Frequently asked questions

An exclusion happens when a Headteacher decides that your child is not allowed to attend school either at lunchtime, for a fixed period or permanently, in response to a breach of the school behaviour policy.  The headteacher should have investigated the incident(s) and the exclusion made on the balance of probabilities.  During the exclusion your child must not come on to the school premises at any time, including breaks, lunchtimes and after school, and will not be able to use school transport for that period if s/he is entitled to it.

Only the Headteacher, or teacher in charge of a Pupil Referral Unit (or, the acting head teacher) can exclude a pupil.

When your child has been excluded you are likely to be anxious and upset about what has occurred. In the first place it will be important for you to stay calm and to discuss what happened in detail with your child.  You may wish to cosult the school behaviour policy.

You may want to contact the school when you feel able to discuss calmly the reasons for exclusion.  Senior staff will wish to try to work with you to sort things out.  In most cases, the Headteacher and senior staff at the school will use the period of exclusion to plan for the successful reintegration of your child, and this will include areas where you may be able to help.  On the first day back following an exclusion, the school will normally hold a re-integration meeting, which you should try to attend if at all possible.  However, the Headteacher must allow your child to start back at school once the exclusion has finished, even if you are unable or do not want to attend the meeting.

There are three types of exclusion. These are: 

Lunchtime exclusions are normally used when a child's behaviour is unacceptable in the playground. Parents/carers must take responsibility for their child for the lunch break and return him/her for the start of afternoon school. It is expected that these exclusions will be used for short periods.

Fixed period exclusions last for a specific number of days.  The number of days and when your child should return to school will be made clear by the Headteacher.  These are normally used for more serious incidents or where a child's behaviour is unacceptable in the classroom. They can be used for a maximum of 45 days in any one school year.  However, DCSF guidance is clear that individual fixed term exclusions should be for the shortest time necessary.

Permanent exclusion
A decision to permanently exclude a pupil should be taken only:

• in response to serious breaches of the school's behaviour policy; and
• if allowing the pupil to remain in school would seriously harm the education or welfare of the pupil or others in the school.

A decision to exclude a child permanently is a serious one and should only be taken where the basic facts have been clearly established on the balance of probabilities.  It will usually be the final step in a process for dealing with disciplinary offences following a wide range of strategies which have been tried without success.  It should be a last resort.

There will be exceptional circumstances where, the Headteacher / teacher in charge judge it is appropriate to permanently exclude a child for a first or 'one off' offence.

Unofficial, informal exclusions have no legal status and should not be used.

Whenever a Headteacher / teacher in charge excludes a pupil, the parent (or pupil if aged 18) must be notified immediately, ideally by telephone followed up by a letter. When the parent must be notified in writing depends on when the pupil is excluded

• Where the pupil is excluded at the end of the afternoon session and the exclusion takes effect from the next school day, notice must be given before the start of the day;
• Where the pupil is excluded in the morning session and the exclusion takes effect from that afternoon, notice must be given before the start of the afternoon session;
• Where the pupil is excluded in the afternoon session and the exclusion takes effect that afternoon, the notice must be given by the end of the afternoon session.

When a pupil is sent home for disciplinary reasons for part of a school day, some Headteachers have viewed this as a ‘cooling off’ period, and have not taken action to exclude the pupil formally.  There is no basis in law for this, informal or unofficial exclusion are illegal regardless of whether they are done with the agreement of parents or carers.

The Headteacher must make arrangements for work to be sent home in the first five days of any exclusion.  It must be clear how your child will continue to receive their education.  It is the parent's responsibility to ensure that work sent home is completed and returned to school. This will then be marked.

From the sixth continuous day of any exclusion alternative suitable full time education must be provided for your child. If your child is fixed term excluded this will be provided by the school. If your child is permanently excluded this will be provided by the local authority

During the first five days of an exclusion you are responsible for ensuring that your child is not found in a public place during normal school hours without reasonable justification. If you fail to do this you can be issued with a fixed penalty notice for £50.

If your child's exclusion is for six days or more you are responsible for ensuring from the sixth day, once education is provided, by either the school (or the local authority in the case of a permanent exclusion), that your child attends this education.

Schools are required to hold a re-integration interview with you following the expiry of any fixed period exclusion if your child is of primary-age or following the expiry of any fixed period exclusion of more than five days if your child is of secondary age.

Your child should normally attend all or part of the interview.  At least one of the child's parents is expected to attend the meeting.  Schools must keep records of the failure to attend a re-integration interview, and of any explanation given by the parent for failure to attend.  However, a fixed period exclusion must not be extended if such an interview cannot be arranged in time or the parents do not attend.  The interview must be conducted on school premises.

The parent is the focal point of all the legislation relating to exclusion until a pupil reaches the age of 18. In the very small number of cases where it is necessary to exclude a pupil aged over 18, the school will correspond with the pupil direct.

Parents/carers are entitled to information:

You must be informed of an exclusion as soon as possible, and this will normally be by telephone.

Within one day, the Headteacher must inform you in writing that your child has been excluded, the type of exclusion and the reasons for it.

