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Secondary education

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Original poster

Child constantly removed from class

127 replies

CornwallMamma · 17/09/2025 18:34

My son is in year 9 at secondary school. Last year he was removed from lessons 50 times during the school year. Mostly he is over talkative, occasionally backchatting teachers. He’s disruptive but not to the point of violence or anything really bad. Mostly he just can’t concentrate in lessons.
the school have assessed ADHD and concluded that actually he is very bright and not ADHD.
Apart from the lesson removals, which are obviously a concern, the schools policy is that is a child is removed from class they then have to sit in ‘reset’ for the next lesson, effectively missing the next lesson too.
Has anyone come across a school that does this?
I’m arguing that it is an incentive, not a punishment, for kids who don’t want to be in school. And it isn’t proper learning!

OP posts:
Ohmygodthepain · 17/09/2025 18:36

Pretty much every school will remove a child from a class for persistent disruption. There are no SEN, your kid is a pain in the arse and disrupting the education of his entire year group. His behaviour needs addressing, not the school policy. FML.

mondaytosunday · 17/09/2025 18:38

Im not sure of the reasoning behind making them miss a class but your son obviously needs his behaviour addressed as letting him in the next class is not going to change it is it?

arethereanyleftatall · 17/09/2025 18:42

I didn’t think schools assessed ADHD, isn’t it doctors?

thats one thing. The other is that it sounds like he is disrupting the learning of every single other child in the class. Possibly 29 who want to learn, 1 who doesn’t. What do you think they should do?

Bluevelvetsofa · 17/09/2025 18:43

If he is very bright, are they suggesting that his disruption is due to being bored and not sufficiently challenged? If so, the school should be aware and providing a curriculum that suits his needs. If he’s just being irritating and disruptive, he needs to think more carefully about his behaviour.

I’d be interested to know what assessments in school determine whether a pupil has ADHD.

AlwaysFreezing · 17/09/2025 18:45

Youre rightly concerned that hes missing his full education. But 29 other kids are missing their full education with your son disrupting so many lessons.

So I can understand why school adopt this system.

Why cant your son behave?

Meadowfinch · 17/09/2025 18:45

Have you talked to your son? Does he want to be removed from classes? What is he trying to achieve?

The rest of the class shouldn't have to put up with the disruption. They are entitled to learn in peace. I suspect the school will suspend your ds shortly, just to get rid of him.

As for your ds missing his education - that really is your ds' problem. He is old enough to know to stop being an idiot.

MrsPerfect12 · 17/09/2025 18:46

Parent your child so the other children can get an education! What punishments are you applying?

SeptemberJackdaws · 17/09/2025 18:47

ADHD is a medical diagnosis, can’t be diagnosed by a school or GP.

MolluscMonday · 17/09/2025 18:50

What do you think the school should do, OP?

And what have you done?

Gotobloodysleep · 17/09/2025 18:51

Schools cannot assess for adhd, they do not even have a screening process for it like they can dyslexia. It needs to be diagnosed through medical referral.

however, I agree with a pp that if they concluded that he is bright and that the behaviour is arising because the content of lessons is not challenging, they should be addressing this. While removing him may stop the behaviour it does not address the root cause of the behaviour and it will persist.

what does your son say? Has anyone asked him how he feels, why he is continuing to act this way and worked with him to curb the low level disrution

Runlikesomeoneleftgateopen · 17/09/2025 18:51

yes it would be easier for everyone concerned if your son complied .
Imagine expecting a working border collie to sit still in one room all day it would go insane.
The classroom environment is not mentally or physically stimulating enough for many bright and able students.

Blushingm · 17/09/2025 18:56

He’s disrupting everyone else on the class enough to be told to leave class more than once a week? What are you doing to help improve his behaviour as that’s genuinely not fair on every single other pupil - it’s not fair on the teacher either

arethereanyleftatall · 17/09/2025 18:58

Dd has ADHD and autism, and I have worked very hard with her to make sure she understands that other people have needs too, and she needs to co-exist with them. Whether he has ADHD or not, you still don’t get to spoil the experience for everyone else.

if my children EVER got removed from a class, and that’s once, not 50 times, they sure as shit wouldn’t be getting removed again from the consequences at home.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 17/09/2025 18:58

Runlikesomeoneleftgateopen · 17/09/2025 18:51

yes it would be easier for everyone concerned if your son complied .
Imagine expecting a working border collie to sit still in one room all day it would go insane.
The classroom environment is not mentally or physically stimulating enough for many bright and able students.

