Quick exclusion query

[Desperatelyseekingsupport]

Ds attends school for his statemented hours only (4 half-days and 1 full day). He has been excluded for 2 days but they have made it equivalent to 4 half days e.g Friday until Thursday. Can they do this? I assumed that 2 days would be the same as 2 of his usual school days. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

I would say 2 days is just that 2 days wether it be half days or not.

He should be going FT anyway so are illegally excluding him from school for the second part of the day.

If the exclusionletter says 'two days' this should be two, consecutive 24 hour periods. It is very unfair to add up his hours across 4 days.

coff33pot is also right. Why are you only sending him in for the hours he receives support? Surely what your child needs is full-time support? When is his annual review?

Thanks coffee and wine
Ds is on a PSP and school have said that placing him on a reduced timetable temporarily will prevent any exclusions. I have approached our SEN caseworker about this and the fact that he is not accessing a full time education. She said that he is on reduced hours to enable him TO access education. I am getting really cheesed off with this now . Have just e-mailed the county exclusions officer for advice on whether 4 actual days missed is correct. Dh has to care for him and cannot get a job because of this. He also has long term health issues that are not helped with all this stress.

What the SEN caseworker is saying is a load of bull

He is entitled to a FULL education. I fell for this one last year and amicably kept ds PT then they got statement 25 hrs and he was still PT. Ended up with a row but I told them I disagreed with him being PT he is entitled to FT and he is going.

Once you have refused (actually even if you agreed I have read somewhere) they are acting illegally in sending your son home.

They can do it by official exclusion letter and all that will do is put in in your favour that he needs more supportive hours funding as SCHOOL are not meeting his needs.

I really would email them and stick to your guns. Tell them he is coming back wednesday morning and he is staying FT. If you dont then they will keep him this way indefinately as it suits them when out of sight out of mind x

Thanks again Coff. Have spoken to ds a bit more about it and apparently when he was told about the exclusion he did point out that that was 4 days not 2 but was told it was because of his part-time hours . The exclusion letter also stated that it was 'due to the flexible timetable'. I have also e-mailed caseworker advising her of the exclusion and the fact that he is missing even more of his education! I have said that as she is aware dh has serious helath issues made worse by the stress caused by the school situation and asking her what happens if he can't care for ds when he should be at school! Dh is worried though that if we insist on him being full time they won't/can't provide full-time support and will end up excluding him permanently so we will be in an even worse situation

I know how your DH feels Desparately its worrying that they could exclude him permanently. But they cant seriously expect a child to remain PT to suit them.
forever and if you let them get away with it they will.

You even have proof that they are keeping him off with the quote in the letter saying "flexible timetable".

I would get on to the LA themselves and tell them you want your son FT and that the school are only taking him PT and what to they intend to do about it.

Also if he has a dx it could be construed as discrimination that they are excluding him whilst failing to meet his needs.

This report is a good summary of the education you are entitled to and what the Ombudsman would make a LA put in if it were not being provided.
If they want a PT timetable should be offering you some home tuition to make the hours up to full-time
You need to make a complaint to the SEN officer and give a short deadline e.g. 14 days to meet you and come up with a plan to make the time up to FT. If they won't you can go straight to the Ombudsman who apparently will intervene straight away and not make you go through the lengthy complaint procedure
Lots of stuff on exclusions on IPSEA website and Dept for education too

We don't have a dx yet - have been years battling to get one but as he is 'complex' it's not been easy. Have an appointment this week though so hopefully will make progress - school and professionals that have worked with him are sure he will get an AS/ASD dx soon.
I did state to the caseworker that he was not getting a full time education and she said that she did not understand what I meant by that remark!
Thanks Agnes for the link - will have a read up on that.

Oh, and he got excluded for getting really upset with a member of staff. He was in the 'calm down' room following an earlier incident trying to relax and she shouted at him which caused him to have a melt down. This is the woman who gives him anger management lessons!

If that's what happened, they have no grounds for excluding him as the incident was a direct result of her failure to respond appropriately to his SN.
He should have been left alone in the room until completely calm, or the triggers could have been discussed the next day.
Did he hurt her?
Do they have a written protocol to follow specifically for him, a guideline on how to manage his meltdowns? because if not, they need one and you need a copy.

This is obviously his version of events and I know he doesn't think straight when he sees red. No,he didn't hit her at all but told her not to say anything else to him. He says that she walked away smiling after he had flared up but no doubt this will be denied. He also knocked some equipment onto the floor but it was not directed at her. His TA was also in the room but ran out to get the DHT who then excluded him and I feel that she could have stayed to try to calm him down really. I am not aware that they have a protocol in place so will be asking questions about this.

You need to find out exactly what happened from as many people as possible, it sounds a ridiculous response if that's all that he did and in the place designated as a calming down zone.
My DS has done much more and although the consequences were serious, he wasn't excluded. How old is your DS? Do the school have much experience in managing the needs of pupils on the spectrum?

Have been advised that as he is on a PSP school can put him on a reduced timetable. He has a PSP because he is 'making the wrong behaviour choices'. He has been on this plan since December. Have been asked whether dh & I have support as it must be very stressful for us! Good grief

"Have been advised that as he is on a PSP school can put him on a reduced timetable." Wonder what the legal basis is for that claim? Seems unlikely that a support plan gives them the right essentially to exclude at will.

Agnes, for link re ombudsman's report. I have copied the link onto the children out of school support thread as think it will make interesting reading for other parents in this situation too.

Dh's health is now getting a lot worse due to all the stress. coffee when you told the school your ds was going back full time what did they say? I think dh will be telling them that he is too ill to have him at home when he should be at school but I am worried what the response will be. Caseworker has already asked if we are getting 'social care' whatever that is. I expect the next thing will be us being blamed for everything.