Come and talk to me about informal exclusion

[guggenheim]

I may have misunderstood the situation but I thought that schools were not really supposed to do this any more?

Ds has sensory processing difficulties and I have been talked into taking him home early several times a week. This is due to an incident of poor behaviour 2 weeks ago. Ds has no memory or understanding of incident and was punished at the time. He's 5.

I KNOW I should have said no but sometimes I get ground down by it all. I also find that one of his teachers is so unpleasant that it's probably in his best interest to be away form her.

I think they will ask again next year and I would like to be able to say no and back up what I say.

I'm up to the eyeballs in work so I know I should have called Ipsea but I haven't managed 5 mins to myself.

So what do you think? I feel a bit over a barrel with it all because it probably was quite helpful the first afternoon I took him home. Now he just feels as though he's being punished for no good reason.

obv. I take him nice places,there is no way on earth that I am going to give him a hard time over this

No, they're definitely not supposed to do it, it's unlawful.

I would suggest a meeting with them ASAP pointing out that if they can't keep him in school it's an indication that they can't meet his special educational needs and asking if they will support you in requesting an Education Health and Care needs assessment. Say to them that in any event it is unlawful to send him home unless they are formally excluding him, and that therefore next term you will not be collecting him unless it is on that basis. Tell them you also want formal exclusion letters for all the occasions he has been sent home this term. Point out also that you are concerned that he is being punished for his disability, and that that is discrimination: they should be looking for what causes behavioural incidents, working out how to avoid the triggers and how to help him not to get so stressed that he kicks off or has meltdowns.

It would probably also be worth formally asking for a needs assessment yourself. SOS SEN and IPSEA have precedent letters on their websites.

Thank you- all good ideas. I need to woman up a bit.
I think I just want to get it straight in my mind,what I'll say when they decide to go for another informal exclusion.
I wouldn't stay at this school at all except the ds loves his friends and loves some aspects of school.

Thank you.