The Headteacher's letter will tell you that you have the right to make representations to the Discipline Committee of the Governing Body about the decision to exclude your child. How you do this will depend on the length of the exclusion:

• If the exclusion is for 5 days or less then you have a right to make written representations;
• If the exclusion is for between 6 - 15 days (inclusive) you have a right to ask to meet with the Discipline Committee;
• If the exclusion is for a period in excess of 15 days, or permanent, then the Clerk to the Committee will write to you inviting you to a meeting of the Discipline Committee

The clerk will make arrangements for the governors to meet.  The timescales for this meeting are set down in the government regulations as follows: 

• If the exclusion is for 15 days or less and you made written representations or asked to meet the Committee, then the meeting will be held between the 6th and 50th day following the start of the exclusion.
• If the exclusion if a period in excess of 15 days or permanent, then the meeting will be held between the 6th and 15th day following the start of the exclusion

In advance of the meeting you will receive a copy of any report and related documents that are provided to the Discipline Committee. There is provision for these to be translated for parents/carers whose first language is not English. You may also send a written statement or other evidence for the Committee to consider, and the clerk will advise you when to do this.


Please contact the County Inclusion Manager for further information about this process on 01223 706342.

The Discipline Committee is made up of 3 or 5 governors who have been appointed by the full governing body to consider cases of exclusion.

The Headteacher will attend to present the case for exclusion together with other appropriate school staff invited by the Headteacher to give evidence.

The clerk will attend to takes notes of the meeting and to record the decision of the governors.

If the circumstances surrounding the case are complex, a representative of the local authority may attend and may give procedural advice. The local authority is rarely represented at Discipline Committees to consider fixed period exclusion but a senior officer will always attend if the exclusion is permanent.

The parent/carer may attend for exclusions in excess of 5 days, and may be accompanied by a friend/supporter or be legally represented.

The job of the Discipline Committee is to decide if it agrees with the Headteacher's decision to exclude your child. Its responsibility is to look at the evidence and to come to a view about whether the Headteacher's decision was fair and reasonable in the circumstances, taking account of: 

• any support provided by the school to avoid exclusion,
• whether the exclusion was fair relative to seriousness of the offence,
• whether there are any mitigating factors
  

If it does not agree with the Headteacher, the governors must direct reinstatement - in other words, instruct the Headteacher to allow your child to return to school. However it has no power to do this if the exclusion is for 5 days or less. The clerk will write to you and the letter will be stapled to the letter of exclusion on your child's file, thus nullifying its effect, but the letter of exclusion cannot be removed from the file.

If it does agree with the Headteacher, the clerk will write to you confirming the decision 

An excluded pupil under the age of 18 should be allowed and encouraged to attend the hearing and speak on his or her own behalf, if he or she wishes to do so, subject to their age and understanding.

For further information about the discipline committee please contact the County Inclusion Manager on 01223 706342 or visit www.ace-ed.org.uk

Your statement, together with the Headteacher's report, and any other written statements or letters will be circulated before the meeting to everybody who will be attending.

At the meeting, the Chair of the Committee will introduce everybody and invite the Headteacher to outline the reasons for excluding your child. You will be able to ask questions of the Headteacher and of other witnesses. After that, you (and your child, if s/he attends the meeting) will be able to put your case, and then you may be asked questions.

The local authority representative, if present, may also make a statement giving the local authority's view of the appropriateness of the exclusion.

When the Discipline Committee has heard all the information, the Headteacher will be asked to sum up, and after that you will be invited to sum up, giving you the last word in the proceedings. All parties are then asked to withdraw to allow the Committee to discuss the exclusion and make its decision in private.

The clerk to the Discipline Committee will write to you to advise you of the decision. This will happen as soon as possible, but the letter will be posted out no later than the following working day.

The Discipline Committee may inform you immediately following the meeting but in most schools the decision is notified first in writing. You may ask to wait or be notified later that day by telephone, but the decision about how to inform you, rests with the Committee.

In the case of a permanent exclusion, a fixed period exclusion of more than 5 days, or any exclusion where the pupil loses the opportunity to take a public examination, the letter will state whether your child should be reinstated to the school. If the Committee agrees that your child should be reinstated, you will be told the date on which s/he can return to school. No conditions may be attached to this decision.

Under current guidance, if the Discipline Committee decides that your child should not return to school, you have the right to appeal against this decision.  The new Coalition Government have indicated that they may remove this right. Please contact the County Inclusion Manager if you are unclear about whether you would be entitled to an Independent appeals panel.

This Panel is independent of the local authority and the governing body of the school and comprises a member of the public (lay member), a person experienced in education (normally a retired or serving Headteacher) and a school governor.

The Panel normally meets at Shire Hall in Cambridge. Appeals are arranged by County Council's Democratic Services Division. The contact officer in Democratic Services is Ruth Yule on 01223 699184;
ruth.yule@cambridgeshire.gov.uk.

A local authority exclusions officer from your area will contact you following the Committee meeting to discuss the next steps and advise you how you can appeal.

If you decide to appeal, you must do so within 15 school days from the date you receive the decision letter from the Discipline Committee.

A local authority exclusions officer will contact you at the end of the process to discuss what should happen next. In most cases this will involve a move to a new school to enable your child to make a fresh start, although some older children make better progress in alternative provision.  The important thing is that your views, and those of your child, will be taken into account at each stage.

This information applies to pupils in all schools (including nursery classes and Pupil Referral Units) maintained by the local authority.