So the parents work with the school to stretch him.

Make him watch the news or Question Time. Help him find more advanced maths on YouTube. Make him read demanding literature or watch historical films with him and discuss the context.

It’s not just up to the school. I taught G and T kids for years. They need stretching everywhere not just at school.

Coconutter24 · 17/09/2025 19:01

To be removed from 50 lessons is a lot. Instead of arguing about it being an incentive not a punishment you need to focus your time on getting your child to learn to be less disruptive.

ByTheNine · 17/09/2025 19:03

In 20+ years of teaching I have never met a student who was so intelligent that they were compelled to misbehave to the point of being removed from the room. Never.
Students are often removed and isolated after poor misbehaviour to give them a chance to reflect and calm down. Otherwise they tend to bounce from lesson to lesson, getting removed repeatedly and potentially ruining a whole day for other students.

RigIt · 17/09/2025 19:03

Schools can’t assess for ADHD so not sure what you mean by that?

My question to them though would be, if it’s not ADHD, and you think he‘a “just bright” and presumably bored, what are they gong to engage him and make it interesting. If nothing, they are just completely failing a child they’ve labelled as “bright” by basically denying him an education. Constantly taking him out isn’t working, so what are they going to try next. They are just flogging a dead horse currently

cannynotsay · 17/09/2025 19:03

what steps are you taking to stop him from doing this apart from making excuse. He’s missed over 50 hours of education… that’s ridiculous

Adhdparent123 · 17/09/2025 19:03

Being bright does not mean he does not have ADHD, and schools have no expertise to assess this as others have said. If you are concerned see a medical diagnosis.

That said, even if he does have ADHD, whilst that explains the lack of concentration, it is not an excuse for chatting and being disruptive, he needs help, to learn ways to improve focus without disrupting others.

arethereanyleftatall · 17/09/2025 19:05

I would argue the ‘bright’ ND children are actually the ones who mask the shit out of life. And don’t disrupt lessons.

BeeDavis · 17/09/2025 19:08

You’re more concerned about the school policy than actually dealing with your son disrupting a lesson probably a couple times a week!! And of course he was assessed for ADHD because surely that’s the answer right?! No he’s just a pain in the arse and no students like kids like yours in school.

ApplebyArrows · 17/09/2025 19:26

Disruptive students should be removed (and I bet for every lesson he's kicked out of there's a dozen where he misbehaves and the teacher lets it fly).

But the school's approach clearly isn't working. If the problem really is that the lessons aren't challenging enough that suggests the teachers could be doing a better job!

I wonder if the kind of behaviour management techniques taught to ADHD kids could be helpful for him even if he isn't actually ADHD himself. Is he getting enough exercise and stimulation outside the classroom?

Wisenotboring · 17/09/2025 19:28

Kindly,.children aren't just removed from.class for fun. Low level.disruption (if that's what it is) is one of the most destructive things thay can happen in a classroom as it's influence is just so all pervasive and is exhausting. Please dont be the parent that just hits back at the school because little jonny is juat a bit lively. If he has been removed 50 times you need to tackle this head on with him. Schools are in no way qualified to diagnose SEN so if you think there is something like adhd going on, take this up with your g.p. and consider a private assessment as the wait is so long. Best of luck

Wisenotboring · 17/09/2025 19:28

Kindly,.children aren't just removed from.class for fun. Low level.disruption (if that's what it is) is one of the most destructive things thay can happen in a classroom as it's influence is just so all pervasive and is exhausting. Please dont be the parent that just hits back at the school because little jonny is juat a bit lively. If he has been removed 50 times you need to tackle this head on with him. Schools are in no way qualified to diagnose SEN so if you think there is something like adhd going on, take this up with your g.p. and consider a private assessment as the wait is so long. Best of luck

dylexicdementor11 · 17/09/2025 19:31

I highly recommend that you -and everyone else in the UK - read this book.

https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/miseducation-1