaviour.
You will have the opportunity to put your son’s case so give any background information that may have caused the behaviour and the impact of being excluded on him but bear in mind the school will probably have substantial evidence if the behaviour is repeated.
We have done more PEX in the past 18 months than in the 7 years I’ve worked at the school. All have been upheld and the two that went to appeal were also upheld. It’s an incredibly labour intensive process so schools don’t use it lightly.

I used to be a school governor and sat on numerous PDCs.

If my school is anything to go by, the school went to extreme lengths not to exclude pupils. Ofsted monitors exclusions, so schools are generally extremely cautious about how they do them.

You can attend a PRU for respite. I teach at one. It may be worth exploring other options to avoid or even delay an exclusion. May be worth looking into? PRU's are not the end of the world. Can have adapted timetables, emotional support and tailored lessons.

Your son can only get a permanent exclusion for either a single serious incident or persistent disruptive behaviour and it sounds as if this is the latter. The reasons will be in the letter you’ve received notifying you of the PEX. At the meeting there will probably be 3 governors on the panel. They will be deciding if the HT decision is reasonable, proportionate and fair and can direct the HT to reinstate your son or decline to reinstate your son. In the meeting the HT will present the reasons why they’ve made the decision and the governors and you will be able to ask questions. There may also be someone from the local authority there. Governors will want to ensure that policies have been followed correctly and explore what support has been put in place to avoid a PEX. After the meeting they will discuss all they’ve heard and the information in the exclusion pack and come to a decision. You’ll get a letter explaining the reasons they’ve come to their decision. If they uphold the decision you can appeal to an IRP who are independent of the school.

@MumnMore, even though you claim to work in a school yourself, you are completely disregarding the safeguarding aspects of your son's behaviour. Being missing for up to half an hour a day is a huge strain on school resources. The way you put an exclamation mark after divulging this suggests you are not seeing how big of a problem this is - just imagine ten, twenty or thirty students doing the same thing - it would be unmanageable and parents would quite rightly be outraged that there would not be enough staff available for this and other issues.
IME, a permanent exclusion happens based on a long history of failure to comply with reasonable expectations on the part of the school, so I can only assume that there is a considerable history giving a weight to the reasons for exclusion.
There is always a hearing for permanent exclusion and also the possibility for you to appeal if you feel that there are grounds for this.

Being 10 minutes late for 3 out of 5 lessons is extreme, especially if he is just wandering around and sometimes in the wrong building. That will be taking up a lot of teacher / support staff time. Has he ever explained why he is so late?

I don’t know if PEx is the right move, it would all depend on what support that has been put in place.

I agree, it is extreme. I just can’t figure out what’s causing it.
I don’t think PEX is the right thing to do. I think he needs some targets/ late report or similar.
He doesn’t deserve to be sent to a PRU for this

@MumnMore he can attend a PRU to get to the bottom of these issues for a period of respite and pre exclusion.

It may be worth looking at.

If the behaviour is a complete shock, surely the school have not done everything they can to avoid PEX because a basic step/intervention would be to keep the parent/cared informed. Surely, they need to do this to try and tackle behaviour issues.
The impact of the PEX is severe currently. He got the news the day before his birthday and in his birthday, he wrote a letter suggesting he was going to commit suicide because his life is over being kicked out of school.

I “claim to work in a school”. I do work in a school.

I'm not sure as to why you've chosen to highlight my remark about you working in a school, @MumnMore. It was intended to make the point that you should understand what the processes are to instigate a permanent exclusion and also your rights as a parent regarding appealing to the governors of the school etc.
Whether or not you choose to take that up is up to you, but as to the truth of your post, (so far MNHQ is quiet), but I was actually questioning your understanding of what it takes for a student to be excluded, hence why I also questioned whether or not you work in education. I don't think that's unreasonable, especially given today's climate towards teachers and other workers in schools.

I fully understand what it takes to be excluded which is why I am
so shocked this has happened. When I compare this to other situations I have seen with students in my own school, it doesn’t seem right and so there has to be things I haven’t been informed about.

I am not really here to debate whether I work in a school or not. My original post was to gain feedback on whether anyone had been to a PDC and to see what their experience of it was. It’s all well and good reading about the procedure but real life experiences are helpful. I have nothing to do with the exclusions procedure in my role.

Impactful enough that he'd share why he's doing what he does to get it or say he'd stop the lateness, wandering and other behaviour?

Is it possible that he is not taking the direct route to his classes because he is trying to avoid certain children? As he has already been attacked perhaps he has an ongoing problem with that child/friend group and is staying out of their way until he can go into a supervised classroom.

Unless he is being excluded for a one off incident, it does not sound like the school have done everything possible before going down the PEX route. I have a student in my tutor group who truants, is rude to staff, disruptive, has major anger issues (although isn't violent towards others). He has been on school report cards many times. He is now on an SPSF (I think this is right?) for 12 weeks. Parents are in for weekly meetings. He has been told that if his behaviour does not improve by the end of the 12 weeks the next step is a managed move to another school. If I were in your position I would be questioning whether the school have done everything they can to support your child before going to PEX? It doesn't sound like they have! I'd also consider getting legal advice and taking a solicitor with you who has experience in this field. I know of PEX being overturned as a result of legal involvement as the school hadn't done everything they could and didn't have enough evidence.

OP what I meant when saying parents are shocked by the behaviour record is that the constant disruption, which doesn’t always necessitate parental meetings, is usually extensive across the years. If it’s enough to have repeatedly disrupted the leaning of the student and their peers, it’s enough to exclude. Often it’s low level in the earlier years but then peaks in y9 or 10 when it won’t be tolerated any longer. The fact that he’s had suspensions previously seemed to suggest this is the case. Does the school not have an app that you are notified of negative and positive marks?
Your son’s response regarding suicide is very worrying and I am sorry to read of it. This would be an important consideration for the panel at the hearing, so bring the letter with you, as that can’t be ignored. What have you done about that threat as you may well be asked? Also, ask if the school considered a managed move for him prior to exclusion. Where is he now receiving his education ie after the 5th day?
Generally these days, schools are doing so many PEX and suspensions that they’re pretty confident they will succeed before going down that route.

I meant to add that the hearing itself follows a formula and must meet the threshold of being fair, proportionate and reasonable while considering the imparting your son and also the wider school community.
The Chair will start the hearing, will invite the school to state their case, will invite you to speak, then there will be an opportunity for questions from you/school/panel. The school and you will be asked to sum up/ state why he shouldn’t be excluded and then the panel will retire to deliberate. You should be notified that day and have 15 days to appeal. It’s important (and can be very powerful) that your son attends so that his voice is heard by the panel.

*impact on