Is this an illegal/informal exclusion?

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My son is in reception and has been put on a reduced timetable (9-12) since the second half of the spring term, following an exclusion of 4 days. The head basically said to me that unless he went on a reduced timetable the risk of him being permanently excluded is higher.

My son has a learning delay and they said developmentally he's around 2 in some areas, they also say he probably has ADHD and PDA is something that has been mentioned recently.

Ehcp has just been sent off for and appointment at the doctor's is booked so we can go down the right to choose pathway.

I assumed the reduced timetable would be temporary but the school have not contacted me to increase his hours and the last couple of weeks I've been trying to get a meeting sorted they keep coming up with excuses and saying they'll get back to me.

Im aware my son is a handful but he is entitled to a full time education. Has anyone else been through this and what happened?

A reduced timetable can be an unlawful informal exclusion, and in this case it is. Part-time timetables should not be used to manage behaviour. If the school wants to suspend, they should do so formally. If OP’s DS can’t attend full-time, alternative provision should be in place.

He is 4 and not of compulsory age

If you read the thread, OP’s DS is 5 and is compulsory school age. Even if he wasn’t, he would still be entitied to attend full time unless formally suspended or permanently excluded.

Just as your son has a right to a full time eduction - you have to take into acount if it is right for him? He clearly wasnt coping with it if he had a meltdown on that scale!
And, just as he has a right to FTE, the teacher has a right to not be physically injured at work, and the other children have the right not to be disrupted!

If the wall unit had caused him injury? casued another child injury?

these are things that you need to be looking at too, not just his "right". FTE is not for everyone, and many suit a more part time, less formal approach to learning, and this may be where you have to look for your son

I feel for you, but sadly your needs are not a consideration. If you throw the book at the school and demand full days, you will likely see more temporary exclusions when he reaches breaking point, followed by permanent exclusion. That’s a much less predictable set up for you to cope with. Work with the school. Show your appreciation where they do things well. It works wonders in getting good outcomes to have people feel that you are willing to work with them as a team.

The EHCP process is ongoing, he is 4 so not actually even compulsory school age yet, and really until something specific is in place the schools hands are tied.

They would clearly need an extra person specifically dedicated to just watch this one child, there is no diagnosis here, no EHCP to set that out, it’s not an easy situation for school or a quick one to resolve.

The facts are that the school can easily justify this being in the best interests of the child AND also in the best interests of the staff and other pupils for their safety.

He was 5 in February as I said earlier 🙂

In my experience the more people and agencies you involve the better. It keeps everyone accountable.

As you have SS involved, I don’t know what level and what point you’re at but have you have a TAF (Team around the family) meeting yet? It means everyone involved family and their support are invited eg school SENCO, SALT and who ever else.

First ask for a meeting with class teacher and SENCO lay out all the issues at home and ask what other referals they can put place. Tell them you want to apply for ECHP if they don’t do it yourself. Either way contact your local SENDIASS team, they can walk you through it and attend meeting with you.

Also contact the LEA head of inclusion team amd ask their advice.

It sounds like mainstream school may not be the place for him.

I’m afraid you have to push and push for support and it’s exhausting.

Your DS may need to be in the special needs school?

I don't think any of it's acceptable, of course OPs child should have an education. But I don't think it's the school's fault either, they have tried and don't have the resources. They can't magic up money or more staff. They should absolutely help with the ECHP, but in the meantime they've put this plan in place.

OP, you're getting some brilliant advice here already but I'd suggest asking for this thread to be moved over to SEN as AIBU is really not the most supportive place.

I've been where you are. My child was illegally excluded twice for violent meltdowns when he was in year 1. He ended up spending his time in school with a 1:1 in the staff room and an ipad accessing zero education. He's 12 today, and thriving in a specialist unit, and no one who knows him now can believe he was like that. Your son needs the right support and hopefully the EHCP will provide that, and you will see an improvement at home as well. We had regular massive meltdowns at home when school was challenging, and now we have a happy son who loves life, and it was apparent very, very quickly that school stress had been manifesting with us too (and we have learned a lot about demand avoidance along the way - please look up PDA and see if it resonates).

I write all the above knowing that finding the right place can be HUGELY challenging and we were so very lucky. It's wrong that so many children are being let down like this, and the impact on the adults and children around them is real too. The people on the SEN board have so much advice and support to give about every part of the process ahead of you though, which is invaluable.

He is five. The OPs question is are the school acting unlawfully, which they are. My eldest had a similar experience in reception. He moved to a different mainstream school in year 1 within the same LA and has managed since full time with no exclusions as the new school pushed hard for all of the support needed. So I believe that whilst many schools believe that there is nothing they can do this is somewhat untrue.

Okay but he is in reception yes? So not a compulsory year?

School is compulsory from the term after a child is five.

