If your child has been sent home from school and you have been told that you cannot send them back, then this must be recorded formally in writing as a suspension. If the school does not wish to formally suspend, then your child is still legally allowed to attend.
If your child is sent home for lunch, even with your agreement, then this still needs to be recorded as a half day suspension.
Suspensions can provide evidence that your child’s needs are not being met in their current placement and that there could be some underlying SEND. This is why it is important that they are formally recorded.
What is a suspension?
A suspension is when your child’s school have stated your child is not allowed to attend their school for a set number of days. The school will inform you of this normally by letter or email.
A pupil may be suspended up to a maximum of 45 days within a school year. After that, they may be permanently excluded.
During the first five days of suspension, your child should not be seen in a public place during school hours. It is your responsibility to arrange childcare or supervision.
The school should take reasonable steps to set and mark work and this work should be accessible and achievable.
For suspensions of more than 5 days (or consecutive exclusions that add up to more than 5 days) the school should arrange full-time alternative provision.
If there has been a mistake or a misunderstanding, you can ask a Head Teacher to withdraw a suspension.
If the suspension is for 5 days or fewer, you can ask the governors to hear your views but they cannot overturn the headteacher’s decision.
At the end of the suspension a re-integration meeting may be offered to discuss how to avoid suspensions happening again. Your child can then return to school.
If your child has an Education Health and Care Plan you may want to discuss with school holding an early annual review.
What happens if my child had been permanently excluded?
Your child is not allowed to return to their school or setting.
A child should only be permanently excluded:
- for a serious incident
- repeated breaches of the schools behaviour policy
- a risk to the education or welfare of other pupils
Permanent exclusion should only be used as a last resort.
During the first five days of exclusion, your child should not be seen in a public place during school hours. It is your responsibility to arrange childcare or supervision.
If they are of compulsory school age, the local authority has a duty to find them alternative education from the sixth day of the exclusion.
The Head Teacher has the power to withdraw a permanent exclusion or change it to a suspension up until the Governors meeting.
If your child has an EHCP, the school should as far as possible, avoid permanent exclusion. The school should consider asking the local authority for an early annual review.
What if I disagree with a suspension or permanent exclusion?
If you disagree with either a suspension or a permanent exclusion, you can ask the Head Teacher to review the decision and withdraw the suspension or exclusion if there clearly has been a mistake or misunderstanding.
You can ‘make representations’, which means attending a governing body meeting to give your views about it to the governing body of the school or setting.
For suspensions of 5 consecutive days or more, and permanent exclusions these must be upheld by the governing body of the excluding school or setting. This means that they will review information about what has led to the decision to exclude and then choose to agree with it (uphold) or disagree with it (overturn).
If they disagree with the decision, then your child can return to their school and the suspension or exclusion will be removed from their record.
If they uphold the decision, then the suspension or permanent exclusion will continue to take place. You could then ask for the decision to be reviewed by an Independent Review Panel (IRP). You 15 days to write stating you would like an independent review and why.
The IRP has power to:
- Quash the decision (meaning the suspension/permanent exclusion doesn’t count when applying for other schools) and direct the governing body to reinstate you child. They can help by instructing the governing body to review their decision.
- Recommend that the governing body reconsiders their decision not to reinstate your child.
- Uphold the governing body’s decision (keep the permanent exclusion as it is).
Parents are allowed to request the presence of a SEND expert (such as an educational psychologist or specialist) at an IRP to provide support and advice. Your child does not need to be on the school SEND register or have an EHCP. They will not diagnose your child but may be able to provide advice about how their SEND may be affecting their behaviour in school.
If you feel that the exclusion could be related to disability discrimination under the Equality Act 2010 , then you could instead make a claim to the first tier tribunal, who do have the power to overturn the exclusion and re-instate a pupil. This is a link to the Equality and Advisory Support Service Equality Advisory and Support Service (equalityadvisoryservice.com) or telephone 0808 800 0082.
IPSEA have more information in their website about how to get help dealing with disability discrimination
What can I do?
You could ask for a meeting with the school to discuss your concerns. We can help you to Contact Us – SENDIASS North Yorkshire .
If you feel that your child’s special education needs and/or disability maybe contributing to any behaviour that they are being suspended/excluded for, then you could consider whether an EHC needs assessment (add link to EHC needs assessment section) would be helpful.
You could ask school to bring in outside agencies to support your child. For more information about North Yorkshire’s SEND Hub follow the link SEND hubs | CYPSinfo (northyorks.gov.uk).
If your child already has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), it may need to be reviewed. For example, it may be that your child has developed additional needs that are not covered by the existing plan. (Link to leaflet on Annual Reviews and information on parents/carers section on annual reviews) We can help you to prepare for a review of the EHC Plan Contact Us – SENDIASS North Yorkshire .
School want to place my child on a part-time timetable?
All pupils of compulsory school age are entitled to a full-time education”. In very exceptional circumstances there may be a need for a temporary part-time timetable to meet the individual pupil’s needs. For example, where a medical condition prevents a pupil from attending full-time education and a part-time timetable is considered as part of a re-integration package.
A part-time timetable must not be treated as a long-term solution. Any pastoral support programme or other agreement must have a time limit by which point the pupil is expected to attend full-time or be provided with alternative provision. See what IPSEA states about part-time timetables Part-time timetable | (IPSEA) Independent Provider of Special Education Advice.
Parents can:
- Refuse a part-time timetable.
- Accept a time-limited part-time timetable dependent on the child’s needs with a view to progressing as quickly as possible back into full time education.
- Make school aware that it would be unlawful to not provide their child with a full-time education.
- Request that the school apply for emergency funding if the child is new to the school and special needs are obvious unless the child already has an Education Health and Care Plan.
- Discuss with the school/setting a request for an education, health and care needs assessment. Parents themselves can also put this request forward to the local authority. (link to EHC needs assessment – parent/carers section)
- Consider a move to another school although this would not be advisable as there would possibly be the same issues and a move could result in a delay in assessing needs.
- Complete a formal complaint following the school/settings complaint procedure if the school continues to use a part-time timetable.
Exclusion Resources
Exclusion of pupils | North Yorkshire Council
SEND and exclusions from school | North Yorkshire Council
Exclusions guidance(Department for Education (DfE))
Exclusions from school advice (IPSEA)
Exclusion downloadable resource (Autism Education Trust )
A guide for parents on school behaviour and exclusion – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Further guidance and resources for supporting behaviour in schools – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
https://www.coram.org.uk/what-we-do/our-work-and-impact/school-exclusions-hub/
https://www.ipsea.org.uk/pages/category/exclusion-from-school
School exclusion – childlawadvice.org.uk
Asking the local authority to arrange alternative education: Model letter 22 (ipsea.org.uk)