The Inclusion Service carries out Redcar and Cleveland's duties regarding exclusion.
Contact details for the team are:
Inclusion Service
Inspire 2 Learn
Normanby Road
South Bank
Middlesbrough
TS6 9AE
The best form of contact is by emailing the team.
An exclusion is when a headteacher/principal decides to send your child home from school as a disciplinary measure.
There are two types of exclusions:
- suspension
- permanent exclusions
More information about exclusions can be found in the documents available to download below:
The decision to exclude a pupil must be lawful, reasonable and fair. Schools have a legal duty under the Equality Act 2010 not to discriminate against disabled children by excluding them from school because of behaviour which is related to their disability, which may include SEND requirements.
Schools must make reasonable adjustments to policies and practices so that a disabled child can participate in education at school and are not disadvantaged because of their needs or disability.
For further support parents can contact Redcar and Cleveland's SEND Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS).
This service provides independent support to parents, carers and young people around special education needs and disabilities (SEND). The service operates 'at arm's length' from the Local Authority and offers impartial and confidential advice and guidance.
The statutory guidance for the process of school exclusions
The Department for Education (DfE) produces the statutory guidance for exclusions.
Governing bodies, local authorities, headteachers/principals, academy trusts, special educational needs experts and independent review panels must all follow the statutory guidance.
A Suspension
Is where a pupil is temporarily removed from the school, is an essential behaviour management tool that should be set out within a school’s behaviour policy.
A pupil may be suspended for one or more fixed periods (up to a maximum of 45 school days in a single academic year). A suspension does not have to be for a continuous period.
A suspension may be used to provide a clear signal of what is unacceptable behaviour as part of the school’s behaviour policy and show a pupil that their current behaviour is putting them at risk of permanent exclusion.
Where suspensions are becoming a regular occurrence for a pupil, headteachers and schools should consider whether suspension alone is an effective sanction for the pupil and whether additional strategies need to be put in place to address behaviour.
It is important that during a suspension, pupils still receive their education. Headteachers should take steps to ensure that work is set and marked for pupils during the first five school days of a suspension.
The school’s legal duties to pupils with disabilities or SEN remain in force, for example, to make reasonable adjustments in how they support disabled pupils during this period.
Any time a pupil is sent home due to disciplinary reasons and asked to log on or utilise online pathways should always be recorded as a suspension.
A suspension can also be for parts of the school day. For example, if a pupil’s behaviour at lunchtime is disruptive, they may be suspended from the school premises for the duration of the lunchtime period.
The legal requirements relating to the suspension, such as the headteacher’s duty to notify parents, apply in all cases.
Lunchtime suspensions are counted as half a school day in determining whether a governing board meeting is triggered.
A permanent exclusion
Is when a pupil is no longer allowed to attend a school (unless the pupil is reinstated). The decision to exclude a pupil permanently should only be taken:
- in response to a serious breach or persistent breaches of the school's behaviour policy; and
- where allowing the pupil to remain in school would seriously harm the education or welfare of the pupil or others such as staff or pupils in the school.
For any permanent exclusion, headteachers should take reasonable steps to ensure that work is set and marked for pupils during the first five school days where the pupil will not be attending alternative provision.
Any appropriate referrals to support services or notifying key workers (such as a pupil’s social worker) should also be considered.
A permanent exclusion is the most serious sanction a headteacher/principal can give your child. It means that your child is no longer allowed to attend the school and their name will be removed from the school roll.
'Informal' or 'unofficial' exclusions are not allowed. Any exclusion of your child must follow the formal process including being formally recorded. Any fixed-period suspension must have a stated end date.
A school cannot force you to remove your child permanently from their school.