Exclusion from School

One of the many things a parent fear is the call or letter from their child’s school to say that they have been excluded either on a temporary or permanent basis.

There are many reasons as to why your child might be excluded from school, here we detail the most common:

• Racial abuse
• Bullying
• Physical assault
• Verbal abuse
• Theft
• Damage to the property of others
• Sexual impropriety
• Disruptive behaviour

Some of the aforementioned reasons for exclusion carry a mandatory short term exclusion but there are others which invoke a permanent exclusion from school and may also make it difficult for your child to find another school that will accept them.

Permanent Exclusion

Once referred to as ‘being expelled’ permanent exclusion means that the child will not be allowed to return to the school from which he or she was excluded. This exclusion may come as a result of persistent disruptive behaviour or physical assault with the headteacher deems as uncontrollable and in order to protect the safety of both his or her pupils and teachers they may issue a permanent exclusion order.

You can of course appeal such an exclusion but you should be aware that in order to have the decision reversed you must prove to the Local Education Authority (LEA) beyond any doubt that the allegations against your child are unfounded. This is difficult especially if you have already been asked to attend the school for meetings with teachers and headteacher alike to discuss your child’s behaviour.

Fixed Term Exclusion

A Fixed Term Exclusion is an exclusion from school which will expire at the end of the allotted period of time. If your child’s headteacher issues a Fixed Term Exclusion then he or she will reasonably expect you to attend a meeting with both teachers and headteacher alike before your child can return to school.

You will be expected to provide assurances – as will your child – that their behaviour will improve greatly and the events which initially prompted their exclusion will not occur again.

It is important to note at this juncture that a Fixed Term Exclusion can last no more than forty-five days in any one school term. If your child’s headteacher feels that a longer exclusion is necessary then you are realistically looking at a permanent exclusion for your child.

On returning to school – if the headteacher deems it appropriate – then he or she may insist upon a number of sessions with the Educational Psychologist who will be charged with the task of getting to the bottom of your son or daughter’s unruly behaviour. In addition they deem it appropriate that your child is supervised by a learning mentor if there are underlying issues relating to their learning abilities.

If you do decide to appeal the decision of your child’s headteacher then you must expect that your child will be excluded from school until such times as there is a meeting of the Local Education Authority and the relevant parties from the school.

If the decision of the appeal reflects that of the initial decision made by the headteacher then you must expect that your child fully serves out the period of exclusion and therefore cannot return to the school – or school premises – during that period of exclusion. For further information on how to appeal the exclusion of your child from their school you should contact your Local Education Authority.