Can A Parent Be Banned From SEN school?

[ezrapezra]

I’ve received a letter from county council saying that the board of governors have agreed the headmaster should impose a ban from entering the school premises (my 7 yr-old attends a SEN school as he is profoundly autistic and non-verbal).

The letter states that a recent posting by me on Facebook is ‘homophobic’, and that I am banned with immediate effect - unless I decide upon intervention - until the headteacher feels like allowing me back on the premises (not that I was ever there, it’s like Fort Knox.

A client of my sister has an autistic child, and he said that SEN schools by law cannot ban parents from the school. Is he correct? Thank you.

I have so many questions????

Firstly being a parent of a child with additional needs is unique within itself,
it is a journey not many will understand, in a lot of cases depending on the parents understanding and access to resources it could be described as a pride swallowing siege of trial and error.
talk less of a child who attends a special needs school where different rules apply according to the needs of the child and is non verbal, you as parent/s would have to advocate and liaise with the school more intensely than if the child were verbal and in a mainstream setting, I would imagine.

I would need more back history on your relationship with the school prior to you receiving that letter.
if you are the one doing the handover in the mornings and pickups then how would the ban actually work?

If you the LA transport service transports your child to and from school, what if there is an incident there and you require the schools support?

What if your child needs your physical presence in any capacity during the day, how would they enforce the ban then?

What did you post and did you know the school had access to your social media accounts?

Schools can ban parents from the premises, I have done so when a parent threatened a child. I am not aware of any distinction between mainstream and specialist schools,both are technically private property and therefore a ban can be enforced. The school will have taken legal advice, indeed, it was the local authority legal department who issued the letter in my case. However I've never heard it done on the grounds of social media postings.
Do you usually take your child to and from school? If so, either someone else will have to do so or the handover will take place at the gates. If they use specialist transport, it makes that point moot. But any communication would need to be by phone or email etc. The parent involved in my case was not allowed to attend parents evening or any social events where children were present.

I’m not aware of anything preventing a school banning a parent from the site of a special school, and I know of a situation where another parent was banned from their child’s SS.

Schools have the right to regulate who comes onto their premises. Somewhere I've seen guidance that says the governors must keep bans under regular review, but I must admit I can't remember where - could be worth some googling.