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The exclusion of any pupil should be a last resort and balance the needs of the school to protect the health and safety of pupils and staff against any risk caused by the behaviour of the pupil.
The law relating to exclusions is complex and most recently changed in September 2012.
It is not uncommon to receive instructions where an establishment fails to follow the correct procedure preferring ‘informal exclusion’
Informal exclusions are illegal and we can advise on the procedure to challenge this by judicial review.
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In respect of formal fixed periods of exclusion or permanent exclusion; the school must follow a set procedure and offer you the right to make representations.
A fixed term exclusion is for a specific period of time on one or more occasion but must not exceed 45 school days in a single academic year. A fixed period can be extended or converted to a permanent exclusion in exceptional cases (for example where further information has arisen since the time of the initial exclusion period).
A permanent exclusion involves the child being removed from the school roll. However, there is a right of appeal to the independent review panel.
Each school will have a behaviour policy and this should set out the standard of behaviour that is required and be accessible (check the school’s website).
Actions out of school time may be relevant to a decision to exclude a pupil, but any decision to exclude must be fair, reasonable proportionate and necessary.
Exclusions should be a last resort and schools should be aware of the potential relevance of any special educational needs to the alleged behaviour giving rise to an exclusion being considered. Parents have the right to have a special educational needs advisor involved in the procedure to advise on this at no cost.
Other options such as a managed move may be preferable to an exclusion and need to be considered.
A request for a review of an exclusion may be made to the governors or the independent review panel dependent on the length of the exclusion.
Our team can offer advice on the procedure, representation at governor or the independent review panel and subsequent advice on judicial review if necessary.
Our team has recently been successful in requesting a head teacher to review their decision to exclude prior to the matter being considered by governors of a school. The decision to exclude had been made on the basis of inaccurate information received from a previous school; when this was highlighted a mutually agreed outcome met our client’s objectives with the pupil moving onto another school by choice to start afresh.
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