He is in reception which is a non-compulsory school year.

Did your child rip down a trophy cabinet which could have seriously injured or killed himself or any other person nearby including kids, and then physically assault a teacher?

There is a balancing act for the school, if they cannot guarantee the safety of the child AND others then they are doing exactly what they have to for the safety of all involved.

Ah, I hadn’t realised that you had other younger kids as well - that does make things much trickier with the part time timetable.

If he’s a risk to the other children then repeating reception won’t work. However, without wanting to sound defeatist year 1 in mainstream is unlikely to work at all if he’s on a reduced timetable in reception. There is quite a big step up in terms of learning and behaviour.

I think that you need to consider going private for the diagnosis at least if there is any possible way to afford it.

@Mrsttcno1 DC are compulsory school age from the term after their 5th birthday. That applies whether they are in reception or not.

Even if OP’s DS wasn’t compulsory school age, it would still be unlawful to informally excluded. OP’s DS would still be entitled to attend full-time unless formally suspended or permanently excluded. (OP would be able to decide to send DS part time until CSA if she wishes (or not at all) but that would be the parent’s decision.)

My child endangered himself plenty in reception yes, because the school did not manage his behaviour well. He was an inconvenience that needed to be there as little as possible. His reception teacher was the school SEN lead. Most of his exclusions happened due to behaviour whilst lining up for dinner. He hasn't had any dangerous incidents at his new school. He did not learn to read in reception as the school didn’t have time for him, which has had a huge knock on effect on his education as he is playing catch up.

My point is, little adjustments and an adjustment of mindset within the school can make a huge difference for all the pupils. If the teacher recognised he was hungry and made adjustments based on that, rather than putting him on a reduced timetable everyone would have benefitted. Rather than a constant cycle of poor behaviour from reception DC that are illegally excluded that then moved onto other schools.

i imagine they were. i wouldn’t want my hair pulled or scratched either and it was probably upsetting for the other 30 kids in the class. It’s sad that he is missing out and he does have a right to an education but not at the expense of safety of toters and 30 other children

It’s not just an inconvenience to have a child who rips whole cabinets off walls & physically attacks people, it is unsafe for both the other pupils & staff. The other pupils who are also entitled to an education & the staff and pupils who have the right to be safe at school.

It’s quite obvious that more support is needed for this child, the EHCP can help with that, a 121, potentially a different school entirely. Once that is in place the school can apply for extra funding to provide the support needed. The only thing that will happen if OP sends him back full time next week is a permanent exclusion and that’s even worse.

I agree that this school probably isn't the best place for him. My point is that until certain schools adjust their midset towards disabled DC, explore the cause of the meltdown, and stop seeing illegal actions as an option and push for support that is out there all of the DC suffer.

The school have the mindset they don't want furniture ripped off the walls and their staff assaulted. That is not disablist!

And the child behaves very badly at home too, so I don't think you can pin this on the school

But they are a school. They are legally obliged to provide a full time education for lots of disabled DC aswel as NT DC. It is their job to find a way of doing that safely. What they are currently doing is illegal.

By law the school need to proved adequate support not effectively legally exclude a child. They only ever do this to disabled children which is why it gets swept under the carpet.

OP yes it's totally illegal. First of all start documenting everything in writing. Give them a date and time by when you expect your son to be back in full time education and advise your next steps if this doesn't happen.

This happened to my oldest child (ASD, ADHD and ARFID). I did actually move him to another school because the one he was at was as useless as a chocolate tea pot. The school I moved him to had a full enhanced provision service. It worked better but I did put in a formal complaint in writing prior to this to get him moved

Try contacting SENDIASS. They offer free advice and can liaise with the school too.

You now have to wait to see if you get Yes to assess for an EHCP. If you do, an Ed psych usually assesses and the EHCP plan will be based around their advice. This is a legal document. If you get turned down, you can appeal.

If the school has gone for a partial timetable, they should have met with you to discuss, you should have signed and paperwork should have been sent off to County. The plan should be reviewed regularly with the goal of building up time in school. If you didn't sign anything, or have not been told when the plan should be reviewed, it would be sensible to contact children's services at County.

The school have lots of obligations, to lots of people. They have a duty to ensure that all pupils and staff are safe at school. They would be incredibly negligent to take this child back next week and the next cabinet he pulls down land on & hospitalise or kill other pupils, or the next person he physically attacks isn’t an adult but a child who is seriously injured. His education does not trump the rights of potentially hundreds of other people’s right to be safe when they are in that building every day.

One there is a diagnosis in place & an EHCP the school has options, they can say they can’t meet need so OP can find one that can or they can apply for additional funding to provide a 121 etc.

Considering OP has said this behaviour is just as bad at home I’m not sure how anyone can blame the school here, they have hundreds of children to look after.